#24 - Global, Could Be True

[Dave Killoran]

Complete Question Explanation
(The complete setup for this game can be found here: lsat/viewtopic.php?t=11303)

The correct answer choice is (C)

The hypothetical produced in question #23 proves that answer choice (C) is possible, and thus answer choice (C) is correct.

Answer choice (A) is incorrect because if Nikki’s spring sport is M, then Otto’s fall sport must be R, meaning his spring sport could not also be R.

Answer choice (B) is incorrect because if Nikki’s spring sport is R, then her fall sport must be M, which is in conflict with the remainder of this answer choice which specifies that her summer sport is also M.

Answer choice (D) is incorrect because if Otto’s fall sport is M, then Nikki’s fall sport must be R, which conflicts with the remainder of this answer choice which specifies that her spring sport is also R.

Answer choice (E) is incorrect because in this answer choice both Nikki and Otto participate in M in seasons other than fall. Yet, from our setup we know that either Nikki or Otto must participate in M during the fall.

[wwarui]

Hello,

Please explain why Question 24's answer is C.
Thank you.

[BethRibet]

Hi wwarui,

Thanks for the question! Applying the rules as given provides us the following information:

First, since the only options in winter are hockey and volleyball, Otto's summer sport is volleyball, the two do not participate in the same sport in the same season, and each child plays each sport (4 sports, 4 seasons -- therefore one season for each sport), we know that Otto's winter sport must be hockey, and Nikki's must then be volleyball.
Therefore, no one will play volleyball in Spring or Fall. This leaves the following options not fully determined:

Fall: Otto/Nikki: Mountaineering, Running
Spring: Otto/Nikki: Kayaking, Mountaineering, Running
Summer: Nikki: Kayaking/Mountaineering

As noted, winter is already fully determined.

For answer choice A: If Nikki mountaineers in Fall, then Otto must run in fall, and that is incompatible with the rest of the answer choice, which indicates that Otto runs in Spring.

For answer choice B: If Nikki runs in Spring and mountaineers in Summer, then there is no option remaining for her in Fall.

For answer choice D: If Nikki runs in Spring, her only remaining option for Fall is to mountaineer, and therefore Otto can not also mountaineer in Fall

For answer choice E: Either Nikki or Otto, but not both will run in Fall, and the other will mountaineer. This answer choice has both Nikki and Otto mountaineering in seasons other than Fall, which means that neither of them can mountaineer in Fall (and both can not run in the same season).

By process of elimination, Answer choice C is the only one that does not violate any rule. If Otto mountaineers in fall, Nikki runs in fall, and can is then still able to mountaineer in Spring, as indicated in the answer choice.

Hope this resolves the question!

Beth

[wwarui]

Hi Beth,

Sorry for the delay in responding.
Thank you so so very much!!!!
This really helps.

[Tajadas]

Hi, I understand how to get the right answer, but I found process of elimination to be extremely time consuming, especially when writing down and working each scenario. If I had noticed I could recycle the hypo in #23 for this question, it would have taken me much less time. Still, if we could pretend that #23 didn't exist, is there a faster way to get to the right answer? Should I be trying to do it all in my head to save time, rather than writing it down? Thank you.

[KelseyWoods]

Hi Tajadas!

It's always a good idea to use previous work and hypotheticals to help you find/eliminate answer choices--so remember to do that in the future! If you didn't have the hypothetical from #23, however, you might still notice that all of these answer choices have to do with running and mountaineering. Looking at the inferences in our original diagram (https://forum.powerscore.com/lsat/viewtopic.php?t=11303) you might notice that in the fall, one of the two children has to participate in running and the other has to participate in mountaineering. So I would focus on that inference when going through the answer choices to make it through them more quickly. One of the kids always has to be running in the fall and one of them has to be mountaineering. So they can't both mountaineer or run in seasons besides fall (so (E) is out), if one of them is mountaineering in the fall, the other one has to be running in the fall and so cannot run in another season (so (D) and (A) are out) and neither of them can both run and mountaineer in seasons that aren't fall (so (B) is out). Really this question is only testing the inference that you always have to have one of them running in the fall and one of them mountaineering in the fall. Once you hone in on that inference, it makes going through the answer choices take less time.

In general, doing everything in your head doesn't necessarily take less time than writing things down and can even take MORE time because you have to constantly juggle everything mentally rather than just jotting it down quickly so it's much easier to see. But before you start diagramming every single answer choice, look to see if previous work can help you out or if there are key inferences that the answer choices seem to be testing. Also remember that you don't have to go through the answer choices in order. So if you think the question might be testing you on a specific rule or inference, start your diagramming with the answer choices that you think are likely to be most affected by that rule or inference.

Hope this helps!

Best,
Kelsey