Hi Katie,
Ok, that helps. This is a topic that's actually addressed in a number of different places, often in relation to specific questions. So, let me pull together a few thoughts for you here, and tie them together so it makes sense.
Global Must questions will typically fall into one of two categories: positive placement statements ("A must be in the Forestry group" or "B must be first or third") or negative placement statements ("C cannot be a member of the Parks group" or "D cannot be third").
The positive placement statements are critical: they usually reflect significant inferences in the game, and to move forward without knowing the answer can often cause problems on subsequent questions. The hope is always that the inference in question was one that you saw during the setup, but what if it wasn't? There are several basic ways to handle these questions:
- 1. Refer back to the List question that hopefully was first on the game. The correct answer to a List question typically provides a complete, workable solution to the game, and as such they can be used to eliminate incorrect answers in Global Must questions. This should always be your first step, since it's essentially piggybacking on earlier work you've already done, in a question type that is historically easy. This is usually good for eliminating an answer or two.
2. Check the Local question stems in the game to see if any information is provided that helps eliminate an answer. for example, an answer to a Global Must question might say, "A is always third." but if the question stem to #6 starts, "If A is fourth..." then you know that answer is incorrect. This sometimes but not always helps eliminate an answer.
3. Solve the Local questions, including those that come after the Global Must question; return to the Global Must question after each Local question to see if any information learned applies. Many Local questions require some level of work next to the problem, and consequently they provide insights into what must occur in a game. In that way, you work towards solving a specific problem (the Local one) but also help gain broader insights into the game, which then helps answer your Global question.
4. Use hypotheticals in your Global Must question to test whether an answer has to occur. Obviously, this is the most time-consuming (although also most direct) method, so we typically want to save this for last, after a few easy incorrect answers have been knocked out.
The interesting thing about the list above is that it is in order of application. You can take each step without undercutting any of the other steps, and the ease of application and time efficiency of each step is greater for the earlier steps, which is why we want to take them first.
The negative placement statements are usually (not always) far less critical, and typically can be as small as identifying a Not Law all the way up to identifying a major negative in the game. After checking your main setup to see if you identified the negative, you then typically take the same steps as above:
- 1. Refer back to the List question that hopefully was first on the game. The correct answer to a List question typically provides a complete, workable solution to the game, and as such they can be used to eliminate incorrect answers in Global Must questions.
2. Check the Local question stems in the game to see if any information is provided that helps eliminate an answer. for example, an answer to a Global Must question might say, "A is never third." but if the question stem to #6 starts, "If A is third..." then you know that answer is incorrect. This sometimes but not always helps eliminate an answer.
3. Solve the Local questions, including those that come after the Global Must question; return to the Global Must question after each Local question to see if any information learned applies. Many Local questions require some level of work next to the problem, and consequently they provide insights into what must occur in a game. In that way, you work towards solving a specific problem (the Local one) but also help gain broader insights into the game, which then helps answer your Global question.
4. Use hypotheticals in your Global Must question to test whether an answer cannot occur. Obviously, this is the most time-consuming (although also most direct) method, so we typically want to save this for last, after a few easy incorrect answers have been knocked out.
These are questions where if you see it during the setup, the question is often easy. But if you don't, you have to go into a kind of triage mode that is designed to help uncover the possible answer step-by-step.
Please let me know if that helps a bit!
Keep in mind also that whether the questions is Global or Local will impact how you solve these problems. Local question often do require a mini-diagram whereas Global Must Be True questions often don't. That's one tipoff as to what direction you might take. But a full discussion of this would run many pages, and is beyond the scope of this forum so please let me know what materials of ours you are using and I can direct you more specifically from here. 