Which one of the following could be the order, from first to last, in which the pieces are performed?

Naz on September 18, 2015

The video explanation for this game is now live. You can access it by tapping on the "play" button on the screen.

Hope that helps! Please let us know if yo have any other questions.

Anna20 on July 22, 2020

For answer choice C, I'm not clear on why V and S need to share an instrument - as O and V already share an instrument. Wouldn't that be the same as O and N not sharing an instrument, which is fine? O and V share an instrument too (mandolin). I seem to be stuck between C and D here, when attempting this question myself.

Thanks so much!

shunhe on August 4, 2020

Hi @Anna2020,

Thanks for the question! So let’s take a careful look at the first rule. It tells us that each piece shares one instrument with the piece performed immediately before it or after it (or both). So that means that O and N could be next to each other and not share an instrument, but they would have to share an instrument with the other ones they were adjacent to. Since you have to share an instrument with at least one of the two neighbors you have.

But the end pieces are different. The end pieces only have one neighbor. Yet they still have to follow the first rule, that they share an instrument with the piece performed immediately or after or both. But they don’t have a piece after (the last piece) or before (the first piece). So they have to share an instrument with the piece before them if they’re the last, and after them if they’re the first.

So now we can eliminate (C). S is an end piece in this one. And it has to share an instrument with the piece before it. And that piece is V. But they don’t share an instrument, so (C) violates the first rule and is incorrect.

Hope this helps! Feel free to ask any other questions that you might have.