Welcome To Kaplan's Grouping Games Of Selection Workshop

This is one in a series of workshops focusing on the different types of logic games that
appear regularly on the LSAT. In this workshop we will:

 introduce you to Grouping games;

 show you how to recognize Grouping games of Selection;
 recommend Master Sketch and scratchwork strategies;
 make you aware of the two ways in which the LSAT adds a twist to the
standard Grouping game of selection; and
 examine questions most commonly associated with this game type.

You should already be thoroughly familiar with the Kaplan 5-Step Method for Logic
Games — we're going to dive right in and use it.

You are bound to see at least one Grouping game on Test Day — so let's learn about
how they work.

Grouping Games
You should start all logic games the same way: by employing Step 1 of the Kaplan
Method. What is the Situation in the game? Who are the Entities? What is the Action
of the game? What are the Limitations of the game?

Of the four, identifying the Action is most important.

You know that the game is a grouping game when the action to be undertaken is to
assemble the entities into groups.

As it turns out, there are two types of grouping games presented on the LSAT:

1. Games that provide a pool of entities and ask you to select a group from that
pool are called Grouping games of Selection; these games are the focus of this
workshop.
2. Games that ask you to divide a group of entities into subgroups are called
Grouping games of Distribution; these are covered in the "Grouping Games
of Distribution" workshop.

The character of both types of grouping games depends heavily on the numbers of
entities in the groups. This is a crucial point, worth making into a hard and fast rule:

When dealing with grouping games, always keep close track of the numbers!

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Introduction To Grouping Games Of Selection
When you see games that begin like this:
James is making exactly four of seven types of paint — apple red, burnt siena, gold,
indigo, maroon, navy blue, and tangerine — in accordance with the following
conditions...

you should immediately pickup on the fact that you are looking at a grouping game of
selection. The key feature that sets selection games apart from other types of games is
that the size of the group that is to be selected is either specified, or that a limit is
placed on the size of the group.

In the game above, you are told that exactly four of the seven types of paint will be
made; in other words, James is selecting a group of four from the seven possible paints.

Once you have identified a game as being a Grouping game of Selection, be sure that
the next thing you figure out is what the conditions are on the size of the group
selected. Always keep track of the numbers in grouping games.

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Step 1: Organizing A Grouping Game Of Selection
When organizing games of any kind, be sure to do your thinking before you do your
writing and drawing.

Once you've thought through some of the consequences of the game, then you can let
your sketching flow naturally from your thoughts on the game. If you draw first, then
your understanding of the game, right or wrong, will be influenced by that drawing.

With that in mind, let's organize a game:

Anthony is baking exactly five of eight types of bread for his bakery — baguettes,
cornbread, marble, pumpernickel, rye, scones, whole wheat, and zwieback — in
accordance with the following conditions:

Our task is clear: of the eight breads, we must choose five to be baked. Notice that the
game uses the word "exactly": no more than and no less than five breads are chosen.
You should train yourself to look for uses of the word "exactly" or the phrase "must
be" when organizing games.

When reading games, pay special attention when words like "exactly" and "must be"
are used.

These words should stand out like a beacon in the darkness — they're your clue that
you're about to be told something very important and very concrete.
Step 2: Visualize And Map Out

When you know the exact size of the group to be picked out of the pool of entities, a
set of dashes in a row is usually the best Master Sketch to use.

On scratch paper, jot down how you would visualize the following game, and
then click Continue.

Anthony is baking exactly five of eight types of bread for his bakery — baguettes,
cornbread, marble, pumpernickel, rye, scones, whole wheat, and zwieback — in
accordance with the following conditions:

The sketch of the game looks like this:

In grouping games of selection, as you work through a question, you should always be keeping
track of numbers. For example, in this game, we are choosing five from a group of eight. What if
a question gave you enough information to figure out which three breads are not baked by
Anthony? Knowing which three breads aren't baked also tells you exactly which five breads are
baked!

It is not only important to keep track of numbers as you organize a game, but also as you go
through each question. Remember that knowing who or what isn't selected is just as informative
as knowing who or what is selected.

The Rules: Think In Groups

When working with the rules, you should still gravitate toward the most concrete rules;
but in grouping games, you'll also want to pay close attention to the particular grouping
of entities suggested by the rules.

Let's illustrate this point with our bread baking example:

Read and learn the rules of the game, adding them all to your master sketch.
Focus on the concrete rules, and figure out which clusters of entities are
important.

Anthony is baking exactly five of eight types of bread for his bakery — baguettes,
cornbread, marble, pumpernickel, rye, scones, whole wheat, and zwieback — in
accordance with the following conditions:

If both baguettes and whole wheat breads are baked, zwieback breads are also baked.
If pumpernickel breads are baked, neither scones nor whole wheat breads are baked.
If rye breads are baked, cornbreads are not baked.
Of the three bread types cornbread, marble, and scones, exactly two are baked.