Confused by Wording

[JG350]

Hi I am confused by the wording on Bonus Question #3 (If Y exits fourth and Q exits sixth, for how many clowns do we know the position in which they exited?) for PT38, S2, G1. It is explained on page 157 of the logical reasoning strategy guide. The explanation states "If Y exits fourth, we know R, T, and V must exit before it in positions 1, 2, and 3. If Q is sixth, Z must go before it in position 5. That leaves S and W for the final two positions." I got this question wrong because I did not think that the two letters "given" in the hypothetical would count towards the final tally. Is there a way that the LSAT asks these questions usually? Is there a "silver bullet" rule to know exactly what to count towards the final tally? Sorry for the lengthy post.

Best,
J

[ohthatpatrick]

Yes, any time LSAT has been asking for a list of all the characters we know for sure BEYOND the one(s) assigned to us in the question stem, it is worded
"For how many of the OTHER people do we know their assignment?"

Both forms of question are pretty rare, but I think it's more common that they're asking the version you saw ("How many spots/people are we certain of? (including the ones we told you about") than asking the version I just said.