LSAT Logic Games : Linear Games

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for LSAT Logic Games

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Example Questions

Example Question #15 : Solving Four And Five Variable Logic Games

Adam, Bill, Chris, Don, Eric, Fred, and George ran in a race.  There were no other competitors and there were no ties.  The ranking of the racers met the following conditions:

Fred finished before Eric and George.

Bill and Adam finished consecutively with Bill finishing before Adam.

Chris finished before George but after Don.

Adam finished before Chris.

Which of the following could have been the order of finish?

Possible Answers:

Bill, Adam, Don, Chris, Eric, Fred, George.

Don, Chris, Bill, Adam, Fred, George, Eric.

Fred, Don, Bill, Adam, Chris, Eric, George.

Chris, Bill, Adam, Fred, Don, George, Eric.

Don, Bill, Fred, Chris, Adam, George, Eric.

Correct answer:

Fred, Don, Bill, Adam, Chris, Eric, George.

Explanation:

The correct answer is: Fred, Don, Bill, Adam, Chris, Eric, George.

The other choices are wrong for one or more of the following reasons: Adam and Bill must finish consecutively, meaning one after the other; Adam and Don must both finish ahead of Chris; George and Eric must both finish after Chris.  Therefore, only one answer choice meets the conditions outlined in the question.

Example Question #16 : Solving Four And Five Variable Logic Games

Adam, Bill, Chris, Don, Eric, Fred, and George ran in a race.  There were no other competitors and there were no ties.  The ranking of the racers met the following conditions:

Fred finished before Eric and George.

Bill and Adam finished consecutively with Bill finishing before Adam.

Chris finished before George but after Don.

Adam finished before Chris.

If Chris finished fourth, what place(s) could Bill have finished?

Possible Answers:

Third only

Second only

First or Second

First only

First or Third

Correct answer:

First or Second

Explanation:

The correct answer is: First or Second.

Both Don and Adam had to finish in front of Chris.  In addition, Bill and Adam finished consecutively, with Bill coming in before Adam.  Here, Chris finished fourth.  Therefore, Adam could finish only second at best and third at worst.  If Adam finished third, Bill finished second and Don finished first.  If Adam finished second, Bill finished first and Don finished third.  Therefore, Bill could have only finished first or second, making that the correct answer choice.

Example Question #17 : Solving Four And Five Variable Logic Games

Adam, Bill, Chris, Don, Eric, Fred, and George ran in a race.  There were no other competitors and there were no ties.  The ranking of the racers met the following conditions:

Fred finished before Eric and George.

Bill and Adam finished consecutively with Bill finishing before Adam.

Chris finished before George but after Don.

Adam finished before Chris.

If Chris finished fourth and George finished last, who finished between them in order?

Possible Answers:

Don and Adam

Fred and Eric

Don and Fred

Adam and Bill

Bill and Adam

Correct answer:

Fred and Eric

Explanation:

The correct answer is: Fred and Eric.

Both Don and Adam had to finish in front of Chris.  In addition, Bill and Adam finished consecutively, with Bill coming in before Adam.  Here, Chris finished fourth.  Therefore, Adam could finish only second at best and third at worst.  If Adam finished third, Bill finished second and Don finished first.  If Adam finished second, Bill finished first and Don finished third.  Either way, Bill, Adam, and Don finished in the first three spots.  George finished last.  That leaves Eric and Fred.  The conditions state that Fred finished before Eric and George.  Therefore, the order of finish would be Chris, Fred, Eric, and George.  Thus, Fred and Eric is the correct answer.

Example Question #18 : Solving Four And Five Variable Logic Games

Adam, Bill, Chris, Don, Eric, Fred, and George ran in a race.  There were no other competitors and there were no ties.  The ranking of the racers met the following conditions:

Fred finished before Eric and George.

Bill and Adam finished consecutively with Bill finishing before Adam.

Chris finished before George but after Don.

Adam finished before Chris.

What is the best position that George could have finished in?

Possible Answers:

Fourth

Sixth

Fifth

Second

Third

Correct answer:

Sixth

Explanation:

The correct answer is: Sixth.

Chris finished before George.  Both Don and Adam had to finish in front of Chris.  In addition, Bill and Adam finished consecutively, with Bill coming in before Adam.  That means that Bill had to finish before Chris too and, at best, Chris finished fourth.  Fred finished before George too.  That leaves only Eric to finish behind George.  Thus, George could have finished sixth at best, making that the correct answer choice. 

Example Question #19 : Solving Four And Five Variable Logic Games

Adam, Bill, Chris, Don, Eric, Fred, and George ran in a race.  There were no other competitors and there were no ties.  The ranking of the racers met the following conditions:

Fred finished before Eric and George.

Bill and Adam finished consecutively with Bill finishing before Adam.

Chris finished before George but after Don.

Adam finished before Chris.

What is the highest place Eric could have finished in?

Possible Answers:

Second

First

Fourth

Fifth

Third

Correct answer:

Second

Explanation:

The correct answer choice is: Second.

Fred finished before Eric.  Other than Fred, no one had to have finished before Eric.  If Fred finished first and Eric finished second, Bill, Adam, Chris, Don, and George could have taken some combination of second through seventh.  Therefore, second is the correct answer choice.

Example Question #20 : Solving Four And Five Variable Logic Games

Adam, Bill, Chris, Don, Eric, Fred, and George ran in a race.  There were no other competitors and there were no ties.  The ranking of the racers met the following conditions:

Fred finished before Eric and George.

Bill and Adam finished consecutively with Bill finishing before Adam.

Chris finished before George but after Don.

Adam finished before Chris.

Assume Don finished fifth.  How many racers could potentially have finished first?

Possible Answers:

Two

None of the other answers

One

Three

Four

Correct answer:

Two

Explanation:

The correct answer is: Two.

Don finished before Chris.  Adam, and therefore Bill, also finished before Chris.  Chris finished before George.  If Don finished fifth, Chris must have finished sixth and George must have finished seventh.  Bill, Adam, Fred and Eric remain.  Adam could not have been first because Bill finished before him.  Eric could not have finished first because Fred finished before him.  Bill and Fred, meanwhile, could have finished first.  Therefore, the correct answer is two.

Example Question #21 : Four & Five Variable

Adam, Bill, Chris, Don, Eric, Fred, and George ran in a race.  There were no other competitors and there were no ties.  The ranking of the racers met the following conditions:

Fred finished before Eric and George.

Bill and Adam finished consecutively with Bill finishing before Adam.

Chris finished before George but after Don.

Adam finished before Chris.

Which racer could have potentially finished in first and potentially finished in last?

Possible Answers:

Eric

None of the other answers

Don

Bill

Adam

Correct answer:

None of the other answers

Explanation:

The correct answer is: None of the other answers.

Bill could have finished first but could not have finished last because Bill had to finish in front of Adam.  Eric could have finished last but could not have finished first because Fred had to finish before Eric.  Don could have finished first but could not have finished last because Chris had to finish after Don.  Finally, Adam could not have finished first or last because he had to finish behind Bill and ahead of Chris.  In fact, no racer could have potentially finished first and also potentially finished last.  Therefore, the correct answer is no one or "none of the other answers."

Example Question #451 : Linear Games

The directors of a movie festival are deciding the lineup of their six films: Causes, Brothers, Willow, Above, Forged, and Monarchy. The festival will span Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings. At least one movie must be played each night, and there can be no more than three played the same evening. No movie is played more than once. The directors have decided on the following:

Monarchy is played on the night directly after Brothers.
Willow is played on the same night as Above.
If Causes is played on Saturday, then Above is played on Friday.
Brothers and Forged do not play on the same night.
Forged does not play by itself.

What is the possible order of the six films?

Possible Answers:

Friday: Brothers, Above

Saturday: Monarchy, Causes

Sunday: Forged, Willow

Friday: Brothers, Forged

Saturday: Causes, Monarchy

Sunday: Above, Willow

Friday: Brothers, Above, Willow

Saturday: Causes, Monarchy

Sunday: Forged

Friday: Above, Willow

Saturday: Causes, Brothers

Sunday: Monarchy, Forged

Friday: Causes, Brothers

Saturday: Willow, Above

Sunday: Monarchy, Forged

Correct answer:

Friday: Above, Willow

Saturday: Causes, Brothers

Sunday: Monarchy, Forged

Explanation:

First, consider what we're given. Forged cannot be played on a night by itself; we can delete that answer. Willow and Above must be played on the same evening, so we can delete the answer where they're not. Monarchy must be played directly after Brothers, so delete the answer where that is not the case. And lastly, Brothers and Forged cannot be played on the same evening. Delete that. We are left with the correct answer choice.

Example Question #22 : Solving Four And Five Variable Logic Games

The directors of a movie festival are deciding the lineup of their six films: Causes, Brothers, Willow, Above, Forged, and Monarchy. The festival will span Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings. At least one movie must be played each night, and there can be no more than three played the same evening. No movie is played more than once. The directors have decided on the following:

Monarchy is played on the night directly after Brothers.
Willow is played on the same night as Above.
If Causes is played on Saturday, then Above is played on Friday.
Brothers and Forged do not play on the same night.
Forged does not play by itself.

If Forged plays on Friday, what must be true?

Possible Answers:

Causes is played on Saturday.

Causes is played on Friday.

Brothers is played on Sunday.

Willow is played on Friday.

Monarchy is played on Sunday.

Correct answer:

Monarchy is played on Sunday.

Explanation:

Let's look at the question. It asks what must be true, not what can be true. In this scenario, Willow can be played on any of the days, so it does not have to be played on Friday. The same goes for Causes: it can be played on Friday or Saturday, so does not have to be played on Friday specifically or on Saturday specifically. Based on the information, because Brothers cannot play on the same night as Forged, it cannot play Friday night. But it must play one night before Monarchy, so it cannot play on Sunday night either, and it must be played on Saturday. Thus, Monarchy can and must be played on Sunday night since it must be played the night directly after Brothers.

Example Question #22 : Four & Five Variable

The directors of a movie festival are deciding the lineup of their six films: Causes, Brothers, Willow, Above, Forged, and Monarchy. The festival will span Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings. At least one movie must be played each night, and there can be no more than three played the same evening. No movie is played more than once. The directors have decided on the following:

Monarchy is played on the night directly after Brothers.
Willow is played on the same night as Above.
If Causes is played on Saturday, then Above is played on Friday.
Brothers and Forged do not play on the same night.
Forged does not play by itself.

If Sunday night is cancelled, but the same restrictions apply, what could be the possible order of the six films?

Possible Answers:

Friday: Causes, Brothers, Forged

Saturday: Monarchy, Willow, Above

Friday: Brothers, Monarchy, Causes

Saturday: Forged, Willow, Above

Friday: Causes, Brothers

Saturday: Willow, Above, Forged, Monarchy

Friday: Brothers, Causes, Willow

Saturday: Forged, Above, Monarchy

Friday: Brothers, Willow, Above

Saturday: Causes, Monarchy, Forged

Correct answer:

Friday: Brothers, Willow, Above

Saturday: Causes, Monarchy, Forged

Explanation:

Looking at our restrictions, we know that there can be no more than three movies played each night. We can delete the answer choice with four movies on Saturday night. We also know that Monarchy must be played directly after Brothers. Delete the answer where it is not. Willow and Above must be played the same night. Delete the answer where they are not. And lastly, Brothers and Forged cannot be played the same night. Delete that answer choice. We are thus left with one answer choice, and it abides by all of our restrictions.

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