Q14

[sarahhaque]

I'm having trouble answering 14, 16 and 18 correctly for this problem. Could you please explain how you arrived at the correct answer?

Thanks!

[bbirdwell]

Sure...

14. Essentially asks "How many of the days can have AT MOST two batches?"

Using Dan's diagram from above, we can see at a glance that Monday is the only day prohibited from making more than two batches, so the answer is one. (A)

Dan was able to make this inference on his diagram with the third constraint, that the 2nd batch of oatmeal is made on the same day as the first batch of peanut butter. This means that peanut butter cannot be made on Monday.

16. Again, that third constraint is a big help in this one. Look at Dan's diagram again. He's really symbolized it nicely: O -- OP -- O. The thing we need to remember on this problem is that we've got two more Ps to place, and they must follow the P above. The earliest possible day for the OP pair is Tuesday. Wednesday cannot be used in this problem, so that leaves Thursday and Friday to place the remaining O and two Ps. Since each of those days already has an S, we know that one of Thursday/Friday will have 2 cookies and one will have 3.

Thus the answer is (D).

Note that the remaining S can go on either Monday or Tuesday, thus we can eliminate (A), (C), and (E) quite quickly.

18. Interpret the question and make the necessary inferences before you look at the choices. If one cookie's first batch is on another's third batch...

Well, we know the first O cannot be on the same day as any other cookie's third (S's third is on Friday, and P's first is on O's second). The earliest day that P's first batch can be made is Tuesday, thus the earliest day P's third batch can be made is Thursday, which cannot be S's first batch because it's got to S's second batch.

Thus, we know that the only way to do this is to put S's first batch with O's third batch. And the only way to do this is to them together on Wednesday. So our diagram will look something like this:

M O
T O P
W O S
Th S
F S

The only thing left to do is place the remaining two Ps. They can go on either W, Th, or F.

The only answer choice that COULD be FALSE is (E), as Friday could have two batches.

Are you able to see that?

[sarahhaque]

Yes, it's much clearer now! Thanks so much for your explanation!

[geverett]

I made 2 templates for this game. One one of them Monday is the only day that could have max 2 batches of cookie made, but one the other one Monday and Tuesday both can only have Max 2 cookies. or so it seems.


My setup looks like this:

http://s1.postimage.org/ct5eyjfub/PT42_G3_Diagram.jpg

As you can see in the top diagram Monday is the only day that could only have a maximum of 2 batches of cookies made. However, on the bottom diagram you could have max 2 on monday, but the most you could put in Tuesday would be 1 which would technically meet the criteria of max 2 right? Am I missing something here?

Is there anyway to embed images on these forums? Looks like I need to learn more than just LSAT stuff.

[ManhattanPrepLSAT1]

[olumide_francis]

I think the answer should be E, 5. Since the question stem says that COULD BE, not "MUST". Every day could be at most two batches, but it doesn't have to.

[huskybins]

I think the answer should be E, 5. Since the question stem says that COULD BE, not "MUST". Every day could be at most two batches, but it doesn't have to.

I second above and appreciate any guru can help clarify what "could be" really means in this game.

[ohthatpatrick]

It's asking us
How many of the five days fit this description (such that ...):
At most two batches of cookies could be made on this day.

Does Mon fit this description?
i.e., is it true that
"At most two batches of cookies could be made on Monday?"

Yes, it is true that at most two batches of cookies could be made on Monday.

It is true that "at most two batches of cookies could be made on Tuesday?"

No, it's not true. Tuesday does not have a maximum of two batches. It could have all three.

Wed, Thurs, and Fri are also all days that could have three batches.

If you are a day that CAN have three batches, then you are NOT a day such that "at most two batches can be made that day".