Grouping Games with Subcategories

[Stephanie Oswalt]

Hello!

We recently received the following question from a student. An instructor will respond below. Thank you!

Hi Powerscore team,

I have a question for you.

I am doing well on most kinds of logic games, but I sometimes get stuck on grouping games that involve subcategories. For instance:

Preptest 23, Game 3 (Exactly six of seven researchers)
Preptest 33, Game 4 (From among ten stones)
Preptest 40, Game 4 (something involving raccoons)
Preptest 42, Game 1 (botanists, chemists, zoologists)
Preptest 60, Game 4 (A travel magazine has hired six interns)

Can you please provide me with a list of similar games (i.e. grouping games with subcategories), provide some tips on this type of game, and suggest study strategies for this type of game (above and beyond simply repeating the games)?

Thanks,

[Dave Killoran]

Hi,

There are a reasonable number of games like this, but one thing I can note is that several of the games on your list are simply just hard games, subcategories or not. A few are on our list of hardest games ever: Killer LG: The Hardest LSAT Logic Games of All Time. And I recognize several others on your list as known hard games. So, while I think subcategories add a definite extra level of difficulty in many cases, some of these are also just innately difficult games.

These aren't exact in all respects nor is this list complete since some games are borderline in terms of how they would fit here, but these should be in the vein you are looking for:

• PrepTest #11, June 1994, Game 3 (Housing Committee)
  PrepTest #12, October 1994, Game 2 (Canoeing Trip)
  PrepTest #14, February 1995, Game 3 (Caged Birds)
  PrepTest #15, June 1995, Game 4 (Plumbers)
  PrepTest #17, December 1995, Game 2 (Office committees)
  PrepTest #18, December 1992, Game 4 (Law Prognostics)
  PrepTest #19, June 1996, Game 3 (Boats)
  PrepTest #21, December 1996, Game 1 (Students/Rooms)
  PrepTest #22, June 1997, Game 1 (Benefit Dinner)
  PrepTest #24, December 1997, Game 4 (Illness Treatments)
  PrepTest #25, June 1998, Game 2 (Tourists/Guides)
  PrepTest #26, September 1998, Game 4 (Panel Members)
  PrepTest #35, October 2001, Game 1 (Astronauts)
  PrepTest #37, June 2002, Game 3 (Book Shelves)
  PrepTest #50, September 2006, Game 2 (School Committee)
  PrepTest #52, September 2007, Game 2 (Field Trip)
  PrepTest #65, December 2011, Game 3 (Luncheon Foods)
  PrepTest #67, October 2012, Game 1 (Speeches)
  PrepTest #75, June 2015, Game 1 (Department Bonuses)

Largely this is about tracking an extra element, another set of variables in a sense. That's inherently more work and more to juggle.

To have a more in-depth discussion, can you tell me what materials you have of ours? That might allow me to refer you to certain items to read. Thanks!