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#25631
Setup and Rule Diagram Explanation
This is a Basic Linear: Unbalanced, Underfunded, Numerical Distributions game.
The game scenario establishes that four destinations will each be visited at least once in the
course of seven consecutive weeks:
This creates a Basic Linear diagram, and because there are only four variables for seven
positions, this is an Unbalanced, Underfunded game. Each variable must appear at least once, but
– with only four variables to fill out seven positions – some variables will inevitably appear more
than once. Without analyzing any of the rules, the following distributions of weeks to destinations
appear to be possible:
As we do not yet know how many times each destination will be visited, the three distributions
above are Unfixed.
With the basic structure in place, let us now turn to the rules.
The first rule establishes a J Not Law in the fourth position:
The second rule tells us that T must be visited seventh:
The third rule stipulates that M must be visited exactly twice, with at least one visit to G in
between:
Unfortunately, we cannot use this rule to determine any Not Laws, because G can be visited more
than once. However, since M must be visited exactly twice, the rule helps us dismiss the 4-1-1-1
distribution, which does not account for any destination being visited twice. We can also
determine that M is the destination visited twice in each of the other two distributions:
The fourth rule deserves a closer look. We are told that any visit to J requires visiting G
immediately before J. The rule does not generate a simple GJ Block, because G could be visited
whether or not J is visited afterwards. As suggested by the sufficient condition indicator “any,”
the GJ Block is conditional upon visiting J. It is J, not G, that triggers the block:
This rule clearly precludes J from being visited first, generating a second J Not Law:
The fourth rule also has numerical implications. Since visiting J is conditional upon visiting G,
there must be at least as many visits to G as there are visits to J. One implication of that inference
is that, in the 3-2-1-1 distribution, J cannot be the destination visited three times. And, since M
must be visited twice, we can infer that, in that distribution, J must be the destination visited once:
The same line of reasoning applies to the 2-2-2-1 distribution. If there are at least as many visits
to G as there are visits to J, it follows that G cannot be visited only once. This is because visiting
G only once would force all other destinations – including J – to be visited twice. But, as we
already know, J cannot be visited twice unless G is visited at least as many times as J. Therefore,
in the 2-2-2-1 distribution, G cannot be visited once, and must therefore be visited twice:
The fifth and last rule prohibits visiting the same destination in two consecutive weeks,
establishing four Not Blocks:
Alternatively, you can represent this rule as a single Not Block, where D stands for “Destination”:
From combining the second and fifth rules, we can infer that T cannot be visited sixth:
At this point, each of the rules has been represented, and appropriate Not Laws drawn.
Thus, we arrive at the final setup for this game:
This is a Basic Linear: Unbalanced, Underfunded, Numerical Distributions game.
The game scenario establishes that four destinations will each be visited at least once in the
course of seven consecutive weeks:
This creates a Basic Linear diagram, and because there are only four variables for seven
positions, this is an Unbalanced, Underfunded game. Each variable must appear at least once, but
– with only four variables to fill out seven positions – some variables will inevitably appear more
than once. Without analyzing any of the rules, the following distributions of weeks to destinations
appear to be possible:
As we do not yet know how many times each destination will be visited, the three distributions
above are Unfixed.
With the basic structure in place, let us now turn to the rules.
The first rule establishes a J Not Law in the fourth position:
The second rule tells us that T must be visited seventh:
The third rule stipulates that M must be visited exactly twice, with at least one visit to G in
between:
Unfortunately, we cannot use this rule to determine any Not Laws, because G can be visited more
than once. However, since M must be visited exactly twice, the rule helps us dismiss the 4-1-1-1
distribution, which does not account for any destination being visited twice. We can also
determine that M is the destination visited twice in each of the other two distributions:
The fourth rule deserves a closer look. We are told that any visit to J requires visiting G
immediately before J. The rule does not generate a simple GJ Block, because G could be visited
whether or not J is visited afterwards. As suggested by the sufficient condition indicator “any,”
the GJ Block is conditional upon visiting J. It is J, not G, that triggers the block:
This rule clearly precludes J from being visited first, generating a second J Not Law:
The fourth rule also has numerical implications. Since visiting J is conditional upon visiting G,
there must be at least as many visits to G as there are visits to J. One implication of that inference
is that, in the 3-2-1-1 distribution, J cannot be the destination visited three times. And, since M
must be visited twice, we can infer that, in that distribution, J must be the destination visited once:
The same line of reasoning applies to the 2-2-2-1 distribution. If there are at least as many visits
to G as there are visits to J, it follows that G cannot be visited only once. This is because visiting
G only once would force all other destinations – including J – to be visited twice. But, as we
already know, J cannot be visited twice unless G is visited at least as many times as J. Therefore,
in the 2-2-2-1 distribution, G cannot be visited once, and must therefore be visited twice:
The fifth and last rule prohibits visiting the same destination in two consecutive weeks,
establishing four Not Blocks:
Alternatively, you can represent this rule as a single Not Block, where D stands for “Destination”:
From combining the second and fifth rules, we can infer that T cannot be visited sixth:
At this point, each of the rules has been represented, and appropriate Not Laws drawn.
Thus, we arrive at the final setup for this game:
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2x
J. What makes it the case that preceding means immediately. I know this may be a silly question, but I originally thought that and so now I'm worried for future LG questions. Should I take preceding to always mean immediately before in the LSAT world? To me, I was just thinking it means to come prior/before something.