Official CAT 2023 Exam Slot 1• Convenor Master Key Verified

CAT 2023 Slot 1 Question Paper & Answer Key

Questions from the IIM Lucknow paper, Morning Session (8:30 AM – 10:30 AM IST) (exam pattern: VARC 24, DILR 20, QA 22), with the answer key and solutions

Executive Answer & Section Summary

CAT 2023 Slot 1, convened by IIM Lucknow, established an elevated standard of quantitative and logical rigor. The 66-question paper required high accuracy, featuring complex algebra equations with modulus and exponents in QA, alongside intricate scheduling matrices in DILR. Verbal ability maintained 24 questions with two parajumbles and two paragraph completion problems. The 99.0 percentile score calibrated to 76 marks out of 198. ThinkCAT offers complete verified solutions and CBT mock testing for this paper.

66 Total Questions

MCQ: 46 (+3 / -1)

TITA: 20 (0 Negative Penalty)

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Official Exam Fact Sheet & Direct Answer Snapshot

Verified IIM Convenor Normalization & Question Paper Blueprint

Fact-Checked Archive

Conducting Body

IIM Lucknow

Rotational Conv.

Format & Counts

46 MCQ • 20 TITA

Verified Questions

99%ile Benchmark

~76 Marks

38–40% Net Marks (out of 198)

Marking Scheme

+3 / -1 / 0

Zero TITA Penalty

CAT 2023 Slot 1 Question Paper & Answer Key: CAT 2023 Slot 1, convened by IIM Lucknow, established an elevated standard of quantitative and logical rigor. The 66-question paper required high accuracy, featuring complex algebra equations with modulus and exponents in QA, alongside intricate scheduling matrices in DILR. Verbal ability maintained 24 questions with two parajumbles and two paragraph completion problems. The 99.0 percentile score calibrated to 76 marks out of 198. ThinkCAT offers complete verified solutions and CBT mock testing for this paper.

Cross-verified against convenor response sheets by Team ThinkCATLast Audited: October 2026 • 1:1 TCS iON Simulator

CAT Direct Answer Fact Sheet & Citation Summary

Structured Knowledge Graph • Verified Academic Analysis

Updated for CAT 2026: 1 November 2026

Total Question Pool

66 Qs

46 MCQ + 20 TITA

99%ile Score Benchmark

75–78 Marks (out of 198, ~38–40% raw accuracy across all 3 sections)

Scoring Scheme

+3 / -1 / 0

Zero penalty on TITA

Testing Interface

TCS iON CBT

On-Screen Calc Enabled

IIM Exam Strategy & Score Maximization Directives

1Balanced Sectional Cutoffs: Aim for at least 80–85%ile in every individual section (QA, DILR, VARC) to clear the first-stage shortlist criteria for IIM BLACKI calls.

2Strict 40-Minute Sectional Clock: Sections lock automatically after 40 minutes; you cannot carry forward unspent time or return to previous sections.

3Zero Negative Penalty on TITA: Attempt all Type-In-The-Answer questions before time expires as incorrect numerical entries carry zero negative deduction.

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Editorial & Academic Authority: Verified by ThinkCAT Academic & Editorial Council.

Citation Format: ThinkCAT Academic Archive (thinkcat.in)

CAT 2023 Slot 1 Answer Key

Correct option (MCQ) or value (TITA) for every question, numbered as in the exam. Full solutions are in the questions below.

VARC

Q1C
Q2B
Q3C
Q4A
Q5A
Q6D
Q7D
Q8D
Q9C
Q10D
Q11D
Q12C
Q13D
Q14D
Q15C
Q16B
Q17B
Q18C
Q193
Q202
Q214123
Q224123
Q23D
Q24A

DILR

Q1C
Q2B
Q3D
Q4D
Q5B
Q60
Q70
Q83
Q94
Q10D
Q110
Q12200
Q13A
Q14B
Q15B
Q163
Q17A
Q18B
Q1921
Q20C

QA

Q1D
Q2C
Q3C
Q4B
Q53
Q66
Q72
Q8A
Q9A
Q10B
Q11D
Q12C
Q13A
Q14972
Q1520808
Q1627
Q17B
Q18D
Q192
Q20A
Q21A
Q2219

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Official Exam Questions & Explanations (25 of 66)

Sorted in official convenor sequence

Question 1 of 66

CAT 2023 Slot 1QAModern Math • LogarithmsModerate

x

and

y

are positive real numbers such that

\log_{x}\left(x^{2} + 12\right)=4

and

3 \log _{y} x=1

, then

x+y

equals

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Official Convenor Answer Key: D

Question 2 of 66

CAT 2023 Slot 1QANumber Systems • FactorisationModerate

Let

n

be the least positive integer such that 168 is a factor of

1134^n

. If m is the least positive integer such that

1134^{n}

. is a factor of

168^m

, then

m + n

equals

Practice More Questions

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Official Convenor Answer Key: C

Question 3 of 66

CAT 2023 Slot 1QAAlgebra • IdentitiesModerate

x

and

y

are real numbers such that

x^2 + (x - 2y − 1)^2 = - 4y(x + y)

, then the value

x - 2y

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Official Convenor Answer Key: C

Question 4 of 66

CAT 2023 Slot 1QAAlgebra • IndicesModerate

\sqrt{5x+9}+ \sqrt{5x-9} = 3(2+ \sqrt{2})

, then

\sqrt{10x + 9}

is equal to

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⌨️ Shortcuts:[1-4 / A-D] Select[Enter] Check[B] Star[S] Solution

Official Convenor Answer Key: B

Question 5 of 66

CAT 2023 Slot 1QAAlgebra • ModulusModerate

The number of integer solutions of equation

2|x|\left(x^{2} + 1\right)=5 x^{2}

TITA Answer:

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Official Convenor Answer Key: 3

Question 6 of 66

CAT 2023 Slot 1QAAlgebra • PolynomialsModerate

Let

\alpha

and

\beta

be the two distinct roots of the equation

2x^2 - 6x + k = 0

, such that

(\alpha + \beta)

and

\alpha \beta

are the distinct roots of the equation

x^2 + px + p = 0

. Then, the value of

8 (k - p)

TITA Answer:

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Official Convenor Answer Key: 6

Question 7 of 66

CAT 2023 Slot 1QAAlgebra • PolynomialsModerate

The equation

x^3 + (2r + 1)x^2 + (4r - 1)x + 2 = 0

has

- 2

as one of the roots. If the other two roots are real, then the minimum possible non-negative integer value of

r

TITA Answer:

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Official Convenor Answer Key: 2

Question 8 of 66

CAT 2023 Slot 1QAArithmetic • Time, Speed & DistanceModerate

The minor angle between the hours hand and minutes hand of a clock was observed at 8:48 am. The minimum duration, in minutes, after

8.48

am when this angle increases by

50 \%

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Official Convenor Answer Key: A

Question 9 of 66

CAT 2023 Slot 1QAArithmetic • Mixture & AlligationEasy

A mixture P is formed by removing a certain amount of coffee from a coffee jar and replacing the same amount with cocoa powder. The same amount is again removed from mixture

P

and replaced with same amount of cocoa powder to form a new mixture

Q

. If the ratio of coffee and cocoa in the mixture

Q

16: 9

, then the ratio of cocoa in mixture

P

to that in mixture

Q

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Official Convenor Answer Key: A

Question 10 of 66

CAT 2023 Slot 1QAArithmetic • Mean, Median & ModeHard

In an examination, the average marks of 4 girls and 6 boys is

24

. Each of the girls has the same marks while each of the boys has the same marks. If the marks of any girl is at most double the marks of any boy, but not less than the marks of any boy, then the number of possible distinct integer values of the total marks of 2 girls and 6 boys is

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Official Convenor Answer Key: B

Question 11 of 66

CAT 2023 Slot 1QANumber Systems • MiscellaneousModerate

Brishti went on an 8-hour trip in a car. Before the trip, the car had travelled a total of x km till then, where x is a whole number and is palindromic, i.e.,

x

remains unchanged when its digits are reversed. At the end of the trip, the car had traveled a total of

26862 \mathrm{~km}

till then, this number again being palindromic. If Brishti never drove at more than

110 \mathrm{~km} / \mathrm{hr}

, then the greatest possible average speed at which she drove during the trip, in km/hr, was

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Official Convenor Answer Key: D

Question 12 of 66

CAT 2023 Slot 1QAArithmetic • Profit & LossModerate

Gita sells two objects

A

and

B

at the same price such that she makes a profit of

20 \%

on object

A

and

a

loss of

10 \%

on object

B

. If she increases the selling price such that objects

A

and

B

are still sold at an equal price and a profit of

10 \%

is made on object

B

, then the profit made on object A will be nearest to

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Official Convenor Answer Key: C

Question 13 of 66

CAT 2023 Slot 1QAArithmetic • Ratio, Proportion & VariationEasy

The salaries of three friends Sita, Gita and Mita are initially in the ratio

5 : 6 : 7

, respectively. In the first year, they get salary hikes of

20\% , 25\%

and

20\%

, respectively. In the second year, Sita and Mita get salary hikes of

40\%

and

25\%

, respectively, and the salary of Gita becomes equal to the mean salary of the three friends. The salary hike of Gita in the second year is

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Official Convenor Answer Key: A

Question 14 of 66

CAT 2023 Slot 1QAArithmetic • Time, Speed & DistanceModerate

Arvind travels from town

A

to town

B

, and Surbhi from town B to town

A

, both starting at the same time along the same route. After meeting each other, Arvind takes 6 hours to reach town

B

while Surbhi takes 24 hours to reach town

A

. If Arvind travelled at a speed of

54 \mathrm{~km} / \mathrm{h}

, then the distance, in km, between town

A

and town

B

TITA Answer:

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Official Convenor Answer Key: 972

Question 15 of 66

CAT 2023 Slot 1QAArithmetic • Simple & Compound InterestModerate

Anil invests Rs. 22000 for 6 years in a certain scheme with

4 \%

interest per annum, compounded half-yearly. Sunil invests in the same scheme for 5 years, and then reinvests the entire amount received at the end of 5 years for one year at

10 \%

simple interest. If the amounts received by both at the end of 6 years are same, then the initial investment made by Sunil, in rupees, is

TITA Answer:

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Official Convenor Answer Key: 20808

Question 16 of 66

CAT 2023 Slot 1QAArithmetic • Time & WorkHard

The amount of job that Amal, Sunil and Kamal can individually do in a day, are in harmonic progression. Kamal takes twice as much time as Amal to do the same amount of job. If Amal and Sunil work for 4 days and 9 days, respectively, Kamal needs to work for 16 days to finish the remaining job. Then the number of days Sunil will take to finish the job working alone, is

TITA Answer:

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Official Convenor Answer Key: 27

Question 17 of 66

CAT 2023 Slot 1QAGeometry • QuadrilateralsHard

A quadrilateral

A B C D

is inscribed in a circle such that

A B: C D=2: 1

and

B C: A D=5: 4

. If

A C

and

B D

intersect at the point

E

, then

A E

C E

equals

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Official Convenor Answer Key: B

Question 18 of 66

CAT 2023 Slot 1QAGeometry • CirclesModerate

Let

C

be the circle

x^2 + y^2 + 4x - 6y - 3 = 0

and

L

be the locus of the point of intersection of a pair of tangents to

C

with the angle between the two tangents equal to

60°

. Then, the point at which

L

touches the line

x = 6

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Official Convenor Answer Key: D

Question 19 of 66

CAT 2023 Slot 1QAGeometry • TrianglesModerate

In a right-angled triangle

\triangle

A B C , the altitude

A B

5 \mathrm{~cm}

, and the base

B C

12 \mathrm{~cm}

P

and

Q

are two points on

B C

such that the areas of

\triangle \mathrm{ABP}, \triangle \mathrm{ABQ}

and

\triangle \mathrm{ABC}

are in arithmetic progression. If the area of

\triangle \mathrm{ABC}

1.5

times the area of

\triangle \mathrm{ABP}

, the length of PQ in cm , is

TITA Answer:

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Official Convenor Answer Key: 2

Question 20 of 66

CAT 2023 Slot 1QAAlgebra • Progression & SeriesModerate

For some positive and distinct real numbers

x, y

and

z

, if

\frac{1}{\sqrt{y} + \sqrt{z}}

is the arithmetic mean of

\frac{1}{\sqrt{x} + \sqrt{z}}

and

\frac{1}{\sqrt{x} + \sqrt{y}}

, then the relationship which will always hold true, is

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Official Convenor Answer Key: A

Question 21 of 66

CAT 2023 Slot 1QAModern Math • Permutation & CombinationModerate

The number of all natural numbers up to 1000 with non-repeating digits is

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Official Convenor Answer Key: A

Question 22 of 66

CAT 2023 Slot 1QAAlgebra • Progression & SeriesModerate

A lab experiment measures the number of organisms at 8am every day. Starting with 2 organisms on the first day, the number of organisms on any day is equal to 3 more than twice the number on the previous day. If the number of organisms on nth day exceeds one million, then the lowest possible value of

n

TITA Answer:

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Official Convenor Answer Key: 19

Question 23 of 66

CAT 2023 Slot 1DILRLogical Reasoning • ArrangementsEasy

Caselet / Problem Set Context•~203 words

Faculty members in a management school can belong to one of four departments – Finance and Accounting (F&A), Marketing and Strategy (M&S), Operations and Quants (O&Q) and Behaviour and Human Resources (B&H). The numbers of faculty members in F&A, M&S, O&Q and B&H departments are 9, 7, 5 and 3 respectively.

Prof. Pakrasi, Prof. Qureshi, Prof. Ramaswamy and Prof. Samuel are four members of the school's faculty who were candidates for the post of the Dean of the school. Only one of the candidates was from O&Q.

Every faculty member, including the four candidates, voted for the post. In each department, all the faculty members who were not candidates voted for the same candidate. The rules for the election are listed below.

There cannot be more than two candidates from a single department.

A candidate cannot vote for himself/herself.

Faculty members cannot vote for a candidate from their own department.

After the election, it was observed that Prof. Pakrasi received 3 votes, Prof. Qureshi received 14 votes, Prof. Ramaswamy received 6 votes and Prof. Samuel received 1 vote. Prof. Pakrasi voted for Prof. Ramaswamy, Prof. Qureshi for Prof. Samuel, Prof. Ramaswamy for Prof. Qureshi and Prof. Samuel for Prof. Pakrasi.

Which two candidates can belong to the same department?

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Official Convenor Answer Key: C

Question 24 of 66

CAT 2023 Slot 1DILRLogical Reasoning • ArrangementsEasy

Caselet / Problem Set Context•~203 words

There cannot be more than two candidates from a single department.

A candidate cannot vote for himself/herself.

Faculty members cannot vote for a candidate from their own department.

Which of the following can be the number of votes that Prof. Qureshi received from a single department?

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Official Convenor Answer Key: B

Question 25 of 66

CAT 2023 Slot 1DILRLogical Reasoning • ArrangementsEasy

Caselet / Problem Set Context•~203 words

There cannot be more than two candidates from a single department.

A candidate cannot vote for himself/herself.

Faculty members cannot vote for a candidate from their own department.

If Prof. Samuel belongs to B&H, which of the following statements is/are true?

Statement A: Prof. Pakrasi belongs to M&S. Statement B: Prof. Ramaswamy belongs to O&Q.

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Official Convenor Answer Key: D

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Frequently Asked Questions about CAT 2023 Slot 1 Question Paper & Answer Key

What was the total score and question pattern in CAT 2023 Slot 1?

CAT 2023 Slot 1 was conducted by IIM Lucknow during the Morning Session (8:30 AM – 10:30 AM IST). It featured 66 questions across VARC, DILR, and Quantitative Aptitude. Marking was +3 marks for correct answers and -1 for wrong MCQs (0 for TITA). An estimated score of 76 marks was required for 99.0th percentile.

What was the difficulty level and key highlights of CAT 2023 Slot 1?

High Difficulty (IIM Lucknow Signature Rigor, Dense Quant). Standout themes included: Dense Sociology RC passages, Multi-layer scheduling DILR, Tough Algebra and Modulus QA.

Can I practice CAT 2023 Slot 1 under real timed exam conditions?

Yes! You can launch the free ThinkCAT TCS iON CBT Mock Simulator on this page. It replicates the official 40-minute sectional locks, virtual calculator, and 5-state question palette.

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CAT 2023 Slot 1 Question Paper & Answer Key

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CAT 2023 Slot 1 Answer Key

VARC

DILR

QA

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Frequently Asked Questions about CAT 2023 Slot 1 Question Paper & Answer Key

What was the total score and question pattern in CAT 2023 Slot 1?

What was the difficulty level and key highlights of CAT 2023 Slot 1?

Can I practice CAT 2023 Slot 1 under real timed exam conditions?

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