LG Game 1 Setup, by LSATHacks
Game Setup
Time on second attempt: 6 min
See “repeating games” at bottom of section
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This was an unusual game. I rarely drew any diagrams for the questions. Instead, I just drew the starting variables beside each question:
QRSTVWX
Note that because Xue was listed on the second line of the game setup, I forgot about them when I first did and first redid the game. This slowed me down until I noticed I was missing a variable!
The rules all involve elimination in some way, and so I would just eliminate workers by crossing them out on the list. I did this when workers couldn’t go in, or when they were placed.
Rule 1, I didn’t draw much. I just wrote:
I’m remember that this means “If they’re in, they must be leader”. There’s no elegant way to draw that, so it’s simpler just to remember. Usually it’s fine to remember one rule if there’s no great way to draw it.
Rule 2 involves elimination, because if T is out, then S is out. That’s the contrapositive of the rule as given:
Rule 3 also involves elimination. W knocks out R and V:
(Note: I didn’t draw the contrapositives for rules 2 and 3 on my own page. But if you sometimes forget contrapositives, you must draw them.)
Now, I mentioned I used the list of all variables, and eliminated them. Here’s an example. Question 2 places T as project leader, and Wells as a member. So I drew this to start:
Why?
- T and W are on the diagram, so we can eliminate them from consideration.
- T is leader. That means Q and R can’t be in. (rule 1)
- W is in. That means R and V can’t be in. (rule 3)
So all of T, W, Q, R and V are out of consideration for the third slot. Only S and X are left to consider. Crossing out the variables that are already placed or eliminated makes it easier to see this.
I made zero up front deductions. They don’t tend to be common on modern logic games.
Though it’s important to remember that you need exactly three workers. This helps on almost all the questions, as usually some workers are eliminated, leaving a limited selection to complete the set.
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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 min
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