Setup and Rule Diagrams

[Dave Killoran]

Setup and Rule Diagram Explanation

This is a Defined, Unbalanced: Underfunded Linear game.

The game is Underfunded because three division tours—O, P, and S—must be toured five times (3 into 5). The Underfunded aspect leads to a Numerical Distribution:


Because S is toured exactly twice and each division is toured at least once, the five tours are distributed among the three divisions in a 2-2-1 partially fixed distribution. The distribution is partially fixed since S is toured twice, but the remaining three tours are assigned to P or O in a 2-1 unfixed distribution:

J0_Game_#3_setup_diagram 1.png

• One of the challenges of the game is to keep track of the distribution of O and P.

Initially, most students diagram the game as follows:

J0_Game_#3_setup_diagram 2.png

Because S is toured twice and the tours are consecutive, the placement options of the SS block are limited to four positions: Monday-Tuesday, Tuesday-Wednesday, Wednesday-Thursday, and Thursday-Friday. These four options split the game in four directions and are the basis for Identifying the Templates:

J0_Game_#3_setup_diagram 3.png

Although it is not necessary to number each template during the game, we do so here for purposes of the discussion to follow. Let us examine each template in greater detail:

• 1. SS on Mon-Tue: Since P cannot be toured on Wednesday, and the two tours of S are already scheduled, it can be inferred that O is toured on Wednesday. The only uncertain days are Thursday and Friday. Since neither can be S, O/P options have been placed on each. Note, however, that there are several possibilities for Thursday and Friday, such as O-P, P-O, and P-P. O-O is impossible because of the last rule.
  
  2. SS on Tue-Wed: Since O cannot be toured on Monday, and the two tours of S are already scheduled, it can be inferred that P is toured on Monday. The only uncertain days are Thursday and Friday. Since neither can be S, dual O/P options have been placed on each. There are only two possibilities for Thursday and Friday, O-P and P-O. O-O is impossible because of the last rule, and P-P is impossible since O must be toured at least once during the five days.
  
  3. SS on Wed-Thu: Since O cannot be toured on Monday, and the two tours of S are already scheduled, it can be inferred that P is toured on Monday. The only uncertain days are Tuesday and Friday. Since neither can be S, O/P options have been placed on each. There are three possibilities for Tuesday and Friday, O-P, P-O, and O-O. P-P is impossible since O must be toured at least once during the five days.
  
  4. SS on Thu-Fri: Since O cannot be toured on Monday, and the two tours of S are already scheduled, it can be inferred that P is toured on Monday. Since P cannot be toured on Wednesday, it can be inferred that O is toured on Wednesday. The only uncertain day is Tuesday, which has either tour O or P.

This setup highlights the difference between Identify the Templates and Identify the Possibilities: The templates capture the four major directions of the game but do not map out every single possibility. With the templates in hand, there is sufficient information to attack the questions effectively.

When using the templates, you simply need to scan each to find the correct information. The questions will naturally direct you towards using some templates and away from using others.

[FK00144]

in hwk 7 for the on demand books i'm having trouble with the setup and explanation for game #3 for june 2000 on pg. 7-86.

firstly, i don't understand how they got the task-to-days numerical distribution found in the game explanation
secondly, I'm confused on how to diagram the day component

If ya'll could diagram the game and explain it in a different way than the book does i'd be really grateful.

Faith

[Adam Tyson]

Hey there, Faith, although that is Game 3 in our homework, it is actually Game 4 on that test. The thread for the setup of that game is here: lsat/viewtopic.php?f=288&t=8601&p=63608#p63608

Take a look at that thread for our response!

[HarryK]

Hi Powerscore,

I am a bit confused by the scenario of this game (Operations, Production, Sales...)
Doesn't LSAC have to tell us that in each tour only one division is visited at a time?
I am not sure why we can assume that in each tour only one division is visited.

Thanks,
Harry

[Stephanie Oswalt]

Hi Harry!

Thanks for the post! I have moved your question to the thread discussing this game. Please review the above explanation, and let us know if that helps!

[HarryK]

Hi,

I've read the explanation and I get how to solve this game.
But I still don't understand why we can just assume that each tour tours only one division.
Can't it be that in one tour, you tour two or three divisions at once?

Please clarify this for me,
Harry

[Adam Tyson]

Interesting question, Harry. I suppose the answer is that if a single tour could cover multiple divisions, the game would make no sense and would be unsolvable? The answers to the first question are all about "the division" that is toured on a given days, not "a division" or "the divisions."

I think the authors thought it was inherent in the description, and I think most students would have seen it that way too, but you are right that it is a little open to interpretation in the diagramming stage and is only truly clear once you get to the questions. They should have included in the scenario "each tour is of only one division," or something like that. Without that restriction, all of the answers to the first question are possible and so none are correct, and that is a dead giveaway that we may have misinterpreted the rules.

[jailenea]

Based on rule 4, creating an SS block, I immediately thought about the 4 ways that could play out. Nonetheless, in the interest of time (not only in this scenario, but overall), how should we evaluate writing out these templates when there are more than 3? When is it more vs less worth it to do so?

[Adam Tyson]

A few factors can come into play jailenea, when deciding whether templates are worthwhile in a given game, One is the number of questions: if there are a few more questions than there are templates, that's a good indication that they would be worth doing. If this game had, say, 6 or 7 questions, with only four templates, the decision to do them would be clear. But this game has only 5 questions, so that isn't the justification we would use in this case.

Another factor is how complete the templates will likely be. We may not know at first glance that they will fill up as much as these do, but given how tightly restricted Monday and Wednesday are, it seems to be a good bet that the templates will be fairly full once we get them all laid out. When that's the case, four templates for five questions will prove to be a good investment, as they will answer every question quickly and easily. If there was only the SS rule, without those other restrictions, I'm not sure this would be worth doing. Certainly it would be less valuable.

Finally, there's the element of "what else have you got?" In this game, if you don't do the templates, you're left with a very empty main diagram that has few inferences. I know I am going to need more information at some point, so if it's a choice between having almost no inferences and having four templates that give me a lot to work with, I'll choose in favor of more info every time. Some folks fear taking the time to invest in them, but the time saved in the long run is almost always greater than the time spent.

To get more comfortable with making that decision, try attacking a dozen games in a row (not all at one sitting) in which you start with the assumption that you will do templates for all of them. Don't hesitate or worry about that choice, just go for it. When you're done, you'll have found that some of them paid off a lot, even if there were more than three templates, while others were clearly not good candidates for that approach. See what you learn from that drill about what does and does not make for a good templates game, so that when you encounter one you will be more likely to know it when you see it!