We are often asked whether or not we use real LSAT games in our class (the answer is YES! The vast majority of the questions featured in class, homework, and from our books are 100% real LSAT questions!), and the question has been asked so many times that the question now reveals more than the answer itself. Someone, at some point, was teaching the LSAT using fake games, and those students were not happy. Whoever that is/was, shame on you – may your pencils be always dull and your erasers leave annoying streaks on your paper.

But, the truth is that our site does sport a rather large number of fake games. What’s up with that? You thought Manhattan LSAT keeps it real; grade A, pure 100% USDA LSAT beef. We do, I swear, but we do like to dip our toes into the world of synthetic LSAT stimulants for extra practice. There are two big reasons for us having fakes. One is that we want to write games that are harder than the usual ones out there so we can push our students’ brains past their usual limits. But the most important reason we have these games is to hone our teacher’s skills. Every one of our teachers must write a logic game as part of his or her training, along with many other curricular and pedagogical challenges (up to but not including having to walk across a bed of coals while reading aloud a reading comp passage).

There are a few interesting challenges to writing an LSAT-like logic game. The first is to write one that is like a game one might see on the LSAT but without actually mimicking a game (it wouldn’t be much of a challenge to simply replace all the nouns and verbs of an existing LSAT game). Along with developing an innovative but realistic game, our teachers-in-training must try to achieve “duh-ness” with their questions. What’s “duh-ness” you ask? Have you ever been working on a question, spending tons of time on testing out answer choices, and then when you get to the right answer and finally see its rightness you say – perhaps aloud – “duh!”?  There it is: pure duh-ness. It comes from the fact that the logic game section is designed to test your ability to make inferences, not your ability to do trial-and-error. Lawyers, as far as I can tell from various movies and run-ins with the law, are not doing a lot of trial-and-error when developing legal strategies. Consider switching counsel if you’re on trial for grand larceny and your lawyer says “Hmmm, what sort of defense should I use with this client? I’m feeling lucky, let’s spin the strategy-wheel-of-fortune and find out!” Since the logic games section is testing your ability to make logical inferences not spin your wheels, the right answer is generally something you could reach through a step of logical moves. Thus, the other challenge for our teachers is to avoid writing a game where a ton of trial-and-error is needed to arrive at the right answers, and instead you can solve them through a slick combination of moves.

It sounds like our teachers are getting a lot out of this, but what’s in it for you? Go right ahead and solve our games if you dare – some of them are pretty tough (I’m particularly proud of Jambalaya – one of my gruesome concoctions). In fact, right now we’re running a series where we show a game in two forms – a simple and complex version – to highlight some of the typical twists that the LSAT throws at us. If you want to stretch yourself, try to win the prize for best explanation on our forums, or, even better, write a kick-ass duh-full extra question to one of our games (if you post it on our forums, we’ll test it out in our lab). But, in the end, treat our games like a tasty yet questionably nutritious food – they’re the ice cream of LSAT prep. Real LSAT games and a hearty strategy guide are the meat of your LSAT prep. They are the most duh games around, and they are the meat and potatoes of our curriculum.

If logic games are your bugaboo, consider taking our Live Online Logic Games Intensive Course.  This six session course focuses solely on the games section of the exam and is, like all Manhattan LSAT courses, taught by a 99th percentile instructor.

On To The LSAT!

For those of you who just walked across the stage – particularly those who managed to do so without face planting – we salute you.  Graduation ceremonies are the important culmination of 4+ years of careful study, even if it may have been in the art of carousals, the opposite sex, and parental money laundering.  In honor of all the new graduates out there, we have themed our latest Logic Games Challenge around the pomp and circumstance of the season.

Try out the easy or hard version of our new logic game, submit your best answer explanation to our forum, and you could potentially win a fabulous prize (either $200 off a course, or some books) from us.  Prizes are given to the best answer explanation for both versions of the game, as well as to one randomly selected participant.  So far, only 33% of respondents to the hard version of the challenge have been able to answer all of the questions correctly.  Do you have what it takes?

Rule Equivalency Questions are Meant to be Broken

The LSAT is a funny beast. On the one hand it stays very consistent – it’s still paper and pencil, still given simply four times per year, and still requires a number two pencil. But, on the other hand, it keeps throwing us small curve balls, small changes in what it asks of us. And these changes happen in every section: Logical Reasoning no longer has multiple questions about one stimulus, Reading Comprehension now has comparative passages, and Logic Games, around the year 2000, entered the Modern Era (read the intro to our Logic Game Strategy Guide to learn what that is). Excitingly, there’s a new Logic Games curve. It’s the introduction of a new question type – Rule Equivalency questions.

If you’ve taken one of the more recent LSATs, you might remember a question that asks something like “Which of the following, if substituted for the rule that . . . would have the same effect . . .” Some of these were quite easy, some were rather tricky, and they were all novel.

If you have already learned the basics of each of the games, take a look at our White Paper on this new question type.

Pat the Planner is planning her perfect party. The party will go from 8 pm to midnight. During this time, 8 different musical bands—K, L, M, N, O, P, R, and Q—each of which has at least one member in one of the other bands, will perform, each for thirty minutes.

The following conditions apply

At least one person in band M is in both bands K and O.
At least one person in band R is in both bands N and L.
O performs before K but after M.
P performs before L but after N.
No musician can perform in consecutive time slots.

1. Which of the following could be the order of bands that perform, from first to last?

(A) M, N, O, P, Q, L, K, R
(B) M, N, O, P, L, R, K, Q
(C) N, M, P, K, R, O, L, Q
(D) Q, N, M, L, P, O, K, R
(E) K, N, P, R, O, M, L, Q

2. It could be true that O performs in all the following positions except:

(A) Second
(B) Third
(C) Fourth
(D) Fifth
(E) Sixth

3. If M performs fourth, it must be true that

(A) M performs before P
(B) N performs before Q
(C) O performs after P
(D) O performs before L
(E) Q performs before O

4. If N performs after K, it must be true that

(A) There is 1 possible order of bands.
(B) There are 2 possible orders of bands.
(C) There are 3 possible orders of bands.
(D) There are 4 possible orders of bands.
(E) There are 5 possible orders of bands.

5. Which of the following rules would have the same effect as knowing that L performs third?

(A) N performs first.
(B) P performs second./p>
(C) R performs fifth.
(D) P performs immediately before L.
(E) L performs immediately before M.

6. If R performs immediately before M, the first and second bands to perform could, respectively, be each of the following EXCEPT:

(A) R, M
(B) N, Q
(C) N, P
(D) Q, N
(E) Q, R

Submit your answers right on our Logic Challenge Page…Good luck!

Six young children – K, L, M, N, O, P – gather in a circle and play a game in which they toss a ball to one another. One child starts the game by tossing the ball to one of the other five children, who then tosses it to another child, who tosses it to another child, who is declared the “winner.” A child may handle the ball more than once during the course of any one game, but cannot toss the ball to himself/herself. The following conditions apply:

* K can only toss it to P.
* P can only toss it to O.
* N can only receive a toss from M.
* L can only toss to P or M, and M can only receive a toss from L.
* N can only toss to K, and K can only receive a toss from N.

1. Which of the following could be the order of tosses, from the child who starts to the child who wins?

(A) M to L to P to K

(B) M to P to O to N

(C) M to N to K to L

(D) L to N to K to P

(E) L to M to L to P

2. If K starts the game, it could be true that

(A) L receives the second toss

(B) M receives the second toss

(C) M is the winner

(D) N is the winner

(E) P is the winner

3. If O is the winner, each of the following could be true except:

(A) N started the game

(B) M started the game

(C) L started the game

(D) K started the game

(E) P started the game

4. How many different orders of tosses would result in N being declared the winner?

(A) 0

(B) 1

(C) 2

(D) 3

(E) 4

5. If O starts the game, how many different children can receive the second toss?

(A) 1

(B) 2

(C) 3

(D) 4

(E) 5

6. Which of the following can’t happen in the same game?

(A) N starts and N wins

(B) M starts and M wins

(C) L starts and L wins

(D) K starts and P wins

(E) K starts and L wins

Can You Make The Cut?

A screenwriter has pitch meetings with six producers – F, G, H, I, J, and K – over the course of a day. He will meet with each producer once, and one at a time. The following conditions apply:

* The screenwriter will meet with K before G if he meets with F before J.
* The screenwriter will meet with G before H only if he meets with I before J.
* The screenwriter will meet with F before I if, and only if, he meets with F after J.
* The screenwriter cannot meet with G last.

1. Which of the following could be the order of meetings?

(A) H, J, G, F, I, K

(B) I, H, F, J, K, G

(C) G, H, J, F, I, K

(D) H, G, J, I, K, F

(E) I, G, F, K, J, H

2. Each of the following could be true except:

(A) J is first.r

(B) J is last.

(C) I is first.

(D) I is last.

(E) G is first.

3. If the screenwriter meets with I second, it must be true that…

(A) K is first.

(B) G is third.

(C) He meets with either F or G third.

(D) He meets with either J or H last.

(E) He meets with G before he meets with H.

4. If the screenwriter meets with K first and H last, how many different ways can the meetings be arranged?

(A) 1

(B) 2

(C) 4

(D) 6

(E) 8

5. If the screenwriter meets with K fifth, it must be false that…

(A) G is before F.

(B) G is before H.

(C) G is before J.

(D) H is before J.

(E) H is before F.

6. Which of the following pairs of assignments would completely determine the order of meetings?

(A) J is first, and K is last.

(B) J is first, and H is second.

(C) F is third, and H is fourth.

(D) G is second, H is third.

(E) H is fifth, and J is last.

Want to try your luck? Enter your answers here or post your explanations on our forums and you’ll get a chance to win a free book or a discount on an LSAT class. Good luck!

• Lisa grooms more animals than any other groomer.
• At least one poodle is groomed before any terrier is groomed.
• Each groomer grooms at least two different types of animals.
• Nancy grooms a poodle at 10 am.
• No terrier can be groomed during the same hour that a poodle is groomed.
• Mario does not groom a poodle first.

1. Which one of the following must be true?

(A) Mario is assigned exactly one animal.
(B) Nancy is assigned exactly one animal.
(C) Lisa is assigned exactly two animals.
(D) Mario is assigned exactly two animals.
(E) Nancy is assigned exactly three animals.

2. Which one of the following must be false?

(A) Lisa grooms the westie.
(B) Nancy grooms two of the poodles.
(C) At least one of the terriers is groomed at 9 am.
(D) The westie is groomed before either of the terriers.
(E) Mario’s last appointment of the day is a poodle.

3. If the westie is groomed at 9 am, which one of the following must be true?

(A) Nancy does not have a grooming appointment at 8 am.
(B) Mario has a grooming appointment at 8 am.
(C) Both terriers are groomed at 10 am.
(D) Mario grooms the westie.
(E) Nancy does not groom a terrier.

4. The schedule of grooming appointments would be completely determined if which one of the following were true?

(A) Nancy grooms the westie.
(B) Mario grooms the westie.
(C) The westie is not groomed at 8 am.
(D) Mario’s first appointment is at 9 am.
(E) Lisa grooms the westie.

5. If Mario grooms a terrier, each of the following could be true EXCEPT:

(A) Nancy grooms the westie at 8 am.
(B) Lisa grooms the westie at 9 am.
(C) Mario grooms the westie at 8 am.
(D) Lisa grooms a terrier at 9 am.
(E) Nancy grooms a terrier at 9 am.

6. If the condition that Nancy grooms a poodle at 10 am is replaced with the condition that Nancy grooms the westie at 10 am, and if all other constraints remain in effect, each of the following must be true EXCEPT:

(A) Mario grooms a poodle.
(B) Nancy grooms a poodle.
(C) Lisa grooms a terrier.
(D) Mario grooms a terrier.
(E) Nancy grooms a terrier.

If you want us to e-mail you when the next game comes out sign-up for our Fortnightly Logic Challenge Mailing List.

Old Blue Eyes

Seven singers—Hiroshi, Jordan, Kirkwood, Lewin, Marin, Olin, and Pan—will audition for the lead singer role in a Frank Sinatra cover band. The auditions will take place one at a time, and no other singers will audition for the role. The order of the auditions must conform to the following rules:

•    Exactly two auditions will take place between Jordan’s audition and Olin’s audition.
•    Exactly one audition will take place between Marin’s audition and Pan’s audition.
•    Hiroshi’s audition will take place immediately before or immediately after Lewin’s audition.
•    Jordan’s audition will take place before Hiroshi’s audition.

1. Which one of the following could be the order of auditions, listed from first to last?

(A) Jordan, Lewin, Hiroshi, Olin, Marin, Kirkwood, Pan
(B) Jordan, Hiroshi, Lewin, Olin, Marin, Pan, Kirkwood
(C) Olin, Hiroshi, Lewin, Jordan, Pan, Kirkwood, Marin
(D) Pan, Olin, Marin, Jordan, Kirkwood, Hiroshi, Lewin
(E) Marin, Jordan, Pan, Lewin, Olin, Hiroshi, Kirkwood

2. If Olin auditions first, which one of the following must be true?

(A) Marin auditions third.
(B) Pan auditions third.
(C) Kirkwood auditions second.
(D) Jordan auditions third.
(E) Hiroshi auditions seventh.

3. If Lewin auditions immediately before Olin, each of the following could be true EXCEPT:

(A) Kirkwood auditions second.
(B) Marin auditions seventh.
(C) Pan auditions third.
(D) Jordan auditions first.
(E) Hiroshi auditions third.

4. If Kirkwood auditions sometime between Jordan and Olin, which one of the following must be true?

(A) Kirkwood auditions second.
(B) Either Marin or Pan auditions fifth.
(C) Either Marin or Pan auditions first.
(D) Either Hiroshi or Lewin auditions last.
(E) Jordan auditions either first or fourth.

5. There are exactly two possible orders of auditions if which one of the following is true?

(A) Hiroshi auditions immediately after Jordan.
(B) Kirkwood auditions immediately after Olin.
(C) Lewin auditions immediately after Olin.
(D) Marin auditions immediately after Jordan.
(E) Pan auditions immediately before Olin.

6. If Marin auditions first, which one of the following must be true?

(A) Kirkwood auditions before Pan.
(B) Olin auditions after Pan.
(C) Hiroshi auditions after Kirkwood.
(D) Lewin auditions before Olin.
(E) Jordan auditions after Kirkwood.

7. If the condition that Hiroshi’s audition will take place immediately before or immediately after Lewin’s audition is replaced with the condition that exactly one audition takes place between Hiroshi and Lewin, and if all other conditions remain in effect, each of the following could be true EXCEPT:

(A) Olin auditions fourth.
(B) Jordan auditions third.
(C) Kirkwood auditions first.
(D) Lewin auditions sixth.
(E) Hiroshi auditions fourth.

Think you can solve this Logic Game Challenge?

Win $200 off any LSAT Course or any Atlas LSAT Strategy Guide (your choice!)

Post your answer and/or explanation on our LSAT Forum.