6/gamePLAN
The Four Step Program
Games can be intimidating because it’s not always clear when to do what. The process does not
seem as linear in nature as other parts of the exam, and this can lead to frustrating indecision.
When should I build my setup? Should I spend more time on the rules? Did I
find all of the deductions? Should I move to the next question? Should I just
fold my test into a paper airplane and weep quietly?
These questions can haunt students and hurt their performance. Fortunately, we have the
best strategy in the known universe for solving games. We’ll show you how to tackle any
logic game with just four steps. By approaching games the same way every time, not only
will you be armed with an effective methodology, but you’ll also be able to solve the games
within the time allotted.
Every great strategist has a game plan. Up next is Blueprint’s four step approach for solving
any logic game.
Solving a game is dependent on successfully completing each
of these four steps. Neglecting any one of the steps will spell disaster.
BP Minotaur:
Step 1: Read the Introduction
The first step in each game is to read the introductory paragraph. This is when you must identify
the situation, the players, and your task. Understanding these aspects of a game will largely
determine the next eight to ten minutes of your life.1
1
24
To help understand the four steps, we are going to make an extended analogy. Getting through a game is
analogous to a successful night at a party. In our analogy, this first step is assessing the room - seeing who’s
there and what they are doing. You should also check out what everyone looks like (for reference later).
Warning: An inaccurate evaluation (say, thinking a 6 is really a 10) might not hurt you initially, but it will come
back to burn you in the morning.
/ Chapter 6
You will have a natural urge to get to the rules
and questions as quickly as possible, but read the intro to
each game very slowly and carefully.
Ninja Note:
During the first stage of a game, there are two
main objectives. First, you need to classify the
type of game that you are facing (Ordering?
Grouping? Combo?) in order to build the
appropriate setup. The specifics of constructing
setups will be covered extensively later in this
book. For now, just know that you will need to
create an effective setup as part of the first step
in each game. It is vital to identify the type of
game you are tackling so you can construct the
appropriate setup. Otherwise, you might build a
beautiful ordering setup... for a grouping game.
Not a good day.
October 1993: Questions 14-18
Three boys—Karl, Luis, and Miguel—and three girls—
Rita, Sarah, and Tura—are giving a dance recital. Three
dances—1, 2, and 3—are to be performed. Each dance
involves three pairs of children, a boy and a girl partnering
each other in each pair, according to the following
conditions:
Karl partners Sarah in either dance 1 or dance 2.
Whoever partners Rita in dance 2 must partner Sarah in
dance 3.
No two children can partner each other in more than
one dance.
1
The second objective is to identify the variable sets in the introductory paragraph. You need
to account for people, places, gerbils, airplanes, colors, jock straps, lipstick brands, turtles, or
anything else that might show up. Simplify all of these variables near your setup (normally, the
first letter of each will do).
Objective 1: Classify the type of game and build a setup.
Objective 2: Identify all of the variable sets that are present.
In very rare cases, you will not be able to identify the type of
game from the intro paragraph. The ninja will teach you how to attack such
games in a later chapter. The ninja commonly talks in the third person.
Ninja Note:
Step 2: Symbolize the Rules
Following the introductory paragraph, there are always a number of indented rules. These rules
lay out the conditions that must be followed for the duration of the game.
Game Plan /
25
There are a number of objectives to keep in mind while you work through the rules.2
1. Always represent rules uniformly. You
will be presented with the same types of
rules again and again, and consistently
representing them accurately will help you
recognize familiar patterns. Don’t worry,
we’ll show you how to do this soon.
2. Represent as many rules as possible
directly on your setup. Your focus will be
largely on your setup as you work through
the questions, so inserting rules directly
into your setup will be helpful.
3. Combine rules whenever possible. If Larry
arrives before Mo and Mo arrives before
Curly, these rules should be combined. It
is always favorable to deal with fewer rules
as you move forward in a game.
October 1993: Questions 14-18
Three boys—Karl, Luis, and Miguel—and three girls—
Rita, Sarah, and Tura—are giving a dance recital. Three
dances—1, 2, and 3—are to be performed. Each dance
involves three pairs of children, a boy and a girl partnering
each other in each pair, according to the following
conditions:
Karl partners Sarah in either dance 1 or dance 2.
Whoever partners Rita in dance 2 must partner Sarah in
dance 3.
No two children can partner each other in more than
one dance.
2
Always pay close attention when one player is mentioned
in more than one rule. If Javaris is mentioned in the second rule and
the fourth rule, a deduction is sure to follow.
BP Minotaur:
4. The fourth and final objective sounds simple: read each of the rules twice. Horror
stories abound of students who misread or misinterpreted a rule. If a rule states that
Pedro is taller than Oscar, and you symbolize that Oscar is taller than Pedro, you will be
attending the Puerto Rico School of Legal Stuff quicker than you can say Puerto Rico
School of Legal Stuff. After you symbolize a rule, you should go back and read the rule
again to ensure you understood and symbolized it correctly.
Here is a quick summary of the important points to remember about the rules:
1. Symbolize rules consistently.
2. Represent rules directly on your setup whenever possible.
3. Combine rules whenever possible.
4. Don’t f#$% it up (read each rule at least twice).
2
26
Back to our party analogy: The rules in a game are analogous to the information you get from the other partygoers. These are the social cues that will guide your evening. Tamara is recently single. Brad is in a relationship,
but does not value monogamy. The creepy guy over there will trap you in a corner talking about ferrets if you
let him. Now you know the rules.
/ Chapter 6
Step 3: Make Deductions
Remember how Sherlock Holmes could solve a murder by discovering a piece of hair in the
carpet and combining that with the direction of the breeze to deduce that the butler used the
candlestick in the library?3 Now you can take a shot at being just like Sherlock. Step Three is
the all-important deduction phase. Despite the fact that this is the most crucial phase in Logic
Games, it is also the most commonly overlooked by students.4
If you make the proper deductions, the
game will feel like a vacation in Hawaii with
a fruity umbrella drink. If you don’t, the
questions will feel like shower time at San
Quentin.
In later chapters, we will cover a variety
of common deductions and bug you
incessantly to spend an extended amount
of time searching for deductions. Students
always have the inherent urge to jump into
the questions because, after all, that’s where
you get the points. But that is a dangerous
mistake. In games, the true challenge is to
process the setup and rules, to get a good
grasp on a game before you ever look at the
questions. Here’s a motto to live by:
October 1993: Questions 14-18
Three boys—Karl, Luis, and Miguel—and three girls—
Rita, Sarah, and Tura—are giving a dance recital. Three
dances—1, 2, and 3—are to be performed. Each dance
involves three pairs of children, a boy and a girl partnering
each other in each pair, according to the following
conditions:
Karl partners Sarah in either dance 1 or dance 2.
Whoever partners Rita in dance 2 must partner Sarah in
dance 3.
No two children can partner each other in more than
one dance.
3
You win or lose every game before you look at a single question.
As you improve in games, you will spend more and more time making deductions. Additionally,
as games increase in complexity, they require more time up front. Here is how a poor student
(you, at the beginning of this book) approaches a game on the LSAT.
Setup, Rules, + Deductions
Questions
3 Minutes
10 Minutes
3
4
= 13 Min.
Apologies for mixing pop culture references.
Returning to our party, the deductions will determine the outcome of your night. Sure, you have all the
information at your fingertips, but how are you going to use it? Maybe you learned Veronica is single and she
thinks that both you and Steve are cute. You might also know that Steve is a lightweight, and he begins to drool
uncontrollably when he drinks too much. But will you be able to properly act on this information? “Steve, let’s
go take another tequila shot!” That’s the key.
Game Plan /
27
This 13-minute plan is exactly what you need to avoid. It will lead to frustration, random
guessing, wrong answers, and nightmares in the weeks following the test. Here is how an
advanced student (you, at the completion of this book) destroys a game.
Setup, Rules, + Deductions
Questions
6 Minutes
2 Minutes
= 8 Min.
As you work through games, do not judge your
success solely by right and wrong answers. Your ability to spot
key deductions is equally important.
Ninja Note:
As you will see, spending more time in the deduction stage trims valuable minutes off the total
amount of time you spend on a game. Okay, enough nagging about deductions... for now.
Step 4: Move to the Questions
Now, and only now, are you ready to jump into the questions. Armed with a good setup, a
deep understanding of the rules, and some powerful deductions, it’s time to show this game
who’s boss. The questions will present you with a variety of challenges to test how well you
understand the game.5
In the next chapter, we will discuss
specifics regarding the questions you are
going to face. Questions require different
tactics, but we will teach you the best
strategies for approaching any question
you encounter. As long as you have
built the proper setup, symbolized the
rules correctly, and made the necessary
deductions, the questions should be
smooth sailing.
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14. If Sarah partners Luis in dance 3, which one of the
following is a complete and accurate list of the girls any
one of whom could partner Miguel in dance 1?
(A)Rita
(B) Sarah
(C) Tura
(D) Rita, Sarah
(E) Rita, Tura
4
Back to our party analogy: You’ve now met all the other guests. You picked up on the appropriate social cues,
and when the time was right, you made your move. You hung out with the right people and avoided the creeps.
Now it is time to reap the benefits. You now have a hottie on your arm and are out the door, prize in tow. Just
don’t screw it up now by showing off your stamp collection.
/ Chapter 6
The Masterpiece
There is an additional obstacle in the games section that we should discuss. In an apparent
attempt to cater to oompa loompas, the makers of the LSAT don’t provide you with a huge
amount of space to work. No scratch paper is allowed, so you need a good plan.
Duh... I can just erase when I need more space.
I already have my sparkly pink eraser.
Ditz McGee:
Ditz does raise an interesting issue. That might sound like a reasonable solution, and we
definitely do not want that fancy new eraser to go to waste. However, despite the $150 or
more you spend to take this wonderful exam, the LSAC does not believe you deserve to take
the test on actual paper. The LSAT is printed on newsprint (comparable to single-ply toilet
paper). If you attempt to erase, you will very likely tear your test, have a panic attack, stab
the person next to you so that you can use their test packet, get kicked out of the test, and
quite possibly end up in prison. This could easily hurt your chances of attending a good law
school (although it would have the makings for a great personal statement).
You have to learn to work in the space provided.6 It’s very important to separate your original
work on the game (setup, rules, and deductions) from your work on the questions. Otherwise,
you could easily mistake an original condition in the game with one that is only provided for one
question.
If you attempt to erase work as you move
through a game, you run the additional risk of erasing a
deduction. That would truly be a shame.
BP Minotaur:
For questions that add new information, sketch a brief hypothetical next to the question rather
than filling in your original setup. It’s very important to be able to refer back to both the original
rules in a game and any work you completed for a specific question.
When you work through the questions, do not touch your original
setup and rules. Put down the #2 pencil and step away. You
don’t really have to ditch the pencil, but you get the point.
6
Compared to earlier test takers, you are actually very fortunate. Before the June 2012 LSAT, all games were
printed on a single page. After thousands of mental breakdowns and complaints, the LSAC has decided to print
each game on two pages. This is how you will see them printed in this fine publication.
Game Plan /
29
Below, you can see an example of what your test should look like after you have completed a
game (with more questions on the second page). Note that everything is nicely organized, and
there is a clear distinction between the original setup and the questions.7
October 2005: Questions 1-5
3. If P is displayed second, then which one of the
following could be displayed third?
Exactly seven products—P, Q, R, S, T, W, and X—are each
to be advertised exactly once in a section of a catalog. The
order in which they will be displayed is governed by the
following conditions:
Q must be displayed in some position before W.
R must be displayed immediately before X.
T cannot be displayed immediately before or
immediately after W.
S must be displayed either first or seventh.
Either Q or T must be displayed fourth.
(A)R
(B)S
(C)T
(D)W
(E)X
p
w/s
1
2
3
Whenever necessary,
construct a quick
hypothetical or two next
to the question on which
you are working.
r
4
5
6
4. Which one of the following could be true?
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
1. Which one of the following CANNOT be the product
that is displayed first?
(A)P
(B)Q
(C)R
(D)T
(E)X
Q is displayed fifth.
Q is displayed seventh.
R is displayed third.
W is displayed third.
X is displayed fifth.
5. If R is displayed sixth, then which one of the following
must be displayed fifth?
(A)P
(B)Q
(C)T
(D)W
(E)X
2. If X is displayed immediately before Q, then which one
of the following could be true?
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
g
T is displayed first.
R is displayed fifth.
Q is displayed last.
Q is displayed second.
P is displayed second.
r
w
s
l
g
p
1
2
3
4
5
6
g
p
s
w
1
2
3
4
r
5
7c: a b c d e f g
f - g
c/d
d
a
1
G
B
e
b
2
3
E
4
5
B
6
7
F
E
6
The limited space at the
bottom of the page should
be reserved for the original
setup, variables, rules, and
deductions. After that,
don’t touch it.
^
There’s another advantage of not erasing your work. The
hypotheticals that you build for specific questions can help you on later
questions by proving whether certain answer choices can be true or false.
Ninja Note:
As we work through games, we will use the same process every time. Repetition is key. Logic
games are a linear process, and you have to practice the correct steps every time.
Moving right along, we are going to zoom in and discuss the questions.
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30
Warning: For demonstration purposes only. We are aware that the variables in this game do not match those in
the setup. But good catch.
/ Chapter 6