PT91.S3.G2 The Hanford Music Festival will schedule

t.edwards

I could really use some clarity on Game 2 from PT 91. For some reason I was completely drawing a blank and as a result I missed 5 of 6. Has anyone ran in to the same issue? If so, how did you setup your game board and/or solve the questions?

Admin Note: Edited title. Please use the format: "PT#.S#.Q# - brief description of question"

Scott Milam

Here's how I worked it out:

PT91 S3 G2
First let's draw our board. Thankfully, the board here is quite simple. We have a 6-slot sequencing game with 3 repeating pieces, so our board should look something like this:

O J S

___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

Anytime we have a repeating piece game, we should take a second to consider how many times each can be used. In this case, we are told each piece must be used at least once. Note that on your board.

As we turn to the rules, we find that they are not particularly restrictive. This is not a good board to break. Instead, we will have one master board and need to create sub boards for each of our questions.

On the main board, I drew a line connecting slots 1 and 3. Then I noted our two other rules below it. For good measure, I indicate below slot 6 that it cannot contain an "O." Here's my end result:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ufiq1vovponwsf4/PT91S3G2.heic?dl=0

This might seem really simple, but it's enough for this game! It will go much faster if we can keep Rules 1 and 3 in our heads (they are pretty simple). In fact, the key to solving this quickly is realizing that you need to keep your board simple. Let's go through the questions and you'll see what I mean.

Question 1
This is a simple "test the rules" question. Even without a board you should be able to solve this easily.

Question 2
This can be solved quickly with trial and error.
A. Impossible, since 1 = 3, there is no place for "S" on the board.
B. Right answer!
C. This results in J O J ___ O J > No room for "S!"
D. Impossible, is "O" must always be followed by "J"
E. Impossible, our board already tells us "O" can't be on 6!

Question 3
Another easy one to test.
A. Right answer!
B. J O J S S S works
C. J O J S J J works
D. J O J S J J works for this one too
E. J O J S S S works here.

Question 4
If you tested out the previous question, we already know that J O J S S S is valid! Even if you didn't try that previously, these should go pretty quickly. First, note that there are only 2 places you can put S S S:

S S S ___ ___ ___ works
___ ___ ___ S S S also works

No other configuration is valid, since 1 = 3 and thus you wouldn't have space for "O"

Once you realize this, (A) works immediately. No reason to test the others!

Question 5
This one is tricky. Let's eliminate one at a time
A. O J O ___ J J This has no valid place for S.
B. S ___ S ___ J J This has no valid place for O
C. This can make two boards, both invalid (since either O or S cannot be placed):

O J O ___ J J

S J S ___ J J

D. ___ ___ ___ J J J is invalid for the same reason. Either O or S has to be in 1 & 3, leaving no space for the other.

E. J O J S J J is valid. E is correct.

Question 6
This one is tricky, but by now you should be able to make these boards fast:
A. J O J J S S works!
B. O J O J J S works!
C. O J O J S J works!
D. ___ J ___ ____ J ___ cannot work. O cannot be placed in 1 and 3 (that would require a J on 4), so S has to be on 1 and 3, but then there is no place for O.
E. S S S J O J works!

This one is a test of how quickly you can iterate boards. Memorizing the rules and coming up with counter examples for the different problems is key to completing under time! Noting that A is valid for questions 3 & 4 (saving you from eliminating the other answer choices) will also speed you up.

Hope that helps!

t.edwards

Yes, this definitely helped. However, I am still confused as to why, SSSJOJ can be a combination but not SJSJOJ or JOJSJJ? Both seem valid based on the game rules.