Diagram

[H.liemail]

it took me 10mins to solve it i just want to see if there is a better set up for this game than you!

[bbirdwell]

It's a Basic Grouping game, and the only real inference to make is that H and Y must go in either production or sales. See attached diagram.

[manhattanlsat.packer]

I am watching session 10 of the self-study at the moment, and I diagrammed this game differently. I would like for someone to give me some reasons for why my diagramming system is deficient before I make an effort to switch over to the closed board system described.

The diagram I drew assigned the positions among the applicants rather than vice-versa. So it had FGHIWXY along the bottom, with one slot above each letter. I wrote out MPPPSSS to the side since I would be assigning these, and the inferences I made look like this:

............... *..................*
P | M/S | P/S | . | . | .. |P/S|
----------------------------
F | . G . | . H | I | W | X | Y |
^-x-^ ................ P < S
......................... nP>nS

The star is the one-dot method I saw in an earlier Manhattan online class, which I have adopted as a powerful way of symbolizing that if one element is something, the other element has to be that also.

(again, I don't work for Manhattan etc etc)

edit: the forum deleted some of the spaces I put in, so I used periods.

edit again: I wanted to add that I diagrammed the setup and completed Q15 and Q18 (the two given on the session 10 handout) within 4m 30s, without pushing particularly hard. If this is just a time constraint thing then I am happy to stick with what I am comfortable with, but if this diagram method is going to kill me on particular questions and cause me to lose points then I would like to know that.

[timmydoeslsat]

I think you definitely make the game more difficult setting it up the way you did.

I always advocate for utilitizing blocks when they are given to you.

The base of your set up should reflect a specific certainty. For instance, days of the week.

With assignment games, such as this one, it will come down to which side of the two distinct elements will be the base. It comes down to just a few factors. Do we have a specific count of how many each group will have.

In this game, we do know that all people will be used exactly once, so that is something to consider. However, we have an even more powerful fact, distributions for each of the groups along with a block.

I just did this game and I was able to come up with 4 frames within 3 minutes and it answered the tough ones like 17 in less than 20 seconds.

You can quickly determine that the HY block will either go into P or S. Each situation will have either G go with the block, or the other of P and S.

M: _
P: F _ _
S: _ _ _

M: G
P: F _ _
S: H Y _

So this one could have W, I, and X all be in those spots. X goes into S? W has to go into P anyway. Rule satisfied. X not into S? No rule about that.

M: _
P: F _ _
S: H Y G

W, I, and X are free to do whatever here.

M: _
P: F H Y
S: G _ _

I know that P will not have W, so X cannot go to S, thus it must go to M. So now S has the rest of W I.

M: G
P: F H Y
S: _ _ _

As of this moment, I know that this one cannot work, I cross it out. It would place X(S) and W together.

[matthew.mainen]

Frames are definitely the way to go. A key indicator is that the questions are generally conceptual (which of the following cannot be true) rather than specific (If H is in Production...)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/matthew_mainen/9088671916

For the first frame, if H and Y are in Production, then X cannot go in Sales as therefore W would have to be in Production, but there's no more room. S X has to be the manager, and the other three are in production (W,I,G).

We can't do too much with the second frame, but at this point all you have to be mindful of is that if X is in sales, then W is in production.