September 1995 LSAT

[Aimeeing]

'm sorry - I wrote my last post from work (without my September '95 exam in front of me). The question from the Logic Games section that I had the biggest problem with was number 18 (not number six). Again, I also had a great deal of difficulty with the entire fourth game. I'd appreciate any tips on how to think about #18 (I probably am missing a key inference) or how to go about the fourth game.

[Jon Denning]

Thanks for the question. That fourth game is an interesting one, as it's a Pattern Game: the rule are fairly broad/general and apply more or less to all of the variables equally. Like most Pattern games this one has a minimal setup. One of the most critical inferences to recognize is that one team does not participate in each round. For instance, in an odd-position round, the team in position 1 does not play, and in an even-position round the team in 5 does not play. So if only one even-positioned round has been played, then L in 5 has not played and must stay in 5. You can also use this to think about the prior round: for the first and fifth positions there are only two options, as 1 must have come from position 1 or 2, and 5 must have come from position 4 or 5.

So not a lot of initial setup, but by recognizing the inference discussed above and simply following the general patterns given you should be able to move through the questions without too much difficulty. Thanks!