Setup and Rule Diagrams

[Dave Killoran]

Setup and Rule Diagram Explanation

This is a Basic Linear: Unbalanced: Overloaded game.

J92_Game_#1_setup_diagram 1.png

The A-E grades are chosen for the base in this game because they have an inherent sense of order (note that “E” was likely chosen by the test makers instead of the traditional “F” grade in order to make this linear order more obvious). However, this base has a unique, flexible nature where some of the grades do not necessarily have to be assigned. If, for example, John receives all A’s and B’s, then no grades of C, D, or E will be assigned. There are many other options as well, for example John could receive grades A through D, but no E grade. Or, in a different order, there might be no B grade, or no C grade. This flexibility in grade assignment makes the game much harder, especially because there are already more courses (six) than grades (five). Thus, we have at least a six-courses-into-five-grades relationship, but the five grades can be fewer depending on the circumstance.

A few notes about the rules:

• • The first and last rules combine to form a GP block. This block yields a P Not Law on A, and a G Not Law on E.
  
  • The second rule forms a rotating I R block, but because I or R could have the higher grade, no Not Laws can be drawn.
  
  • The third rule creates an E H sequence, and this creates an H Not Law on A, and an E Not Law on E.

The three rule formations are wholly separate, and at the outset can overlap. Thus, all the grades could be A’s and B’s, or all the grades could be C’s and D’s, etc. Because of the nature of the flexible grading, the Not Laws could also move if certain grades are removed from consideration. For example, if No A’s are received, the P and H Not Laws on A would “slide” over to B. In short, while the setup to this game is quite easy, the questions can be made quite tricky because of all the options for grades and courses.

[Osa]

Is it also ok to infer that Economics and History are also consecutive? There are six variables of which we know that 2 pairs (Geography and Physics; Italian and Russian) are consecutive. Shouldn't the last two be consecutive as well?

Also what if one of the rules is modified, say for instance E&H are consecutive but I&R are not consecutive.. will it be right to infer that G&P are consecutive...Just thinking out loud.

[Nikki Siclunov]

Hi Osa,

Thanks for your question!

The rule about E and H states that E > H. So, E and H need not be consecutive; all we know is that E must receive a higher grade than H. Perhaps you are assuming a 1-1 distribution between courses and letter grades, so that each course receives a different grade. This is not warranted, as there could be as few as two grades on John's transcript (as long as they are both consecutive), or as many as all five. Not all of the grades need to be used; we also have no specified limit on the number of courses that could receive a particular grade.

The answer to your second question is - no, for the reasons outlined above.

Let me know if this clears things up!

Thanks

[Kristina Moen]

... TWO LETTER GRADES ARE CONSECUTIVE IF AND ONLY IF THEY ARE ADJACENT IN THE ALPHABET. ( ***Does this mean that A could only possibly be next to B and B only next to C or A and so on?)

I managed to produce a set up and the not laws and answer the first question correctly. However, I was very confused with that wording and felt that it would be better to get clarity. It seems that the information in all caps above is ore or less indicating how the base of the setup is to be written (A B C D E). Is this right?

Also, the numerical distribution seems to be very flexible here. For example, he receives the same letter grade in more than just one course i.e. (E in Russian and history would necessarily mean a D in both Italian and Economics ((this question specifically stated that the grade in economics was the same as Italian.))

Is this a common occurrence?

This is a Basic Linear game. You are putting six variables (EGHIPR) in order of five grades (ABCDE, where "A" is higher than "E"). You are correct in your interpretation of the sentence "TWO LETTER GRADES ARE CONSECUTIVE IF AND ONLY IF THEY ARE ADJACENT IN THE ALPHABET." Basically, there are no grades of B+, C-, etc. So if they give you a rule like "His grades in Italian and Russian are consecutive," that means that they have to be next to each other on the alphabet (A & B, B & C, etc.). The test makers are trying to think of a clever scenario for what is basically a linear game. Yes, you will encounter this wording in other games.

The one catch to this game is the one you mentioned - it is overloaded. There are 6 classes and only five grades. Additionally, not every grade must be assigned. So the numerical distribution is quite flexible (although the rules hem in it a bit! Clearly he can't receive straight As!).

Good job with this game!

[fmihalic1477]

I'm working on number two and I was able to work out the correct answer. However, I want to make sure that I full understand the process behind this answer.

2.) If John passes all his courses and receives a higher grade in geology than in either language, which one of the following must be true?

Answer : D (He receives at least one B and one C).

This is correct because, at worst, he could receive an A in G, with B's in P, I and E, finished with C's in H and R.

This is possible? The taking out of E in this particular question creates a very fluid scenario as far as the distribution.

[David Boyle]

I'm working on number two and I was able to work out the correct answer. However, I want to make sure that I full understand the process behind this answer.

2.) If John passes all his courses and receives a higher grade in geology than in either language, which one of the following must be true?

Answer : D (He receives at least one B and one C).

This is correct because, at worst, he could receive an A in G, with B's in P, I and E, finished with C's in H and R.

This is possible? The taking out of E in this particular question creates a very fluid scenario as far as the distribution.

Hello fmihalic1477,

I am not sure what you mean by "at worst"; John could receive for geology either an A or a B. (Getting a C is impossible, since Italian and Russian must be below geology.) So, if he got an A in geology, Italian and Russian could be in either B and C, or C and D. And P would be a B, too.
But if he got a B in geology, then P would be a C, and Italian/Russian would be C and D. So in any case, answer D is correct, about getting at least one B and C.

Hope this helps,
David

[S_Hernandez52]

This question on the LSAT Game Type Training has me stumped. Hoping to get a set up help since the phrase. Two letter grades are consecutive if and only if they are adjacent in the alphabet. I know that this means that there is a , but still confused. Hoping to get some clarity to correctly diagram this question. Thanks!

[Charlie Melman]

Hi S,

This is an old and unusual game. The 'adjacent in the alphabet' thing is an artificial difficulty that I wouldn't expect on future LSATs. There's no way to concisely diagram that rule, and you don't really need to diagram it at all. They're just defining what "consecutive" means: a letter is consecutive with another letter if, and only if, it comes directly before that other letter or directly after it in the alphabet. So D is consecutive with C and E. Since this is pretty intuitive, I wouldn't spend time diagramming it.

If you want to see the visual representation of this rule, it is:

(Consecutive) (Adjacent in the alphabet).

The rest of the rules are normal sequencing rules.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you have further questions.

[Dave Killoran]

Hey S,

I personally am a huge fan of this game. It's the exact kind of game that could appear on the test these days, and the shifty nature of the base would throw lots of people off. When this game was administered in June 1992, it blew a bunch of people out of the water, but once you lock on to concept of how the base can "accordian," this game gets fairly easy. So, first takeaway here is that you should study this game closely and make sure you understand it perfectly—make sure you could explain it to a friend seamlessly, for example. Because this is the exact type of unusual thing the test makers are tossing out there these days.

The basic setup to this game isn't all the complex. It's a simple Linear diagram of A-B-C-D-E, with Not Laws under A for P and H, and under E for G and E.

However, this base has a unique, flexible nature where some of the grades do not necessarily have to be assigned. If, for example, John receives all As and Bs, then no grades of C, D, or E will be assigned. There are many other options as well, for example John could receive grades A through D, but no E grade. Or, in a different order, there might be no B grade, or no C grade. This flexibility in grade assignment makes the game much harder, especially because there are already more courses (six) than grades (five). Thus, we have at least a six-courses-into-five-grades relationship, but the five grades can be fewer depending on the circumstance

Please let me know if that helps. Thanks!

[medialaw111516]

Hi,

So when I got to this game, I wasn't even able to identify that it was just a basic linear game but overloaded. I started to think it was advanced and made a diagram to keep track of both variable but then that didn't make sense when I got down to the questions. What was it that I missed in the information for the set up that should have been my clue about what type of game this is? So lost!