LSAT 90, Game 1 Setup, Five Phone Calls, LSATHacks

LG Game 1 Setup, by LSATHacks

Game Setup

This is a sequencing game.  We have five phone calls to Quinn, Roth, Smith, Teng, Vitt, each being either local or nonlocal. Right off the bat, we know that there’s five slots, and that each call has to be labelled either L or N.

1. Rule 1 gives us the order S – QV
2. Rule 2 says that S and V can’t both be Local or Non-Local. They must be different types.
3. Rule 3 says that Q and T are both Local
4. Rule 4 tells us that the third call is Non-Local. We can immediately infer that Q and T can’t be third.

The easiest way to go about this game would be to look at the most restricted element, which is the third slot.

Q and T can’t be third, so only R, S, and V can be third. From here, we can break this game into three diagrams.

Scenario 1: R is third

In the first scenario, let’s put R in third. This creates two blocks of two spaces on either side of R. S – QV are the most restricted variables left to place, since QV take two slots. In order to make S – QV work, we have to put QV after R, and S before.

Q and V are forced into slots four and five. S and T go in either the first or second slots. Remember that both Q and T are local. S and V could be either local or nonlocal, as long as they’re different.

Scenario 2: S is third

In the second scenario, let’s put S third, which means that Q and V are fourth and fifth (rule 1), and V is Local (rule 2). R and T go in the first two slots, in either order.

Scenario 3: V is third

In the third one, V is third, and thus Nonlocal. This means that S has to be Local (rule 2). And SQ have to be immediately before V (rule 1). T and R would be in slots four and five, not necessarily in that order.

Remember that in all of these diagrams, both Q and T are Local (rule 3)

These three diagrams easily solve all questions! When deciding whether to make split setups like this, the question to ask is whether they are limited in number. 2-3 setups is usually a good number for a split.