Logic Games Workbook, Advanced Linear Practice Drill #8

[Demonjoe93]

Hello, I had a question about the eighth game in the Advanced Linear Setup Practice Drill in the 2016 edition of the Logic Games Workbook (page 48). There is a particular rule in this game that I can't figure out. Here is the specific game and rule I am referring to:

A movie Cineplex has four movie theaters--Theater 1, 2, 3, and 4-at which eight films-O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, and V-are currently being screened. For the next week, each theater will screen exactly two films, in accordance with the following conditions:
S will be screened in a lower-numbered theater than T.

The rule in bold is the one that's giving me trouble. Now, when I first did this, I had it as S > T (as in, S is before T) because S is a lower number. However, the answer key is telling me that it's the other way around; that is, it's T > S. As I understand it, lower usually means left (and higher right), and that the only time lower should mean to the right is if the game is doing rankings, such as grades or race positions (e.g., lower grade, lower finishing position); however, the game merely brings up numbered theaters, not eluding to any sort of ranking system.

Could someone please explain to me what I am missing here?

[Claire Horan]

Hi DemonJoe93,

I think the best practice would be to write that rule as S<T. This is more correct because it preserves the number sense of S being a lower number than T. It is important in this question that "<" means "less than" because this question's rules allow for two movies in the same theater, so there could be "=" and ">" too.

S<T is also aligned with the convention that you use of writing lower numbers from left to right. (Note, though, that it would be completely fine to orient games vertically instead, and writing T>S isn't really wrong, it's just not as good for the way most people orient their diagram.)

I hope this answer was helpful!

-Claire

[Demonjoe93]

Thank you! What I just don't understand is why the answer key says that T is before S when S is lower-numbered and T is higher-numbered because of the not-laws the answer key puts down. According to the answer key, T cannot go in theater 4 and S cannot go in theater 1. If the rule establishes that S is in a lower-numbered theater than T, than how could this not-law be established?

[Nikki Siclunov]

Hey Demonjoe,

Thanks for your question. This is actually a known error in that edition of the Logic Games Bible Workbook, which has been fixed in the later-2016 edition. Here's the revised version of this drill item:

A movie Cineplex with four theaters—1, 2, 3, and 4—must screen eight films—O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, and V. Each theater screens exactly two films, and each film is screened in exactly one theater. The following conditions apply:
Q is screened in Theater 2.
O and P are screened in the same theater as each other.
S is screened in a higher-numbered theater than T.

With this rule set, we can diagram the last rule as T S (or, alternatively, T > S).

Hope this helps, and sorry about the confusion!

Thanks,