Q7

[megm7267]

I can see why (A) can be right, however I don't see why some of the others are wrong.

Help on this one please!

[LSAT-Chang]

So the question is basically asking us who could leave 2 messages on the answering machine (that being first and last).

(B) can't be right because then we would have H _ _ _ _ H. But our 3rd constraint tells us that if H is 1st, then P has to be 6th. So eliminate.

(C) can't be right because then we would have L _ _ _ _ L. We know from our 1st constraint that at most 1 person can leave more than 1 message, so that tells us that four other people need to leave messages (in total 5). But we can't have G since that would tag along all 6 people! So we know that it has to be F, P, T, H, L leaving messages. But if we have P, our last constraint tells us that all Hs has to come before Ls, so L can't be first!

(D) can't be right because then we would have P _ _ _ _ P. But following my explanation for (C), we would need an F, but that means that all Ps must come before Ts, and we know for sure that we need a T in the diagram, but where would it go? There is no space for T (it would be falling off).

(E) can't be right because then we would have T _ _ _ _ T. But the same rule applies as above. If we have F, we know that all Ps must come before Ts, but this time, where would the P go? There is no space to put the P.

Hope that helps!

[ronburgandy2468]

Yes, but one of the rule states that no person left more than three messages.
Therefore for d.)
Can't it be PHLTPP ? with P going three times?

[LSAT-Chang]

Well, re-read the question stem. The first and last messages has to be the first and SECOND message left by that person. So by having PHLTPP, the last message would be P's THIRD message, not second. Does that help?

[hilarykustoff]

I still don't understand! Thanks.

[timmydoeslsat]

I have not read the above posts in the hope that I can offer a fresh perspective on this question.

The question stem is unusual for sure. It is asking us which person could leave both the first and last message, that is the 1st and 6th messages.

Knowing my rules, the first person I will dismiss is H. I know that if H goes first, then P has to be last, so I know that H cannot be 1 and 6. I eliminate B.

I do not see anything left in my rules that gives me an obvious clue, so I will go through the answer choices and try to make them work. I will start with (A) F.

F _ _ _ _ F
1 2 3 4 5 6

Since F is used, that triggers P - T from our rules, which triggers P being used and triggering the rule H - L.

So I now have P-T, H-L for absolute certainty, and I cannot bring on any more variables due to only having 4 slots left. I can easily make P-T, H-L fit in the confines of slots 2-5.

So we know A will work.

The reason why choices C-E does not work is because they will lead us down a chain of way too many variables to work with. In this case of choice A, it almost happened here. Simply having F set off a chain of inferences of us knowing that P, T, H, and would have to be used.

In those other choices, there will be too many variables and not enough slots.

[pgenovese81]

I thought this question stem was confusing. When I initially read the question, I thought it was asking who could leave the first, last, and also second message, which is why I initially put D as my answer. It was a total misread however. What it is truly asking is who can leave both the first and last messages (so that person only leaves 2 messages, not 3). Therefore, the only person that can do so without violating any rules in F, which would lead to the messages being:

F(P-T)(H-L)F

Don't know if anyone else read into the question this way, but just thought I would put it out there if someone was confused about the wording like I was initially.

[manleytristan]

I definitely read the question this way too, and still think it is a very poorly worded question, as the actual way to interpret it is somewhat odd, and the question would have been easy if phrased properly. I literally sat there trying to figure out what it meant for about the last five minutes of that section. It really could go both ways, hopefully LSAC won't put a bogus question like this on the next lsat.

[lloyddinma]

Just did this question yesterday and was so perplexed. So I googled it and found you guys. I read it the other way. The question has ambiguity. May send LSAT an email.

PPHLTP actually works.

[ManhattanPrepLSAT1]

Hey guys!

Just thought I'd say that although many of you have expressed that you feel the question is worded poorly, I'd say this conversation proves just the opposite. It is masterfully crafted in order to make it difficult to know just what exactly they're asking for.

There is no ambiguity. The question asks for who could leave the first and last message, such that those messages would be that person's first and second message on the answering machine.

If one person will leave two messages, then we know that 5 people will be leaving messages. We can infer that those 5 people will be F, H, L, P, and T. If G were to leave a message that would require that all 6 people leave messages - so G's out.

If F leaves a message then all of P's will precede all of T's. So neither P nor T can leave the first and last message.

If P leaves a message then all of H's will precede all of H's. So neither H nor L can leave the first and last message.

That leaves only F that can leave both the first and last message, with those representing F's first and second message on the answering machine.

[ManhattanPrepLSAT1]

PPHLTP actually works.

Careful, this does not work as then P's 1st and 2nd message would not be the 1st and last messages on the answering machine.

[lloyddinma]

PPHLTP

if the messages were as follows:"I love you" (P), "Call me back"(P), "Dad called"(H), "Class cancelled"(L), "Save on AllState Insurance." T, "Call me back"(P).

The first and last messages(content) are the same as the first and second. It depends on how you interpreted; content vs. caller. if you went with caller, which i think you did, then P does not work.