Grouping Games Forum

[thegarciab0y]

I have just gotten to the grouping games in my LG prep and this seems to be the hardest section out of all of the games, for me at least. I have been prepping for about four months now and for some reason I am still struggling with these games. I just tried to do Ch. 24 G4 and it just about killed me to get this done in even under 12 minutes. I literally had to bust out around 10 hypos brute-force style to get through the game, and when I was done I was completely spent. Does anybody have any type of advice on these types of grouping games? They are the fixed-overloaded type games, not the simple in/out types of grouping games (I get -0 every time on those). For my setup, I tried to set up an in/out diagram to help me with the questions and it was almost useless when it came down to the questions. Even a logic chain on a problem like this would be of minor help. For two of the questions I had to bust out three hypos each taking at least two minutes per problem. Any advice from any of the grouping gurus out there?

[youknowryan]

I have just gotten to the grouping games in my LG prep and this seems to be the hardest section out of all of the games, for me at least. I have been prepping for about four months now and for some reason I am still struggling with these games. I just tried to do Ch. 24 G4 and it just about killed me to get this done in even under 12 minutes. I literally had to bust out around 10 hypos brute-force style to get through the game, and when I was done I was completely spent. Does anybody have any type of advice on these types of grouping games? They are the fixed-overloaded type games, not the simple in/out types of grouping games (I get -0 every time on those). For my setup, I tried to set up an in/out diagram to help me with the questions and it was almost useless when it came down to the questions. Even a logic chain on a problem like this would be of minor help. For two of the questions I had to bust out three hypos each taking at least two minutes per problem. Any advice from any of the grouping gurus out there?

I can offer a couple of pointers:

#1. Take every PT you've done already and redo the grouping games only. Do 4 a day and review every single answer A-E. Ask: Why did I get this one wrong (or why did I take so long to figure it out)? Was it the initial set up was lacking? Did you misread the prompt? Did you pick a could be true answer when you needed a must be true, etc...

#2. Try building a hypos or two to cement the rules in your mind. Some people recommend against this and for most games I would not do this, but there are some where this will make all of the difference. I just did this game recently and used this trick. I finished in 9:01 with no incorrect answers. I even got lucky, the hypo I build also helped me solve a question. Even if it did not, I still would have finished by 9:30 if I had to build one last hypo.

Logic games took me FOREVER to master and grouping in particular is tough. I used the above and it helped a LOT. Hope this is useful.

[bergg007]

I misread the title for this thread. I dropped the U and I thought it said groping games. my bad.

[thegarciab0y]

I have been starting to front load problems like this, I'm not sure about others but for me front loading a problem makes the entire game much simpler. Basically what you're saying is that after diagramming the grouping rules you busted out a few hypos to get familiar with the game before you even hit the questions. I have been doing linear games for a while and completely forgot about the number of possibilities in grouping games such as 2-1-2 or 1-2-3 type of thing. I will throw in the front loaded hypos technique that you have suggested and see where it gets me….. Can't hurt. Thanks a lot!

[youknowryan]

I have been starting to front load problems like this, I'm not sure about others but for me front loading a problem makes the entire game much simpler. Basically what you're saying is that after diagramming the grouping rules you busted out a few hypos to get familiar with the game before you even hit the questions. I have been doing linear games for a while and completely forgot about the number of possibilities in grouping games such as 2-1-2 or 1-2-3 type of thing. I will throw in the front loaded hypos technique that you have suggested and see where it gets me….. Can't hurt. Thanks a lot!

Try sticking to one hypo if you can and also you are right to figure out numerical distributions ahead of time since about 1 in 4 games will ask a question or two about them.

[thegarciab0y]

Alright so I just tried the hypo before questions technique on grouping the the results were through the ceiling. Once I diagrammed my first hypo, I saw the window of opportunity to diagram 2-3 different versions of it really quick within that same time, then using the numerical distribution diagrammed another 2 hypos in that distribution and BAM, had around 5 hypos before I started the questions (a lot more than one lol). One thing I did on my hypos that I didn't do before was diagram for example H/K instead of just putting H in one and K in the other then diagramming another whole new diagram just for the reverse. So on to the questions... I literally answered all of the questions within a minute and a half without even using process of elimination because according to my hypos, it was the correct answer. ( I understand on the real test I would recheck my answers with the spare time). Checked my answers, and whala, -0. This type of technique may not work for some, but Im beginning to understand the LSAT is all about personal preferences. For me this technique is solid, for other, it might not be. Just thought I'd update with the results. Thanks Ryan