Solution
| Quarter | Asha | Bunty | Chintu | Dolly | Eklavya | Falguni |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 | ||||||
| Q2 | ||||||
| Q3 |
In each quarter every employee is in one group — Elite (E) or Novice (N) — and receives a distinct rating from inside that group.
A cell records both pieces of information: means Elite with rating , and means Novice with rating .
A lone or means the group is known but the rating is not.
The score after a quarter is the running sum of ratings, so once all ratings are fixed the scores follow.
We only need quarters –, because the start of Quarter is the same instant as the end of Quarter .
Each quarter exactly one swap happens: the top-scoring Novice rises to Elite and the lowest-scoring Elite drops to Novice, with ties broken by the latest quarter's rating. So group membership drifts down the rows.
| Quarter | Asha | Bunty | Chintu | Dolly | Eklavya | Falguni |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 | E? | E? | E? | N? | N? | N? |
| Q2 | ||||||
| Q3 |
Filled: the Q1 groups.
From clue 1 the starting Elite trio is Asha, Bunty, Chintu, and the starting Novice trio is Dolly, Eklavya, Falguni. Ratings are still unknown, marked with .
| Quarter | Asha | Bunty | Chintu | Dolly | Eklavya | Falguni |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 | E? | E1 | E? | N? | N? | N? |
| Q2 | N? | |||||
| Q3 | N? |
Filled: Bunty's group through the quarters and his Q1 rating.
Clue 3 gives Bunty a Lalu (Novice) rating in Q2, so Bunty is in Novice during Q2 — he was demoted at the end of Q1.
A demotion removes the lowest-scoring Elite member. After one quarter scores equal the Q1 ratings, so Bunty's Q1 rating is the minimum, .
Since clue 1 puts all of Asha, Bunty, Chintu in Novice at the start of Q4, and only one swap occurs per quarter, none of them is re-promoted. Bunty therefore stays in Novice for Q2 and Q3.
| Quarter | Asha | Bunty | Chintu | Dolly | Eklavya | Falguni |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 | E? | E1 | E? | N? | N? | N? |
| Q2 | E? | N? | ||||
| Q3 | N? | N? |
Filled: Asha's group in Q2 and Q3.
Clue 3 gives Asha a Lalu rating in Q3, so Asha is in Novice during Q3. She was Elite in Q1, so she was demoted at the end of Q2, which means she is still Elite in Q2.
| Quarter | Asha | Bunty | Chintu | Dolly | Eklavya | Falguni |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 | E? | E1 | E? | N? | N? | N? |
| Q2 | E? | N? | E? | |||
| Q3 | N? | N? | E? |
Filled: Chintu's group in Q2 and Q3.
The three demotions across Q1–Q3 must be exactly Asha, Bunty, Chintu, since all three are in Novice by the start of Q4.
Bunty left at the end of Q1 and Asha at the end of Q2, so Chintu is demoted only at the end of Q3 — he stays Elite throughout Q1, Q2, Q3.
| Quarter | Asha | Bunty | Chintu | Dolly | Eklavya | Falguni |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 | E? | E1 | E? | N2 | N? | N? |
| Q2 | E? | N? | E? | N2 | ||
| Q3 | N? | N? | E? | N2 |
Filled: Dolly in Novice for all three quarters, with rating .
The three employees promoted into Elite must be Dolly, Eklavya, Falguni, since they form the Elite at the start of Q4. Clue 3 places Dolly in Novice during Q3, so she is promoted only at the end of Q3 — she sits in Novice for all of Q1, Q2, Q3.
Clue 2 says Dolly's rating never changes, and clue 3 fixes it at in Q3. So Dolly in every quarter.
Eklavya and Falguni take the end-Q1 and end-Q2 promotions in some order.
| Quarter | Asha | Bunty | Chintu | Dolly | Eklavya | Falguni |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 | E? | E1 | E? | N2 | N? | N3 |
| Q2 | E? | N? | E? | N2 | N? | E3 |
| Q3 | N? | N? | E? | N2 | E? | E3 |
Filled: Falguni's rating throughout, and the promotion order.
Falguni also keeps one fixed rating. In Q1 she shares Novice with Dolly ; ratings in a group are distinct, so Falguni , leaving .
Suppose Falguni . The end-Q1 promotion goes to the rating- Novice, which would then be Eklavya, pushing Falguni's promotion to the end of Q2 — placing her in Novice during Q2 beside Bunty, whose Q2 rating is . Two 's in one group is impossible.
So Falguni , making her the top Novice in Q1: she is promoted at the end of Q1, and Eklavya at the end of Q2. Hence Eklavya is Novice in Q1, Q2 and Elite in Q3; Falguni is Novice in Q1 and Elite in Q2, Q3.
| Quarter | Asha | Bunty | Chintu | Dolly | Eklavya | Falguni |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 | E? | E1 | E? | N2 | N1 | N3 |
| Q2 | E? | N? | E? | N2 | N? | E3 |
| Q3 | N? | N? | E? | N2 | E? | E3 |
Filled: Eklavya's Q1 rating.
Novice in Q1 is Dolly , Eklavya, Falguni . The only remaining rating, , goes to Eklavya.
| Quarter | Asha | Bunty | Chintu | Dolly | Eklavya | Falguni |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 | E? | E1 | E? | N2 | N1 | N3 |
| Q2 | E? | N1 | E? | N2 | N3 | E3 |
| Q3 | N? | N? | E? | N2 | E? | E3 |
Filled: the Q2 Novice ratings.
Novice in Q2 is Bunty, Dolly , Eklavya. Clue 3 gives Bunty , so Eklavya takes the remaining .
Scores after Q2 in this group:
Bunty
Dolly
Eklavya
Dolly and Eklavya tie at ; the higher Q2 rating, Eklavya's over Dolly's , ranks Eklavya on top. So Eklavya is promoted, which matches the order found earlier.
| Quarter | Asha | Bunty | Chintu | Dolly | Eklavya | Falguni |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 | E? | E1 | E? | N2 | N1 | N3 |
| Q2 | E1 | N1 | E2 | N2 | N3 | E3 |
| Q3 | N? | N? | E? | N2 | E? | E3 |
Filled: the Q2 Elite ratings.
Elite in Q2 is Asha, Chintu, Falguni , so Asha and Chintu split . Falguni's score after Q2 is . Asha is the one demoted, so she must hold the minimum Elite score.
Test Asha (Chintu ), with Asha, Chintu Q1 ratings :
if Asha Q1 : Asha , Chintu , tie, but Asha's higher Q2 rating ranks her above, so Chintu would be the minimum — contradiction.
if Asha Q1 : Asha , Chintu , so Chintu would be the minimum — contradiction.
So Asha's Q2 rating and Chintu's .
| Quarter | Asha | Bunty | Chintu | Dolly | Eklavya | Falguni |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 | E? | E1 | E? | N2 | N1 | N3 |
| Q2 | E1 | N1 | E2 | N2 | N3 | E3 |
| Q3 | N1 | N3 | E? | N2 | E? | E3 |
Filled: the Q3 Novice ratings.
Novice in Q3 is Asha, Bunty, Dolly. Clue 3 gives Asha and Dolly , leaving Bunty .
| Quarter | Asha | Bunty | Chintu | Dolly | Eklavya | Falguni |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 | E? | E1 | E? | N2 | N1 | N3 |
| Q2 | E1 | N1 | E2 | N2 | N3 | E3 |
| Q3 | N1 | N3 | E1 | N2 | E2 | E3 |
Filled: the Q3 Elite ratings.
Elite in Q3 is Chintu, Eklavya, Falguni , so Chintu and Eklavya split . Chintu is demoted, so he must be the minimum. Falguni's score is , and Eklavya's is .
Test Chintu Q3 (Eklavya ): Eklavya , while Chintu (Q1) gives or , so Eklavya would be the minimum — contradiction.
So Chintu's Q3 rating and Eklavya's .
Check: Eklavya ; Chintu (Q1) or . If , Chintu is clearly lowest; if , the tie is broken by the Q3 rating, where Chintu's is below Eklavya's , so Chintu is still the minimum. Either way Chintu is demoted.
| Quarter | Asha | Bunty | Chintu | Dolly | Eklavya | Falguni |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 | E2/3 | E1 | E3/2 | N2 | N1 | N3 |
| Q2 | E1 | N1 | E2 | N2 | N3 | E3 |
| Q3 | N1 | N3 | E1 | N2 | E2 | E3 |
Filled: the last two Q1 Elite ratings.
Elite in Q1 is Asha, Bunty , Chintu, so Asha and Chintu split . Both orders, Asha /Chintu and Asha /Chintu , satisfy every demotion and the constancy rule of clue 2, so this pair stays interchangeable. It is shown as for Asha and for Chintu, linked so that the first value of one pairs with the first value of the other.
| Quarter | Asha | Bunty | Chintu | Dolly | Eklavya | Falguni |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 | E2/3 | E1 | E3/2 | N2 | N1 | N3 |
| Q2 | E1 | N1 | E2 | N2 | N3 | E3 |
| Q3 | N1 | N3 | E1 | N2 | E2 | E3 |
All ratings are now fixed except the linked Asha/Chintu Q1 pair. Adding the ratings cumulatively gives the scores:
| Score after | Asha | Bunty | Chintu | Dolly | Eklavya | Falguni |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 | 2/3 | 1 | 3/2 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Q2 | 3/4 | 2 | 5/4 | 4 | 4 | 6 |
| Q3 | 4/5 | 5 | 6/5 | 6 | 6 | 9 |
The membership flow is:
Q1 Elite , Novice
Q2 Elite , Novice
Q3 Elite , Novice
Start of Q4 Elite , Novice .
The only unresolved values are Asha's and Chintu's Q1 ratings (and the scores that depend on them): the pair is or , giving end-Q3 scores or . Bunty, Dolly, Eklavya and Falguni are fully determined.
Bunty's ratings are Q1 (lowest Elite, demoted), Q2 (Novice, given), Q3 (Novice). Score after Q3 , independent of the remaining ambiguity. Answer: 5.
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Question 17