Difficulty: Medium
Correct Answer: Cousin sister
Explanation:
Introduction / Context:
This blood relation puzzle uses the phrase your father's wife and then refers to that woman's sister. These are standard constructions in relationships including maternal aunts and cousins. The primary challenge is to work from the lady's relatives backward to Punit's family and then forward again to how the lady fits in Punit's family structure.
Given Data / Assumptions:
Concept / Approach:
The sister of the lady's father's wife is her mother's sister, her maternal aunt. This same woman is also Punit's aunt, so she must be a sister of one of Punit's parents. The simplest consistent structure is that Punit's parent is a sibling of the lady's mother. That makes the lady's mother and Punit's parent both children of the same grandparents. As a result, Punit and the lady are children of two siblings and are therefore cousins. Since the lady is female, her relation to Punit is cousin sister.
Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Identify your father's wife as the lady's mother.Step 2: The sister of the lady's mother is the lady's maternal aunt.Step 3: Punit says this same woman is my aunt, which means she is a sister of one of Punit's parents.Step 4: That implies Punit's parent and the lady's mother are siblings, both children of the same grandparents.Step 5: Children of siblings are first cousins, so Punit and the lady are cousins.Step 6: Since the lady is female, she is Punit's cousin sister.
Verification / Alternative check:
Visualise two siblings: one becomes Punit's parent and the other becomes the lady's mother. The mother has a sister, the aunt, who is also the sister of Punit's parent. That woman is simultaneously the lady's maternal aunt and Punit's aunt, matching the description. Their children, Punit and the lady, are of the same generation and have shared grandparents but different parents, which is exactly the cousin relation.
Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Daughter or grand daughter would place the lady in a generation below Punit, which is not indicated.Niece would make Punit an uncle, again conflicting with the described structure.Sister would require Punit and the lady to share both parents, which the puzzle does not suggest.
Common Pitfalls:
Some students misinterpret your father's wife as someone other than the mother, complicating the structure unnecessarily. Others jump to sister without verifying parentage. A safe technique is to label each person with a simple symbol or letter and write down their relationships step by step before naming any broad relation term like cousin, aunt or niece.
Final Answer:
The lady is related to Punit as his Cousin sister.
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