Setup and Rule Diagrams

[Dave Killoran]

Hi Hyun,

This is a Mapping-Supplied Diagram game, but like most Mapping games, this one is really about Grouping.

Please let me know if that helps. Thanks!

[tug59567]

How should I set up this game; should I stick with the diagram they present us or try to create my own? I struggled to figure out how to represent the rule saying, "universities are located in two cities that do not share a common boundary" while creating a set-up using the typical routine.

Thank you!

[Adam Tyson]

I would suggest setting it up exactly as LSAC did, which helps us to see which cities have common boundaries and which ones do not. There are a few games out there, like this one, where they just give us the best setup right in the description of the game, and we should accept that gift!

[atrabuccojr]

Is rule #1 a common rule when provided with a diagram? This rule confused me because I never considered the possibility that, in a grouping game, you could have an element that straddles the line. Why would they include this rule? Just to confuse you? Should I just ignore it? Is it ever going to be a possibility that an element is literally between two groups? It's kind of infuriating.

[Adam Tyson]

Pretty much every game has some kind of limiting language like that, atrabuccojr! It may be subtle, but when they say things like "each item occupies exactly one space" or "one at a time," they are telling you about things that cannot happen (an item occupying more than one space, things happening simultaneously, etc.) So this restriction is necessary because you are never supposed to make assumptions, and without that rule it would be possible for a university, for example, to straddle city lines. Think that's weird? Lemme tell ya about an actual amusement park that is located partially in North Carolina and partially in South Carolina! If that's a real thing, why not a jail or hospital straddling a border?

This kind of specificity and clarity is the language that lawyers deal with every day, so it's no surprise to find it on the LSAT. Start learning that language, and remember never to make assumptions when attacking logic games!

[rjulien91]

Does this first rule (No institution is in more than one of the cities) mean no one institution can be in two cities at once? So one specific H cannot overlap two cities at once?

[Adam Tyson]

That's exactly what it means, rjulien91! Without that rule, a Hospital, or a Jail, or a University might straddle a border and be in two different cities at the same time. See my response earlier in this thread about limiting language like that, which is found in most games.