How many of the representatives are there who could visit a single one of the sites three times?

N_Ares on March 30, 2020

Need some clarification on the Y/W rule

Hi-I got all but one of the questions right on this and I think it's because I misunderstood this rule: Yamamoto must visit Ghana in "A" month immediately preceding a month in which Watts visits Ghana. I took that to mean that every time we have W in Ghana, we have to have Y directly before it. Please correct me if I'm wrong but if that was the case, the rule would have read as follows: Yamamoto must visit Ghana in "EVERY" [not "a"] month immediately preceding a month in which Watts visits Ghana. So the rule, as written in the problem, actually means that in at least one month, Y must come before W in Ghana, but W or Y can appear one other time without having the other of Y/W "attached" to it as long as it doesn't interfere with V's placement. Combining that with other rules, the only time we can get W twice in Ghana and also allow for Z to be in France 3 times is if from month 1 to 4, the order is Y-W-V-W, and the only time we can get Y twice in Ghana and have Z appear in France three times is for the order in Ghana to be Y-V-Y-W, right? I understand why W can't be first (I drew some diagrams just to show myself it would't work) so I don't think I need to go through that. I got tripped on on this because when I originally made my diagrams, I got the deductions for the placement of V in Ghana/India correct but in combination with the Y/W rule, I took it to mean that the other spot absolutely had be to filled by Z and Y/W always had to be a block. So I made two diagrams, one showing the order for Ghana as Z-V-Y-W and the other showing Y-W-V-Z. If I'm now understanding this correctly, while that is a possibility, that isn't a necessity for this game to work, correct? I just want to make sure I'm understanding this instead of assuming that that's accurate and the explanation provided for the set up on this problem confused me a little. Let me know if I need to clarify anything above-thanks!

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SamA on April 2, 2020

Hello @N_Ares,

That wording is tricky, and your reassessment of the rule is correct. At some point, we must have a YW block in Ghana. As long as that happens once, that rule is satisfied. Once it occurs, Y and W are free to be placed separately, as limited by the other rules.

Like you, I also made two diagrams based on the placement of V in Ghana. I know it cannot be first or fourth, V's trip to Ghana must be between his trips to India. This leaves us with two possibilities.

G: _ V Y W

G: Y W V W/Z

It seems like you understood this basic setup, but made an error with Z in Ghana. This explains why this is the only question that you missed. Although it is possible, Z does not have to visit Ghana. My diagram reflects uncertainty in those spaces. (Before I figured out that W can't be first in Ghana).

For this question, it is clear that neither V, W, or Y can take three trips to one place. So that eliminates C, D, and E. We only have to determine if Z can take three trips to France, which it can.

Overall, it seems like you did well on most of these questions, and I think this is a difficult game. You corrected your mistake with that YW block rule, and now you are prepared if you get another rule like it.

N_Ares on April 2, 2020

Perfect, thanks so much!

Ravi on April 12, 2020

@N_Ares, let us know if you have any other questions!

filozinni on August 15, 2020

Why can't Y and W take three trips to France? Can anyone please explain this question?

Gabe85 on September 8, 2020

each rep takes exactly 3 trips, and Y and W have to take at least 1 trip each in Ghana