LSAT Logic Games
Help Questions
LSAT › LSAT Logic Games
A chef is arranging spices on a shelf. Four of the spices are in large jars: garlic, oregano, pepper, and salt. Three of the spices are in small jars: basil, cumin, and mint. The following conditions apply:
A large jar must be first or fourth
Pepper must come after cumin but before basil
The jar of salt must be the first large jar in the line
Basil cannot be immediately before or after garlic
If the rules are changed so that basil must come directly after garlic, and if all other rules remain the same, which of the following cannot be true?
garlic is fourth
mint is first
cumin is fourth
pepper is fifth
mint is second
Explanation
If garlic and basil must be next to each other, then there are now five spices that must come after salt. Only four spices can come after salt when salt is third, so salt cannot be third.
Three circus performers—Flo, Genie, and Kyle—will perform the following six circus acts: acrobatics; ball juggling; clowning; dunking; elephant demonstrations; fire twirling. Each act is performed only once in any given show, and only one act is performed at a time. The following conditions dictate the sequencing of these acts:
- Flo performs exactly one act before Genie performs any of her acts
- Flo does not perform first and he does not perform last
- Genie does not do acrobatics and ball juggling
- Kyle does not do acrobatics and elephant demonstrations
- Ball juggling is performed immediately after the elephant demonstrations
Which one of the following could be true?
Fire twirling is the first act performed.
Acrobatics is the first act performed.
Ball juggling is the second act performed.
Elephant demonstrations is the first act performed.
Elephant demonstrations is the last act performed.
Explanation
Flo does acrobatics, so it cannot come first.
For ball juggling to go second, elephant demonstrations would have to first. But elephant demonstrations can't go first because Kyle must go first and he doesn't do elephant demonstrations.
Finally, elephant demonstrations can't go last because ball juggling must follow.
Consequently, the only option left is fire twirling going first---and that is the credited response.
A zoo has four exhibition regions---labelled R, T, V, and W---and each region consists of a vegetarian wing and a carnivore wing. The following conditions apply:
Each exhibition wing houses only mammals or amphibians.
Three of the wings have mammals.
R's vegetarian wing and T's vegetarian wing house amphibians.
If an exhibition region has mammals in one of its wings, then the other wing in that exhibition region has amphibians.
If mammals are housed in V's carnivore wing, then W's vegetarian wing has mammals, too.
If mammals are housed in V's carnivore wing, which one of the following is a complete and accurate list of the wings that CANNOT house mammals?
R's vegetarian wing, T's vegetarian wing, V's vegetarian wing, W's carnivore wing.
R's vegetarian wing, T's vegetarian wing
R's vegetarian wing, T's vegetarian wing, V's vegetarian wing
R's vegetarian wing, T's vegetarian wing, W's carnivore wing
R's vegetarian wing, R's carnivore wing, T's vegetarian wing, V's vegetarian wing, W's carnivore wing
Explanation
R and T's vegetarian wings are already designated locations for amphibians, so they are included in any correct response. Because mammals cannot occupy both wings, V's vegetarian wing cannot house mammals, since V's carnivore wing houses mammals. A rule dictates that if mammals are housed in V's carnivore wing, then W's vegetarian wing must house mammals. Therefore, mammals cannot be housed in V's vegetarian wing and W's carnivore wing, in addition to the wings already noted. Hence, the credited response is: R's vegetarian wing, T's vegetarian wing, V's vegetarian wing, W's carnivore wing.
Three circus performers—Flo, Genie, and Kyle—will perform the following six circus acts: acrobatics; ball juggling; clowning; dunking; elephant demonstrations; fire twirling. Each act is performed only once in any given show, and only one act is performed at a time. The following conditions dictate the sequencing of these acts:
- Flo performs exactly one act before Genie performs any of her acts
- Flo does not perform first and he does not perform last
- Genie does not do acrobatics and ball juggling
- Kyle does not do acrobatics and elephant demonstrations
- Ball juggling is performed immediately after the elephant demonstrations
If Kyle performs last, then which of the following must be true?
Genie performs some time after Kyle and Flo.
Genie performs second.
Genie performs immediately after Kyle.
Genie does elephant demonstrations immediately before Kyle performs.
Flo does ball juggling.
Explanation
This question calls for an answer that reflects what must happen, not what could happen. We know that Kyle must go first, so Kyle occupies slots 1 and 6. We know that Flo must go before Genie performs her first act. So Genie cannot occupy slot 2. That means Genie must perform after some time after Kyle and Flo, which is the credited response.
A library is holding a special five-day event honoring successful local writers. One writer will be invited to be a guest speaker for each night from Monday through Friday, and no writer will be asked to participate twice. The writers have each written books in only one of four different genres—science fiction, mystery, historical fiction, and non-fiction. A, J, and X are all science fiction writers. B and Y are both mystery writers. C and Z are both historical fiction writers. L is a non-fiction writer. The following conditions apply without exception:
At least one writer from each genre will be invited to speak on at least one night.
No two authors from the same genre will be invited to speak on the following night.
If C is invited to speak, then X is invited to speak on the following night.
If Y is invited to speak, then neither C nor A are invited to speak.
If X and J are both invited to speak, then neither will speak on either the first or last night.
If L and B are both invited to speak, then neither will speak on either the first or last night.
Which of the following is an acceptable list of guest speakers for the library's special event from Monday to Friday?
L, J, Z, X, Y
L, J, C, X, Y
A, C, B, J, Z
X, L, C, B, Z
A, X, Y, J, L
Explanation
This question is actually a combination of sequencing and grouping. The test-taker must determine both which variables will be involved in the sequence and the order in which the variables are placed in sequence. Answering this particular question is simply a matter of checking the rules in the question stem. Each incorrect answer breaks one or more rules.
L, J, C, X, Y is incorrect because C may not be invited if Y is invited. Z must be invited instead.
A, C, B, J, Z is incorrect because L is not invited. L is the only non-fiction writer and thus MUST be one of the five invited speakers.
X, L, C, B, Z is incorrect because X must follow C.
A, X, Y, J, L is incorrect because A and X are both science-fiction writers, and they are not allowed to speak on consecutive nights.
A school is holding tryouts for seven athletes – Eric, Fred, Greg, Ian, John, Kevin, and Merlin – for the varsity and JV track teams. Which team the athletes can join is determined by their 40 yard dash time; the three fastest will join the varsity team and the four slowest the JV team, subject to the following conditions:
Fred has a faster time than Ian.
Eric has a faster time than Ian, but a slower time than Greg
Greg has a faster time than Fred, but a slower time than John.
Kevin is part of the JV team.
Which of the following athletes CANNOT be on the varsity team?
Ian
Greg
Eric
Merlin
Fred
Explanation
Using the J - G - E/F - I combination of the first three rules, we can see that there are at least four athletes that must have faster times than Ian. As there are only three spots on the varsity team, it is impossible for Ian to be placed onto the varsity team in any scenario.
A library is holding a special five-day event honoring successful local writers. One writer will be invited to be a guest speaker for each night from Monday through Friday, and no writer will be asked to participate twice. The writers have each written books in only one of four different genres—science fiction, mystery, historical fiction, and non-fiction. A, J, and X are all science fiction writers. B and Y are both mystery writers. C and Z are both historical fiction writers. L is a non-fiction writer. The following conditions apply without exception:
At least one writer from each genre will be invited to speak on at least one night.
No two authors from the same genre will be invited to speak on the following night.
If C is invited to speak, then X is invited to speak on the following night.
If Y is invited to speak, then neither C nor A are invited to speak.
If X and J are both invited to speak, then neither will speak on either the first or last night.
If L and B are both invited to speak, then neither will speak on either the first or last night.
If L is invited to speak on Friday, then on what days MUST a science fiction writer be invited?
Tuesday and Thursday
Monday and Wednesday
Monday and Thursday
Monday and Tuesday
Only Wednesday
Explanation
If L is the speaker on Friday, then B cannot be a guest speaker at all, since if L and B are both guest speakers then neither can speak on Monday or Friday. If B is not a speaker, then Y must be a speaker, in order for there to be a mystery writer guest speaker. If Y is a guest speaker, then C must not be a guest speaker. Thus, Z must be a guest speaker in order to have a historical fiction writer.
We thus know so far that Y and Z and L are three out of five possible guest speakers (from Monday through Friday). That means the remaining two MUST be science fiction writers. Furthermore, because Y is a guest speaker, A cannot be a guest speaker. Thus, the two science fiction guests are X and J and they both are invited. They must be invited for Tuesday and Thursday, because any other day would force one of them to speak on Monday, which is not possible if both X and J are invited.
Y/Z, X/J, Y/Z, X/J, L
A photographer is hanging six portraits on the wall in a straight line. The portraits are of six family members: Lily, Mildred, Nancy, Owen, Peter and Quentin. The order in which the portraits are hung must conform to the following restrictions:
Mildred's portrait must be either first or last
There must be exactly one portrait between Nancy and Quentin
Nancy's portrait must come after Lily's but before Quentin's
Which of the following is an acceptable order in which the portraits could be hung?
Mildred, Lily, Owen, Nancy, Peter, Quentin
Lily, Mildred, Nancy, Owen, Quentin, Peter
Lily, Nancy, Quentin, Peter, Owen, Mildred
Mildred, Nancy, Lily, Quentin, Owen, Peter
Lily, Quentin, Peter, Nancy, Owen, Mildred
Explanation
Any option without Mildred being first or last is immediately taken out. Any option without one space between Nancy and Quentin is taken out, and any option that has Quentin appearing before Nancy is taken out. Any option that doesn't have Lily appearing before Nancy is taken out, leaving only the correct answer as an option.
Exactly Eight Classrooms—A, B, C, D, E, F, G, and H—are going on a field trip. Each classroom will go to either the museum or the observatory but not both. Exactly four classrooms go to the museum together and four go to the observatory together. The following conditions apply to the trips:
If G goes to the Observatory, then B also goes to the Observatory.
If C goes to the Museum, then E goes to the Observatory.
B and H go together.
D goes to the Museum.
If C goes to the Museum, how many different possible groups of classrooms are there that go to the Museum?
Three
Four
Two
Five
Six
Explanation
If C goes to the museum the possible games can be mapped out as follows:
Museum: A, C, D, F
Observatory: B, E, G, H
And,
Museum: C, D, G, __
Observatory: B, E, H, __
A and F can thus be switched creating two possibilities. Add these two possibilities to the first game shown for a total of three possible groups.
A school is holding tryouts for seven athletes – Eric, Fred, Greg, Ian, John, Kevin, and Merlin – for the varsity and JV track teams. Which team the athletes can join is determined by their 40 yard dash time; the three fastest will join the varsity team and the four slowest the JV team, subject to the following conditions:
Fred has a faster time than Ian.
Eric has a faster time than Ian, but a slower time than Greg
Greg has a faster time than Fred, but a slower time than John.
Kevin is part of the JV team.
Which of the following could be an accurate list of the team rosters, arranged from fastest to slowest?
Varsity: John, Merlin, Greg;
JV: Fred, Eric, Kevin, Ian.
Varsity: John, Fred, Greg;
JV: Merlin, Eric, Ian, Kevin.
Varsity: Merlin, John, Greg;
JV: Kevin, Eric, Ian, Fred.
Varsity: Greg, John, Fred;
JV: Eric, Ian, Kevin, Merlin.
Varsity: John, Merlin, Ian;
JV: Greg, Fred, Eric, Kevin.
Explanation
Each of the incorrect answers violates one of the stated conditions:
(Varsity: John, Fred, Greg;
JV: Merlin, Eric, Ian, Kevin.) - Greg has a faster time than Fred.
(Varsity: Merlin, John, Greg;
JV: Kevin, Eric, Ian, Fred.) - Fred has a faster time than Ian.
(Varsity: Greg, John, Fred;
JV: Eric, Ian, Kevin, Merlin.) - John has a faster time than Greg.
(Varsity: John, Merlin, Ian;
JV: Greg, Fred, Eric, Kevin.) - Ian has a slower time than both Fred and Greg.
The correct answer does not violate any of the conditions.