Setup and Rule Diagrams

[Administrator]

Please post your questions below!

[mddylsat]

I interpreted the first rule as "H/S_H/S" (min), versus "H/S_ _ H/S". I know for certain rules like "A must be two spaces ahead of B", a diagram similar to the first would apply e.g. "A_B". What is the distinction here that I am missing? Is it the word "separate" in the rule for this game?

[Brook Miscoski]

Mddy,

The rule stated is "at least two weeks must separate..."

Therefore the best way to symbolize the rule is H/S _ _ + H/S.

You needed to show that there there must be at least two, and could be more than two, spaces between H and S. If you get going too quickly, you could miss the critical words "at least." That is why it is a good idea to compare your symbols back to the rules before you start making inferences.

[kirbyvoss]

Nowhere in the rules does it state that "no product can be sold in only one week," or "each product must be sold once," so what allows me to treat this as a 1:1 ordering game? I approached it with much more uncertainty because I couldn't see what made it clearly 1:1. Thanks!

[Jeremy Press]

Hi kirby,

That's a really good question, and it's extremely subtle in the wording of this scenario. It's built into the first sentence. "During a seven-week period, a department store will hold weekly sales on seven types of products," and then the seven types of products are specifically named. That statement leaves no doubt that the sales the store holds during the period will include seven types of products, which will be the ones listed. Thus, all listed products will have to be used (exactly once, since the period is only seven weeks long). To read the scenario as you've done would require this change to the language: "During a seven-week period, a department store will hold weekly sales on some of the following seven types of products."

Notice that the rules are also trying to steer you in the direction of understanding that every type of product gets its own sale week, using language that presumes we already know there will be a sale on each type of product. The first and last rules are like this, when they refer to "the sale on headphones," "the sale on speakers," and "the sale on lamps."

I hope this helps!

Jeremy

[kirbyvoss]

Jeremy,

Ah, makes sense! Much appreciated.

[cbuckley]

Hello!

Long time snooper, first time poster

I am working on getting faster at games and was wondering if you had any tips for setting this game up with speed in mind.

I tackled this game originally by setting up a number of templates, exploring the H/S _ _ S/H rule in combination with the SP/PS block.

Thanks!!

[Ryan Twomey]

Hey cbuckley,

What I always tell my students is, the worse you are naturally at spatial thinking, the more likely you are to benefit from templates because it allows you to see more on the page. I was not great at spacial thinking, so as a testaker, I use templates more than the average student.

With this particular game, you could do 5 templates on where the P/S reversible block goes, and then see how that affects the H__ __ S reversible rule. You would not be able to play out the H____ _____.... S rule on its own because there is too much flexibility so you would not be able to make templates off of that rule. In this case, it is better not to do templates at all in your original setup, but if you did, you would play out the five places the P/S block would go. In this case that would have been a waste of time.

If you want to improve in games and templates, do a lot of games. See where templates come up and try and recognize those types of games moving forward. Templates will come up in sequencing blocks, grouping blocks, or rules, numerical distribution, and long sequencing chains to name the most common instances off of the top of my head. This does not mean that every time one of these instances appears, you will template, but you can consider doing templates.

Before I draw templates, I think to myself, will doing this template move around enough of the game to get me deductions in order to be worth my time. This thought process can only last up to about 20-30 seconds or else you are going to waste too much time.

In the questions, you can use templates in a local question if you see the local question creates a binary and you cannot answer the question without the templates.

I hope this helps!!!!

Best,
Ryan

[angelsfan0055]

can you explain how S can't be fifth? I saw this mentioned in a different thread on this question and am confused how this is the case.
I drew a few templates and one I had them organized in this order:
T L M P S R H, which I had thought would help me with No .2, but this was incorrect.

[Tajadas]

can you explain how S can't be fifth? I saw this mentioned in a different thread on this question and am confused how this is the case.
I drew a few templates and one I had them organized in this order:
T L M P S R H, which I had thought would help me with No .2, but this was incorrect.

Hey, I'm not staff but in the example you listed you broke the H_+_S rule. There needs to be at least two spaces between H and S. If you put S in the 5 slot you'd need to put H in slot 1 or 2. You can't put it in 1 because L needs to be before H. You can't put it in 2 because either T or R needs to be in Slot 1, which means the earliest L can be is Slot 2, and H must come after L.