Diagram

[elanaminkoff]

Wow. for the first game I found this quote challenging! Fortunately i guess at least game 2 was pretty much a breeze. I am slightly confused by the stimulus though. I am not sure how to deal with lengths of time between the 2 groups.
For example since I must be longer than W, could I be second in group 1 and W be last (aka 2nd) in group 2? Could they also be the reverse i.e W second in group 1 and I second in group 2? Can someone please explain this to me, and the general rule of how to apply this restriction to the game. Thanks!

[christine.defenbaugh]

Great questions, elanaminkoff!

This is an interesting hybrid game - we have to group the elements into first and second segments, but then within each segment, those elements must be ordered.

The first two rules lay out how the ordering and grouping relate to one another. The first rule tells us the grouping task: first group has 3 slots, second group has 2 slots. The second rule introduces the ordering element - but notice that it says "within each segment". So the ordering only applies within each group.

So, when we find out later that International is always longer than weather, that means that Int'l must come first if they are in the same group. If they aren't in the same group, it doesn't matter what slots they go in!

The first thing to do is just get a sense of the shape of the setup. We've two groups, and each group is being independently ordered (by length). So, we can set up two sets of ordered slots, like this:


Our elements are also grouped already into general interest (I and N) and local interesting (s, t, w). We can use upper and lowercase letters to quickly visually distinguish these.

Next, we need to deal with the implication of each rule. We've handled the first two, just to understand the setup. Rule #3 tells us that each segment needs at least one local interest element (s, t, w). But we can't just assign a spot to be local interest in each group, since they are ordered slots.

Instead, let's think about each group. The first group has 3 slots, and there are only two general interests, so no matter what we do, it will always have a local interest - that's covered. But what about the second group? It only has two slots - so if we put both I and N in the second group, we'd never get a local interest in there.

Ah ha! Rule #3 is really just telling me that I and N can't be together in the second group! (see diagram below).

Rules #4 and #5 are way easier to deal with. N is the longest, and that means that it will come first in whatever group it is in. Similarly, s is the shortest, so it will come last in whatever group it is in.

Finally, rule #6 tells us that I is longer than w, so that will mean that I is before w, if they are in the same group (as discussed above).


Getting a strong handle on these somewhat unusual rules is the key to this game. Unfortunately, though, there's really not a lot to put into the master diagram. However, it is interesting to note that since N must always be the first of its group, there are only two spots it can occupy (first of the first segment, or first of the second segment. Similarly, s can only be last of the first segment or last of the second segment.

I'm a bit of a framing fanatic, so I was inclined to quickly sketch out four frames around these two binaries. This isn't necessary, and in fact the only really interesting frame that results here is the last one: N and s together in the second group forcing everyone else to the first group. But it gave me a quick visual playground in which to try out answers on a few of the questions.


Again, framing is a preference here, and certainly not a necessity. The really critical things are to 1) understand how the ordering and grouping relate to one another and 2) get a handle on the unusual rules.

Please let me know if that helps clear things up a bit!

[jenniferreisig]

Hi Christine,

Thank you for your diagram. I found it helpful in my review. I have a question about the I and W rule. Forgive me if I am wrong but I don't think the I is longer than the W only if they are in the same segment. The rule states that "the international report is always longer than the weather report." Just like "the national report is always the longest of the five reports".So if the weather report was second in the first segment the international report would have to be first in either of the two segments. Please let me know if I am looking at this incorrectly. This was the only way I was able to answer #6. If I was only longer than W if they were shown in the same segment then both C & E would be correct in #6.

Thank you.

[christine.defenbaugh]

Thanks for your question, jenniferreisig!

So, you're absolutely correct that I is longer than W all the time. However, there's no rule that says that the first report of the second segment must be longer than the second report of the first segment. The second rule is specifically "within each segment reports are ordered by length, from longest to shortest." So, if the two reports are in different segments, then while I would be longer than W, it wouldn't affect where they can be placed within their own segments.

Taking a look at answer choice (C), from Q6, if traffic is the first and weather is the second of the first segment, then BOTH I and N would have to be in the second segment. N would have to be in the second segment as it must be the first report (and traffic is the first report for the first segment). I would have to be in the second segment as it cannot go after weather in the first segment.

But rule #3 said that each segment had to have at least one report of local interest. If N and I are both in the second segment, then that rule would be violated!

Does this help clear things up a bit?

[jenniferreisig]

Hi Christine,
Thank you for the clarification! Yes, it makes sense when you explain that no one said anything about the lengths of the first and second segments matching. Who is to say that the second segments lengths are all longer than the first? Very tricky.
Jen