June 2007 LSAT, Game 3 Setup, Freedom Cruise Weeks

LG Game 3 Setup

Game Setup

Time on second attempt: 6:42

See “repeating games” at bottom of section

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This is a linear game. These are normally easy, but this one has an unusual number of moving parts. I think this is the hardest game on this section.

You should start with the simple rules: T is last, and J can’t be fourth:

When you have one not rule on the diagram, you should look for others. We can add two more, based on the other rules:

• J can’t go first, because it needs G in front (rule 4)
• T can’t go sixth, because variables can’t repeat (rule 5)

Next, draw the other rules. There are two M’s, with at least one G in the middle. J needs G in front of it. And the same variable can’t go together consecutively:

There are two potential traps to avoid on this game:

• J requires G, but G doesn’t require J. So you can have G all on its own.
• GJ can go between the two M’s, fulfilling rules 3 and 4 at once. But this doesn’t have to happen. You can just have G on its own between the M’s.

I don’t think there’s anything else that can be deduced in the setup. The game depends on your skill in applying the rules to specific situations.

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Repeating Games

I’ve written elsewhere about the benefits of repeating games, to solidify your intuition for deductions. Note that the purpose of repeating games is to prove the answers right, so it doesn’t matter if you remember the right answer.

I repeated this game about three days after I first saw it, by which time I had forgotten the answers. I’ve written how long it took me on the second attempt. That time, or a couple minutes above it, is roughly the standard you should be aspiring to – a lot of people take 8-9 minutes on a repeat attempt, get everything right, and pat themselves on the back. But that’s too slow. The faster you go when repeating, the faster you’ll learn to go the first time you see a game.

(I say “a couple minutes above” my time because, after years of teaching the LSAT, I’m really, really fast. You should be almost as fast as me, but you don’t exactly need to match my pace to score -0.)

Time on second attempt: 6:42