A woman walking with a boy is asked about their relationship. She replies, "My maternal uncle and the uncle of his maternal uncle are the same person." In this blood relation question, how is the lady related to the boy?

Introduction / Context:
This is a more complex blood relation puzzle involving multiple layers of maternal uncles and their uncles. The lady describes a single person who is both her maternal uncle and the uncle of the boy's maternal uncle. We must decode this to find how the lady is related to the boy. Questions like this require careful mapping of generations and cross checking the roles of uncles on both sides.

Given Data / Assumptions:
• A lady is walking with a boy.• She says, "My maternal uncle and the uncle of his maternal uncle are the same."• A maternal uncle is the brother of one's mother.• The boy's maternal uncle is the brother of his mother.• The uncle of that maternal uncle is a brother of one of his parents.• Family relations use standard interpretations without adoptions.

Concept / Approach:
First, let the common person mentioned be X. For the lady, X is her maternal uncle, so X is the brother of her mother. For the boy, X is the uncle of his maternal uncle. If the boy's maternal uncle is his mother's brother, then X must be a brother of one of that uncle's parents. One consistent configuration is that the lady is the sister of the boy's mother. In this case, the boy's maternal uncle is the lady's brother, and X becomes the brother of their mother. The same X then is both the lady's maternal uncle and the uncle of the boy's maternal uncle. In that configuration, the lady is clearly the boy's maternal aunt.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Let the lady be L and the boy be B.Step 2: Let X be the person who is both L's maternal uncle and the uncle of B's maternal uncle.Step 3: Because X is L's maternal uncle, X is the brother of L's mother.Step 4: Let B's mother be MB and B's maternal uncle be UB (the brother of MB).Step 5: For X to be an uncle of UB, X must be a brother of one of UB's parents.Step 6: A consistent structure is to let L's mother and B's maternal grandmother be the same person, so that L is the sister of MB. Then UB is also a child of that grandmother.Step 7: In this arrangement, X is the brother of the grandmother and thus is an uncle to both L's mother and UB, making him L's maternal uncle and uncle of B's maternal uncle.Step 8: If L is the sister of MB, she is the boy's maternal aunt, and B is her nephew.

Verification / Alternative Check:
Construct a family: a grandmother has two children, one is L's mother and one is MB, the boy's mother. The grandmother also has a brother X, who is their maternal uncle. MB's brother UB is another child of the grandmother. X is then the uncle of UB and also the maternal uncle of L. L, being the sister of MB, is the boy's maternal aunt. The statement about the same uncle X is exactly satisfied in this picture.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Grandmother and grandson: This would place the lady one generation above B, but the shared uncle configuration matches better when L and B's mother are in the same generation.Mother and son: If the lady were the boy's mother, then the chain involving his maternal uncle would be redundant and would not require an extra shared uncle.No direct family relation: The whole description of shared maternal uncles and uncles of uncles is meaningful only if a family connection exists.Sister and brother: That would require them to share parents, which does not fit the story involving separate maternal uncles and grandparents.

Common Pitfalls:
Many candidates get overwhelmed by the phrase uncle of his maternal uncle and give up early. Others assume that the lady must be the boy's mother or grandmother without checking if the chain of uncles can be satisfied. Drawing the family tree and letting the lady be the sister of the boy's mother is the simplest way to visualize the relations correctly.

Final Answer:
The lady is the boy's aunt, and the boy is her nephew (aunt and nephew relationship).