Which one of the following partners cannot have the third highest salary?
camclantonon March 26, 2020
Sequencing Games
Hi, is there any way to get better at sequencing games other than practice? I have been trying to do some in my free time, but it seems that I struggle to figure them out/get answers wrong despite LSATMax teaching me the basics. It's almost as if my brain just doesn't work the way that is required to do well on these kinds of games. Is there something I'm missing?
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I have a couple of tips that I think will help you. I also struggled with sequencing games for a while. I'll diagram this particular game and use it as an example. This game yields two separate sequencing chains, branching off from K.
I - F - M - G - J - H K - L - N
1. Ask yourself this question: "How many letters must come before X? How many must come after X?" This is easy to see when looking at the sequencing chain, and it really helps me answer questions like the one you linked. So, when it asks us who cannot have the third highest salary, it is really asking us who cannot have exactly two letters before it.
Take a look at M. How many letters must come before it? There are three: K, I, and F. This is why M cannot be 3rd, making D the correct answer.
Now take a look at L. You might be thinking, "How can L be third? Only K comes before it, so shouldn't it be second?" This is not necessarily true, because we don't know the relationship between L and I. I could be before L, which is why L could be 3rd, making C incorrect. This brings me to my next point.
2. Understand which letters have a sequential relationship, and which ones do not. When there is a line connecting two letters, they have a direct relationship. We know for certain that F is before M, with no exceptions. Indirectly, we also know that F is before G, because our order is F - M - G. We know how these letters relate to each other.
What about N and J, for example? What order must they be placed in? They do not have a line connecting them, nor is there another letter between them. Therefore, we cannot determine their order. The only thing they have in common is that they are both after K. Within that parameter, anything goes. N could be 9th, after the entire upper branch. Or N could be 3rd, before the entire upper branch. Or it could go anywhere in between.
You have to understand these relationships when looking at your diagram.[[
camclantonon March 29, 2020
Thank you for your help! Will focus on understanding these concepts more.
NinahBinahon March 31, 2020
This helped! It get bogged down in all the possibilities and fight the need to calculate all the possible solutions.
