CAT inference report V2

DILR

Deep CAT 2020-2025 inference with compact evidence snippets, linked examples, recurrence patterns, source reasoning, and decision playbooks.

Open PYQs

Set-selection dashboard

DILR is a scan-and-select section

DILRHIGH confidenceHIGH risk

Set selection beats topic familiarity

The first useful signal is not the story topic; it is whether the set yields a table, grid, ordering, or calculable frame quickly.

Recurrence: 41 public DILR sets carry selection recommendations; AVOID_FIRST_PASS (19), ONLY_IF_STRONG (14), ATTEMPT_AFTER_SCAN (8).

cat-2021-slot-1 Q5 · 2021 Slot 1 · DILR

“Set Information Seven people - Amudha, Bharatan, Chandran, Dhinesh, Ezhil, Fani and Gowtham - can be pairwise friends, acquaintances, or strangers. R...”

Why it matters: The set wording reveals the representation and time-sink risk before solving.

Takeaway: Scan for the representation before committing.

cat-2021-slot-1 Q6 · 2021 Slot 1 · DILR

“Set Information Seven people - Amudha, Bharatan, Chandran, Dhinesh, Ezhil, Fani and Gowtham - can be pairwise friends, acquaintances, or strangers. R...”

Why it matters: The set wording reveals the representation and time-sink risk before solving.

Takeaway: Scan for the representation before committing.

Spend the first scan locating the representation and entry clue, not solving the first visible question.

DILRHIGH confidenceHIGH risk

Some easy-looking sets become time sinks

State transitions, tie-breakers, and boundary conditions can hide multiple unresolved cases behind friendly story wording.

Recurrence: high risk (33), medium risk (8) appears in public DILR set metadata.

cat-2020-slot-1 Q1 · 2020 Slot 1 · DILR

“Caselet. Five cab drivers - Arun, Barun, Chandan, Damodaran and Eman - are rated on five parameters P1 to P5. Ratings are integers from 1 to 5. Final...”

Why it matters: The set wording reveals the representation and time-sink risk before solving.

Takeaway: Scan for the representation before committing.

cat-2020-slot-1 Q2 · 2020 Slot 1 · DILR

“Caselet. Five cab drivers - Arun, Barun, Chandan, Damodaran and Eman - are rated on five parameters P1 to P5. Ratings are integers from 1 to 5. Final...”

Why it matters: The set wording reveals the representation and time-sink risk before solving.

Takeaway: Scan for the representation before committing.

Leave a set if the representation is still unstable after 3-5 minutes or cases multiply without payoff.

DILRMEDIUM confidenceMEDIUM risk

Visual type determines ROI more than story dressing

Tables, grids, and charts usually reveal the representation faster than pure conditional prose.

Recurrence: mixed (14), chart (11), table (7), no visual (6), graph (1) are the main visual categories.

cat-2025-slot-1 Q14 · 2025 Slot 1 · DILR

“Question Numbers (14 to 17): Five countries engage in trade with each other. Each country levies import tariffs on the other countries. The import ta...”

Why it matters: The set wording reveals the representation and time-sink risk before solving.

Takeaway: Scan for the representation before committing.

cat-2025-slot-1 Q15 · 2025 Slot 1 · DILR

“Question Numbers (14 to 17): Five countries engage in trade with each other. Each country levies import tariffs on the other countries. The import ta...”

Why it matters: The set wording reveals the representation and time-sink risk before solving.

Takeaway: Scan for the representation before committing.

Prioritise sets with explicit data structure when accuracy is stable; push dense conditional prose to second pass.

ALLHIGH confidenceHIGH risk

Percentile jumps come from first-pass discipline

Across sections, the biggest avoidable loss is spending premium time on unstable DILR, boundary-heavy Quant, or unsupported VARC options.

Recurrence: Public classification marks 98 skip-first-pass and 162 conditional questions.

cat-2020-slot-1 Q1 · 2020 Slot 1 · DILR

“Caselet. Five cab drivers - Arun, Barun, Chandan, Damodaran and Eman - are rated on five parameters P1 to P5. Ratings are integers from 1 to 5. Final...”

Why it matters: The passage/question wording shows how CAT tests inference and option discipline.

Takeaway: Read for structure and eliminate scope shifts.

cat-2020-slot-1 Q2 · 2020 Slot 1 · DILR

“Caselet. Five cab drivers - Arun, Barun, Chandan, Damodaran and Eman - are rated on five parameters P1 to P5. Ratings are integers from 1 to 5. Final...”

Why it matters: The passage/question wording shows how CAT tests inference and option discipline.

Takeaway: Read for structure and eliminate scope shifts.

Build a two-pass habit: harvest must-attempts, then revisit only where the representation or constraint is clear.

Structures

Archetype recurrence

Venn/Set Theory22

Scheduling7

Distribution4

Games/Tournament4

Arrangement3

Quant-Based LR1

Contexts

Context-source map

scheduling19

business/sales5

chart/data interpretation4

tournament4

other2

routes/networks2

students/courses2

abstract puzzle1

allocation1

games/ranking1

Visual ROI

Visual-type ROI

mixed: AVOID_FIRST_PASS9

chart: ONLY_IF_STRONG7

no visual: AVOID_FIRST_PASS6

chart: AVOID_FIRST_PASS5

mixed: ONLY_IF_STRONG5

table: AVOID_FIRST_PASS5

table: ONLY_IF_STRONG4

mixed: ATTEMPT_AFTER_SCAN3

grid: ONLY_IF_STRONG2

no visual: ATTEMPT_AFTER_SCAN2

Time sinks

Sets that look approachable but demand caution

Type	Set/question	Why it is low ROI	Link
DILR	Set 1: APP-CAB Company	Avoid in first pass; return only after safer sets are exhausted.	Open mock
DILR	Set 2: Institutes and Vendors	Avoid in first pass; return only after safer sets are exhausted.	Open mock
DILR	Set 3: Board Examination	Use only if this archetype is a personal strength.	Open mock
DILR	Set 4: Musical Instruments	Use only if this archetype is a personal strength.	Open mock
DILR	cat-2020-slot2-dilr-set-01	Use only if this archetype is a personal strength.	Blocked/source-check
DILR	cat-2020-slot2-dilr-set-02	Use only if this archetype is a personal strength.	Blocked/source-check
DILR	cat-2020-slot2-dilr-set-03	Use only if this archetype is a personal strength.	Blocked/source-check
DILR	cat-2020-slot2-dilr-set-04	Avoid in first pass; return only after safer sets are exhausted.	Blocked/source-check

Set-by-set evidence

First 3-minute scan table

Mock	Set	Archetype	Visual	Entry	Scan signal	Risk	Recommendation	Link
cat-2020-slot-1	Set 1: APP-CAB Company	Venn/Set Theory	chart	high	Visible chart gives a representation starting point.	medium case risk / high sink risk	AVOID_FIRST_PASS	Open mock
cat-2020-slot-1	Set 2: Institutes and Vendors	Venn/Set Theory	mixed	high	Visible mixed gives a representation starting point.	low case risk / high sink risk	AVOID_FIRST_PASS	Open mock
cat-2020-slot-1	Set 3: Board Examination	Venn/Set Theory	table	medium	Visible table gives a representation starting point.	medium case risk / high sink risk	ONLY_IF_STRONG	Open mock
cat-2020-slot-1	Set 4: Musical Instruments	Venn/Set Theory	chart	medium	Visible chart gives a representation starting point.	low case risk / high sink risk	ONLY_IF_STRONG	Open mock
cat-2020-slot-1	Set 5: Treatment	Distribution	mixed	medium	Visible mixed gives a representation starting point.	low case risk / medium sink risk	ATTEMPT_AFTER_SCAN	Open mock
cat-2020-slot-2	cat-2020-slot2-dilr-set-01	Arrangement	grid	medium	Visible grid gives a representation starting point.	low case risk / high sink risk	ONLY_IF_STRONG	Blocked/source-check
cat-2020-slot-2	cat-2020-slot2-dilr-set-02	Venn/Set Theory	chart	medium	Visible chart gives a representation starting point.	high case risk / high sink risk	ONLY_IF_STRONG	Blocked/source-check
cat-2020-slot-2	cat-2020-slot2-dilr-set-03	Venn/Set Theory	table	medium	Visible table gives a representation starting point.	low case risk / high sink risk	ONLY_IF_STRONG	Blocked/source-check
cat-2020-slot-2	cat-2020-slot2-dilr-set-04	Venn/Set Theory	no visual	high	Look for a stable grid/order/allocation frame in the first three minutes.	medium case risk / high sink risk	AVOID_FIRST_PASS	Blocked/source-check
cat-2020-slot-2	cat-2020-slot2-dilr-set-05	Scheduling	no visual	high	Look for a stable grid/order/allocation frame in the first three minutes.	medium case risk / high sink risk	AVOID_FIRST_PASS	Blocked/source-check
cat-2021-slot-1	DILR Set 1 - Sales of Products	Arrangement	table	medium	Visible table gives a representation starting point.	low case risk / high sink risk	ONLY_IF_STRONG	Open mock
cat-2021-slot-1	DILR Set 2 - Friends & Strangers	Venn/Set Theory	grid	medium	Visible grid gives a representation starting point.	low case risk / high sink risk	ONLY_IF_STRONG	Open mock
cat-2021-slot-1	DILR Set 3 - Raw Materials	Venn/Set Theory	table	medium	Visible table gives a representation starting point.	medium case risk / high sink risk	ONLY_IF_STRONG	Open mock
cat-2021-slot-1	DILR Set 4 - Research Papers	Scheduling	table	high	Visible table gives a representation starting point.	medium case risk / high sink risk	AVOID_FIRST_PASS	Open mock
cat-2021-slot-3	cat-2021-slot3-dilr-set-1	Venn/Set Theory	no visual	medium	Multiple conditional/case signals; scan for quick locking clue before committing.	high case risk / high sink risk	ONLY_IF_STRONG	Blocked/source-check
cat-2021-slot-3	cat-2021-slot3-dilr-set-2	Venn/Set Theory	table	high	Visible table gives a representation starting point.	high case risk / high sink risk	AVOID_FIRST_PASS	Blocked/source-check
cat-2021-slot-3	cat-2021-slot3-dilr-set-3	Scheduling	chart	medium	Visible chart gives a representation starting point.	low case risk / high sink risk	ONLY_IF_STRONG	Blocked/source-check
cat-2021-slot-3	cat-2021-slot3-dilr-set-4	Venn/Set Theory	no visual	high	Multiple conditional/case signals; scan for quick locking clue before committing.	high case risk / high sink risk	AVOID_FIRST_PASS	Blocked/source-check
cat-2022-slot-1	DILR Set 1	Scheduling	mixed	medium	Visible mixed gives a representation starting point.	low case risk / high sink risk	ONLY_IF_STRONG	Open mock
cat-2022-slot-1	DILR Set 2	Venn/Set Theory	chart	high	Visible chart gives a representation starting point.	medium case risk / high sink risk	AVOID_FIRST_PASS	Open mock
cat-2022-slot-1	DILR Set 3	Games/Tournament	mixed	high	Visible mixed gives a representation starting point.	medium case risk / high sink risk	AVOID_FIRST_PASS	Open mock
cat-2022-slot-1	DILR Set 4	Venn/Set Theory	mixed	medium	Visible mixed gives a representation starting point.	medium case risk / high sink risk	ONLY_IF_STRONG	Open mock
cat-2022-slot-3	cat-2022-slot3-dilr-set-1	Venn/Set Theory	mixed	high	Visible mixed gives a representation starting point.	low case risk / high sink risk	AVOID_FIRST_PASS	Open mock
cat-2022-slot-3	cat-2022-slot3-dilr-set-2	Games/Tournament	table	high	Visible table gives a representation starting point.	high case risk / high sink risk	AVOID_FIRST_PASS	Open mock

99%iler scan

DILR scan strategy

Decision	Signal	Student move
Start first	Representation is visible and first clue fixes a row/order/group.	Commit and solve fully.
Attempt after scan	Representation exists but cases or calculations need comparison.	Mark as second candidate.
Only if strong	Familiar archetype but high case split or ambiguity.	Use only after safer set is banked.
Avoid first pass	Pure prose, unstable state transitions, or no table/grid after 3 minutes.	Leave immediately.