Setup and Rule Diagrams

[dripgal]

Hello!


I totally understand the setup now that it has been clarified that G and K cannot touch, they need an H separator. I also do understand that this inference springs from the first rule, "the team must work for at least one month at headquarters between any two months working at different mines."

However, could someone please explain the wording to me? I understood this rule to mean that since the team must work for "at least" one month, there need only be one or more blocks that are GHK or KHG, rather than understanding that G and K are forbidden to touch.

Also, a quick question on this same rule - Just to clarify, does the rule mean that there is no issue with blocks that have an h between the same mine, such as GhG or KhK?


Thank you so much!

[Jeremy Press]

Hi dripgal,

What you're missing about the rule is the proper interpretation of the word "any," i.e. "[t]he team must work for at least one month at headquarters between any two months working at different mines."

What that means is that any time there are two months where the team switches from Grayson mine to Krona mine (or vice versa), there must be a month working at headquarters between those two months. Practically speaking, then, what that means is the team can never work at Grayson mine, then Krona mine (or vice versa). A headquarters month must always intervene between G and K (or K and G).

Since the rule doesn't speak to situations where the team works two months at the same mine, it would (as you note) hypothetically allow you to have a GHG, or a KHK, ordering, so long as that ordering is possible in light of all the other constraints on the game.

I hope this helps!

Jeremy

[litigationqueen]

This game stumped me. For some reason I thought GHG was not allowed based on the first rule saying that at least one month of headquarters is needed between two DIFFERENT mines. Did I misunderstand the rule? Please advise, thanks!

[Rachael Wilkenfeld]

Be careful with your reading of the rules, litqueen. Just because rule one establishes that we need H between any two different mines doesn't mean that's the ONLY place we use H. This game gives us rules about when H must occur, but not rules that limit when H can occur.

Think about this similarly phrased rule: My dog must wash up between running in mud and coming in the house. That doesn't mean that my dog ONLY washes up between running through mud and coming in the house. I would also require my dog to wash up after getting sprayed by a skunk. Just like the first rule in this game, this rule governs when my dog has to wash up, but doesn't limit when my dog is allowed to wash up.

Hope that helps!
Rachael

[litigationqueen]

Be careful with your reading of the rules, litqueen. Just because rule one establishes that we need H between any two different mines doesn't mean that's the ONLY place we use H. This game gives us rules about when H must occur, but not rules that limit when H can occur.

Think about this similarly phrased rule: My dog must wash up between running in mud and coming in the house. That doesn't mean that my dog ONLY washes up between running through mud and coming in the house. I would also require my dog to wash up after getting sprayed by a skunk. Just like the first rule in this game, this rule governs when my dog has to wash up, but doesn't limit when my dog is allowed to wash up.

Hope that helps!
Rachael

Hi Racheal,

I understand the placement of H, and I had no issue placing H at various positions on my board. However, my issue lies with my understanding of the word DIFFERENT in Rule 1. This led me to believe that GHG was not allowed so I read the rule as if only GHK/KHG was allowed as a sequence when H was placed. I don't want to misread the meaning of adjectives on the LSAT so how can I avoid this mistake?

Thank you,
Michelle

[Jeremy Press]

Hi Michelle,

"Different" modifies mines. So the term "different" means that for the rule to trigger, the mines at either end of the block must be different from each other, and not the same as each other (i.e., G then K, or K then G). Your GHG block has the company working at the same mine in the first and the third months of that block. After all, from the scenario, there's only one Grayson mine (that may be the source of your misunderstanding?). In other words, the company goes to Grayson mine first, then to headquarters, then back to the same mine (Grayson) in the third month. So, the rule just doesn't apply because the outer edges of that block are the same mine. For future games, don't assume that each variable you slot on a line is a "different" entity. Those variables might be the same entity depending on the scenario you've been presented with. Since the scenario describes the company working "for three months at Grayson mine," each of the three times G appears on the line, they're referring to the same mine. I don't think we can say much more about it than that, but let me know if this still doesn't hit the mark?

I hope this helps!

[glasann]

How much by way of inferences would you have actually written out on test day?

I barely had any inferences along the baseline when I was doing this under timed conditions of the practice test. All I realized immediately was that H had to be in September. The questions were easy once I got going and realized how the game played out, but now in retrospect, I'm wondering if I should have pushed to see more in the upfront.

Definitely reminds me of the mulch and stone loads.

[Jeremy Press]

Hi glasann,

Good question! The one extra inference (in addition to H in September) that would've been simple enough to make and helpful in answering questions is that K is in November. The route to that inference is in seeing that only H or K could possibly be in November (since G can't, from the first rule). But using another H in November creates the problem of only having one remaining H for the first 5 months. That would force that H smack in the middle of the K's and G's, and would force three G's to be consecutive in June/July/August (violating the second rule). So H cannot be in November, making it a K by default. Other than that, I think you can get through the questions fairly efficiently just with an accurate representation of the base and the rules.

I hope this helps!

[imckenz2003]

Hi,

I realize that one of the things I am doing wrong in this game is by placing H at the beginning of the sequence. I guess I just don't understand how putting H at the beginning of the sequence is violating any rules or causing any problems. When I put H at the beginning of the sequence this is what i am getting...

H MM H MM H MM
In this sequence, a Grayson Mine still ends up in August, Krona Mine still ends up in October, headquarters still ends up showing up 3 times, and there aren't any violations with there being too many mines in a row that show up. So I guess im just confused why this is wrong. Its because of this that im stuck on 16 and 17. For some reason I was also able to come up with 6 different solutions instead of just 4 which is also bothering me because there just seems to be so many different solutions. I guess im just confused how to narrow this game down to certainties which is making me a little nervous. Thanks for your help in advance.

[Adam Tyson]

The problem with your setup, imckenz2003 , is that you are treating the two mines as being interchangeable when you show a "MM" block. But they are not interchangeable because you cannot put a G next to a K! That would violate the rule about spending a month at Headquarters between any two months spent at different mines.

To flesh that out in your setup, let's say those last two mines (October and November) are both K, and the two mines at July and August are G (and these pairs would have to be true because the original rules require G in August and K in October). That leaves one G and one K left to place. That's "two months at different mines," triggering the rule that there must be an H between them. But you've placed them next to each other in April and May in violation of that rule.

The variables are GGG, KKK, and HHH, and you can never have GGG all in a row, can never have KKK all in a row, and can never have GK or KG in a block. Using an H on an end (March or November) will waste it, making it impossible to comply with all of those other rules!