PMT, OOS, NQR, MSQ, ?

Solution: LUP. First letters −1, middle letters +2, last letters −1.

What are the common traps in Letter / alphanumeric series questions?

Column mix-up: the option that applies the first column's step to every letter is always offered. Wrap errors: Y + 6 is E, not an impossible "letter 31"; C − 16 is M. Half-fit options: in match-the-lists items an option often gets two pairs right; check all four.

Start here · the first lesson of Letter / alphanumeric series

Letter / alphanumeric series

Series (number / letter / alphanumeric) · for IPMAT Indore, IPMAT Rohtak and JIPMAT

The idea

Letter series use the alphabet as a number line (A = 1 … Z = 26). Each position in a term moves by its own fixed or growing step, or a short block of letters repeats or rotates. Alphanumeric series (A2Y, B8V, D33R …) combine a letter column, a number column and a second letter column, each with its own rule. Rohtak and JIPMAT ask one or two a year, and JIPMAT 2025 set a match-the-lists item with four letter series.

Textbook vs exam method

Textbook method

Convert letters to positions, find the difference pattern in each position, and convert the result back to letters, wrapping modulo 26.

Exam method

Columns, not words. For MOQ, SUW, YAC read M → S → Y (+6), O → U → A (+6), Q → W → C (+6): the next term is EGI.
Check both ends. In A2Y, B8V, D33R the first letters skip 0, 1, 2, 3 letters and the last letters go back 3, 4, 5, 6; the numbers follow ×2 + 2², ×3 + 3², ×4 + 4².
Blank strings. Count the letters: a _ c _ ba _ ca _ cb has 12, so try blocks of 3: abc / cba / bca / acb.
Rotations. AGDLX, GDLXA, DLXAG: the first letter moves to the end each time.
Match-the-lists. Solve two of the four series and eliminate.