If the Z is in the first spoonful, then which one of the following must be true?

Victoria September 13, 2020

Hi @Marshall98,

Happy to help!

X cannot be in the second spoonful with U as you've set up above because of Rule 4 which tells us that U is in the same spoonful as either Y or Z but not both.

The question stem tells us that Z is in the first spoonful and Rule 1 tells us that U must be later than T. This means that Y must be in the same spoon as U which cannot be the first spoonful.

If we put T in the first spoonful with Z, U must be in either spoons 2 or 3.

Option 1 - U in spoon 2

Rule 4 tells us that Y must be in the same spoon as U and Rule 3 tells us that Y must be later than W. Therefore, W must be in the first spoonful and X must be in the third.

1: T Z W
2: U Y
3: X

Option 2 - U in spoon 3

Rule 4 tells us that Y must be in the same spoon as U. Rule 2 means that U cannot be later than X so X must also be in spoon 3, meaning that W must be in spoon 2 as all three spoons must have at least one letter.

1: T Z
2: W
3: U Y X

If we put T in the second spoonful, then Rules 1 and 4 mean that U and Y must be in spoon 3. Again, Rule 2 tells us that U cannot be later than X, so X must be in spoon 3. The W can go in either spoons 1 or 2.

1: Z
2: T
3: U Y X

Notice in the above that X must always be in the third spoonful, making answer choice (E) our correct answer.

Hope this helps! Please let us know if you have any further questions.