Diagram

[jenndg100380]

Can someone please help me with this game? I must be missing a key inference or something, because I can't even get the 1st question. I worked out all the choices, and they all seem possible. I know I must be missing something with the requirement that the cargo bed cannot be cleaned more than
3x's. it doesn't seem like it would even be possible to set the game up to have the cargo truck cleaned more than 3x's.

[giladedelman]

Thanks for your post.

Your suspicion is correct. If you don't interpret the cargo bed cleaning constraint properly, there's no way to make it through this game. This is a game that is very light on initial inferences; success really depends on conceptualizing it. Indeed, our initial diagram pretty much looks like this:

_ _ _ _ M _ _
1 2 3 4 5 6 7

So, what's up with the cargo bed constraint? Well, we're told that the cargo bed must be cleaned in between any two loads of different materials, and that it can be cleaned no more than three times. So here's a scenario that would not work:

M S M S M S S
1 2 3 4 5 6 7

We'd have to clean the cargo bed each time we change materials: after load 1, after load 2, after load 3, after load 4, and after load 5. That's five times! Unacceptable.

Here's a scenario that would work:

S S S M M S M
1 2 3 4 5 6 7

There we'd be cleaning the cargo bed after load 3, after load 5, and after load 6. Three times; it works!

So, do those examples clarify what the constraint is getting at? If so, why don't you give this game another shot? If you're still confused, let me know, and I'll try to explain it in a different way.

[jenndg100380]

I was reading it incorrectly. Instead of in between the 2 different materials I thought that it meant after the 2 different materials.

so I was reading it as...in the case of MS, it would be cleaned after the S.

Now, it makes sense. Thanks.

[canylaw]

Is it an ordering game? Is there a faster way to do this game.Will it help to do the conditional rule question first.e.g. for Q1 I tried all the AC to check and took lot of my time.Is is something to be done in the mind?
This is an easy game but took 9-10 minutes while PTing

[jennifer]

how do you tackel this game in an efficent manner, it is driving me crazy and destroyed my entire game section. Please help Thank you

[giladedelman]

Hey guys!

I love the audacity of a game that only has two constraints, one of which just tells us where an M has to go. This is a clue that we REALLY have to pay attention to the constraint that the bed can be cleaned three times maximum; in other words, we can only have three times where we switch from S to M or vice versa. The whole game revolves around this one constraint. Instead of writing out every answer choice, we should think about how it would affect the "no more than three cleanings" constraint.

However, if you are having trouble doing that, then this is DEFINITELY a situation where it makes sense to attack the conditional questions first. For example, number 16:

If the cargo bed is cleaned exactly twice, then all the M's have to be in a chunk; we have to switch from S to M, then back from M to S. Where can that chunk go? It can either be 3,4,5, or 4,5,6. Either way, there has to be an M on load 4, and loads 1, 2, and 7 are going to be S. So answer (A) is correct: load 2 has to be stone.

Doing this work would allow us to handle number 13, an unconditional question. We just proved that we can have M's on 4, 5, and 6, so answer (E) is correct: this could be true.

So that's one way we could tackle this game more efficiently.

[daniel]

I took a different approach to this game than what's been discussed here, so I'm going to post a diagram that I made and explain what I did.

I found that this game was most efficiently solved using 4 frames. these frames are based on the primary limiting factor of this game, which is the number of cleanings.

Since we're told in the first rule, that the cargo bed can be cleaned no more than three times, I decided to make one frame for each number of cleanings. That is, my first frame shows only one cleaning. The second frame shows what two cleanings looks like, and the third and fourth frame shows three cleanings. Two diagrams are required for the three cleanings scenario, because the last load can be either mulch or stone.

One thing to note is that rather than creating frames that represent an explicit assignment of loads to a number line, the frames I created were loosely constructed, with only one element assigned to a specific point on the number line --- 5=M.

This flexibility enabled me to quickly visualize what the various scenarios were, without spending a lot of time working out the intricate details for each scenario. I found that I was able to work out those details while actually answering the questions, either by sketching out the scenario required by the question or by manipulating the details of the relevant frame in my head.

That said, I was able to work through this game in five minutes and 3 seconds using this approach.

[tommywallach]

Hey Daniel,

This is interesting, but I'm generally skeptical of anything that's more than 2 frames. Something that goes all the way up to 4 frames just seems like a bit too much upfront work. You could derive these over the course of the questions, as they became necessary, but I wouldn't recommend writing out four separate frames as prep work (i.e. before looking at questions).

It's still cool though! : )

-t

[nickwiggins]

Is there a Manhattan LSAT-generated diagram for this game? Thanks.

[tommywallach]

Gilad actually gave it up top. This game doesn't have many upfront inferences (doing 4 frames, as I've said, is sorta crazy).

-t

[mai.k.kaga]

I also did frames, just as a sketch to make sure I was comfortable with the restraint. Ended up doing the game in 4 minutes because of the possibilities already laid out

[ryanrego93]

Because Mulch has to be #5, it is going to use up at minimum one of the three cleans (usually two). The only time it uses only one clean is if 6 and 7 are also Mulch. This really limits the number of possibilities, and so I diagrammed all 6 possibilities to start. This took a bit longer but allowed me to fly through the questions.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the possibilities are:

MMSSMSS
SSSMMSM
MSSSMMS
SSSMMMS (2 cleans)
SSMMMSS (2 cleans)
SSSSMMM (1 clean)

[AbhistD667]

Can someone please explain the test day strategy for this game? I got the explanation but can't understand how to get to the inference during timed conditions.

[Laura Damone]

Any time you only have 2 elements (which is common in the top row of a 3D ordering game!), try asking yourself about the two most extreme scenarios for those elements:
1. Can they just alternate?
2. Can all the M's be on one side of the diagram and all the S's on the other?

Playing out those two scenarios in your head will frequently lead you to the inferences about the kind of alternation that is required, prohibited, and allowable. For example, if the elements can't just alternate, they have to chunk up, at least some times. For this game, that let's me realize that I can't have M's between all my S's, so the S's have to chunk up at least once. Same for the M's: they can't all have S's between them so they have to chunk up. Now that I have an MM chunk, an SS chunk, an extra M, and two extra S's, the game is a lot more limited. Whenever you have a chunk, think about the places it could go. The MM chunk will either include the M already in the board, attach to that M, or be separated from that M by an S. This kind of spatial reasoning is really important for efficiency. I'm not drawing out every possibility, but I'm looking at it spatially thinking "where is there room for this" and "what does that mean for the cleanings"

Additionally, or even alternatively, you can look at the "all the M's on one side, all the S's on the other side" option. Doing so will show you that this is the only way 1 cleaning can play out. The logical next step is to think about 2 cleanings. If you have 2 cleanings, you're gonna have all of one set of elements sandwiched on either side by the other elements. This only works if the M's are sandwiched because of M's existing placement. Just wrapping your head around that can help you enter the questions confident and ready to play!