LG Game 1 Setup, by LSATHacks
Game Setup
Time on first attempt: 6:30
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This is a linear game. And, unusually for new logic games, this one allows you to figure out a lot in advance.
You should draw the game like this, with five slots:
I’ve added rules 1 and 4 to the diagram above: essay 1 is rural, and essay 3 is G.
Note that I don’t number my own diagrams. It’s faster to draw, and with practice you can quickly see which number a slot is at a glance. If you practice not numbering the slots, your brain will develop the ability of knowing where “4” is.
For explanations, I do normally number my diagrams for clarity, but on this type of two attribute game I’m not going to. That’s because I place the second attribute (rural/urban) just under the slot, and adding a number would add distraction.
Next, we can draw rules 2, 3 and 5:
I’ve combined rules 2 and 3. K is right before F, and they can’t have the same theme. That’s what the crossed line underneath them represents.
And, J has urban as a theme.
Now, we could just start the game, and probably do fine. But, you should always look for deductions. There are a few ways to look for them. Here are a couple we can use on this game:
- Look for the most restricted element
- If something can only be one of two ways, draw both
KF are the most restricted element. They need two spaces, and G has cut the game in two. So, we can make two diagrams: one with KF before G, and one after.
We know that KF have one r and one u. In the first diagram, the order is ru, because rule 1 says that r must be 1st. In the second diagram, they could be either order.
Next, you should think about numerical distribution. There are three r’s and two u’s. KF take up one of the u’s (rule 3), and J takes the other (rule 5). This means that both G and H must be r!
We can add this to our diagram:
Having H and J floating above the diagram separated by a comma signifies that they can go in either order. I’ve also put the r and u underneath them for reference.
So, nearly everything is determined in this game. Once you have these two diagrams, the questions fly by. It’s definitely worth taking a bit of extra time to make deductions where they are available, as you get your time spent back threefold.
(Some wonder: how to know where there are deductions. As a rule, deductions are about what must be true in general or in a set of very limited scenarios. If you’re just generally drawing what “could be true”, you’re not making deductions – you’re wasting time. That’s the distinction.)
In the second scenario, with the KF block after G, it is not necessary to have H and J floating over the first two slots. Rule 1 says that the first issue must have a rural theme, so only H can go there. So we know the entire order of photographers (HJGKF) and the only uncertainty is which of K and F is r and which is u.
That’s correct!
“Having H and J floating above the diagram separated by a comma signifies that they can go in either order. I’ve also put the r and u underneath them for reference.”
But H and J cannot go in either order because we know that the first spot is a rural theme and that J must have a urban theme. So, J cannot be the first essay causing H to have to be the first essay. Right?