There's no way: you cannot compare the top two numbers. All comparisons' results will be the same if those two were switched.

There's no way: you cannot compare the top two numbers. All comparisons' results will be the same if those two were switched.

With the new question, yes, it is possible. Say the numbers are secretly (a) to (f), where "a" is the highest and "f" is the lowest.There are six possible comparisons:

ab[cd]e  
ab[cd]f  
ab[ce]f  
ab[de]f 
ac[de]f  
bc[de]f  

The sets of two distinguished elements have one pair that appears exactly once (c and e), and one pair that appears exactly twice (c and d). The set of three undistinguished elements is the same in all three of these trials, except for one of them; the element that is in two of these three sets is the lowest-ranked element.

There's no way: you cannot compare the top two numbers. To be helpful, a comparison must include both of them, but those comparisons just tell you that none of them are in third or fourth place. (In fact, you cannot distinguish the top two from the bottom number either. None of them will be returned by any comparisons.)

There's no way: you cannot compare the top two numbers. All comparisons' results will be the same if those two were switched.