Q24

[mcrittell]

Can someone please explain how one would go about this "backwards" thinking?

[giladedelman]

At first I was tempted to try to figure out exactly what the order would have been after round 2, but I quickly realized that there are multiple possibilities. So I decided to dive into the answer choices and see what I could eliminate.

It turns out that we can eliminate answers pretty easily just by remembering that each team can only move one spot per round. For example, since R is in spot 1 after round 3, it can only have been in spot 1 or 2 after round 2. So let's check out the answers, knowing we need to end up with R,J,L,S,M:

(A) is impossible because M is two spots away from where it needs to be.

(B) is out because R is all the way at the other end.

(C) looks pretty good, because everything is in the right place except for L and S, which are swapped; let's keep it.

(D) is out because J is three spots away from where it needs to be.

(E) is out for the same reason.

Okay, so we kept (C): R,J,S,L,M

That could work, because after an even round, L could beat S and move into third place, while J loses to R and stays put.

So (C) is correct.

Does that clear this one up for you?