LG: Get your house in order?

marcosmcqueen

I'm wondering how folks actually organize the physical workspace for LG? How and where do you actually write on the paper? I'm kind of old and have done my current job for a couple of decades. In that context I've come to the conclusion that when I'm feeling in the weeds, it's usually reflected in my workspace. If my workspace feels dirty, I feel lost and underwater. Cleaning up the workspace is usually my first action when I have those feelings.
It seems that in the context of LG, the workspace is the page. How do people keep that page organized?
People often discourage erasures. Frequent copying of multiple game boards seems impractical. People also seem to discourage writing on master game boards.
I see the logic of these ideas, but they seem to crash up against reality fairly hard.
For example, if one is translating the rules as one goes, and then drawing inferences one is likely to end up with rules that are entirely represented on the game board and no longer need to take up physical or mental space in the rules list. One must either erase it, cross it out or leave it, none of which make for neat pages. After "crashing" rules together I often end up with a bunch of crossed out or erased rules and have a hard time recognizing which rules must still be considered. Likewise, I often end up with floaters in odd spaces, which doesn't provide clarity.
JY almost always uses his magical eraser when demonstrating because, I assume, it offers clarity. Other times there are obvious edits where the video has been paused and the rules and game boards re-written to provide clarity. That clean clarity seems to be a factor in his speed.
The LSAT allows neither erasers nor editing of the space/time continuum, so how do you folks keep your page relatively clean and organized?
Likewise, how do you handle questions wherein there are too many game boards to copy in a timely fashion. JY handles this by using his magic copy and paste feature and also his magical eraser. Again, I believe that magic is generally prohibited on the LSAT (?) and thus not an option. How do you handle conditions that are added by question stems without writing on your master boards?

Accounts Playable

Answer to your first question:
The games are on two pages, so on the first page, I number my rules and draw a master game board. If I decide to split my game board, I do it on the first page. All "upfront" inferences are on this page, so if I get a blanketed "must be true" question, I know to look back here first. If I still have trouble with that question, then I look at my prior work that's on the second page.

Answer to the second question:

On the second page, I always number my game boards. For example, if question 14 asks "If Person A goes into slot 4, then........" I write "14" next to a newly drawn game board. That way, if I skip a question, or I come back to review the game once I'm done with my first pass, I can clearly see what prior game boards go with what question. You don't want to have unlabeled game boards all over the place because your page can get convoluted and messy pretty quickly. You almost never want to draw on your master game board when you do the questions since it becomes easy to conflate what is a valid inference for the entire game and a valid inference for just the one specific question.

If I ever make a mistake, I just scratch out the mistake; in my opinion, erasing wastes too much time and I think it looks messy when you erase stuff.

Lastly, and this is more applicable to sequencing games, I use my fingers a lot. So, if we know that a game piece becomes a floater due to the question stem, I cover up the parts of the rule that become irrelevant.

runiggyrun

The good news is that the newer tests give you two pages for games, so ample space to get organized (no more trying to write the master board on the side of the page because the game spreads all the way to the bottom, a la PT57 Game 4).
I often wish I had JY's magic eraser, but it's doable without - remember that unlike JY, who has to write down his whole though process we can often just think "well, if T goes in 1 Z has to go in 1 and there's no space, so that won't happen" without writing it down, so there's less need for us to erase things.
I won't claim I've got THE solution, but here's what I do - usually ends up pretty neat and seems to be working for me.
Step 1.
With the new two page layout, I write down the pieces all the way to the left, then sketch a general board to the right of that.
Below both go the rules
Step 2.
a. If it's the sort of game where you link up the rules, I draw a line below Step 1, then proceed to writing down the linked rules; I copy the "orphan rules" that didn't link up to this space, and box it up. I know that's the only place I need to look at when solving questions.
b. If it's the sort of game where you need to write down multiple boards, I draw a line and write out the boards. Copy the remaining rules and box the space with the boards and rules.
c. If it's a chart game, I actually make multiple copies of the chart at this time, and fill them with all the rules, so I end up with 4-5 identical charts (for 5-7 questions). For each question that needs it, I use one of the premade charts, and don't have to worry about missing something from the chart, because I know they are identical). I use fewer charts than questions because there are usually one or two questions where I don't need to write down anything extra on the chart, so I just look at the master. The writing down of the charts several times also cements the rules in my mind.
Step 3.
If the question adds information that fits in the game board, I write a mini board next to the question. Sometimes there isn't enough space next to the question, so I write the question number and the board somewhere below my rules and boards.
For in/out games I fill in the board with the inferences from the rules and extra piece of information (if M in kicks T out, which kicks Z in, and so on). That's usually all that's needed to answer the question. Doesn't take very long.
For sequencing, I write down the new board, and either cover up with my finger the rules that become irrelevant or rewrite the new "tree" next to the new board, if it's a more complex tree left.
Writing a new board makes it easy to see inferences. If A--B--C--D-E, and C is 3, then you know A-1 B-2, D-E are in the spaces 4-8 (I'm assuming a game with 8 spots).
For games with multiple boards, usually the new information helps eliminate some boards. I just cover those up with my hand, and it generally doesn't require any extra writing - I just look at the remaining boards and answer the question.

Very often having miniboards next to the questions helps eliminate answers in subsequent questions. For things like : a complete and accurate list of where Z can go, I know it can go in 2, 3 and 5 from my previous boards, so anything that doesn't contain all those is out.
It may seem like it takes a long time, but once it's part of your automated process it really doesn't, and (at least for me) it greatly helps minimize errors and clarify things, which results in a net time gain rather than loss. I know I got faster when I started actually writing down boards for those pesky questions that require lots of hypotheticals. I thought I was saving time doing them in my head, but I often had to go back through the answers several times because I'd miss something, so writing stuff down actually turned out to be faster.

stepharizona

Even on the two page games I write everything on the second page. I also do the game boards for each question at the question itself or using the space in the headings or below. If I need more space I'll use the paper on the 1st page but rarely unless it's an in out game and I have made other game boards.

I also never erase unless I made an error and use a white eraser.

I practice this system over and over to save time. I also found for me personally, I'd waste time on game boards so I usually make basic inferences and head into the questions. I found I often didn't use all the boards and felt it created clutter. Making boards at each question worked best for me.

But that's me and how I do it. It took awhile for me to find the right balance and I'm usually a -0-2 but I still have issues with difficult in/out games and it's because I haven't nailed down a great diagraming theory yet that I have confidence in.

Play around with them different ideas shared here and see what works for you. That's the key thing. Discovering the system that allows you to be successful.

MrSamIam

You are absolutely right. The more organized your game is, the more clearly you can see things - this ultimately translates to efficiency.
If there's one thing that I've learned in the last few months, it's to do what works best for you.
Here is what I do:
-Diagrammed rules go to the left, right below the rules provided by the game.
-Variables go right next to the board, in sets of 3.
-Game board (non-split) goes on the same page as the stimulus.
-Game board (split): Same as above, except all additional boards ("splits") go below the initial board. Or, anywhere on the first page where they will fit and I can see them all by quickly glancing in that general direction.
-I like to organize placement based on rules. If I am splitting because of rule 4, then all of the splits that rule 4 yielded are side by side.

Do not draw on your master board(s). The issue is that if you answer a local question by drawing on your board, you may forget to erase what you've done. Or, worse, you may erase everything and forget the inferences. Remember, although boards yielded by local rules can be used as "samples" of what's possible in the world of this game, they are not by any means what must happen - and that is what the split tells you...what MUST happen if X occurs.

When a question presents me with a new rule (e.g. "IF X is in slot 3...") I draw a mini board next to the question and go from there. If I have split the board into all possible worlds, I just refer back to the relevant boards. If I can do the question in my head, I will. If not, I draw the relevant boards, incorporate the new condition, and go from there.

If there are too many boards to draw on the page, I know I am either doing something wrong, or my drawings and writing are too large.

runiggyrun

Forgot to add - I write everything on the second page, because all but the first question are there, and I like to have everything on the same page. For the first question, which is usually an orientation I refer to the rules in the stimulus anyway, with a quick mental check between the way the rule is written in the stimulus and the way I wrote it down on paper.

twssmith

@marcosmcqueen Great advice above and it shows "one size doesn't fit all" but all great strategies for you to find the best that works for you:)

JY has provided some videos of logic games done by previous students with his commentary - it is incredible to watch especially PT23, Section 1, Game 1 where 2 different videos of students at different levels of competency are provided. Keep scrolling down almost to the comment sections for the LG videos in the link. Also added a link to the PT35 video.

https://7sage.com/lsat_explanations/lsat-23-section-1-game-1

https://7sage.com/lsat_explanations/lsat-35-section-3-game-4

Following is the link to find additional videos of JY and Jonathon Wang taking timed sections (& hopefully in the near future - the highly anticipated video of Sage Corey @c.janson35 taking a timed PT.) All I can say is WOW:)

https://7sage.com/discussion#/discussion/3115/videos-of-sages-doing-lsats

marcosmcqueen

I can't thank all of you enough for your thoughtful and detailed responses. Each post has given me something valuable that I'm going to try. Actually, each post has given me several things valuable that I'm going to try. The coolness of folks here is kind of humbling.

hlsat180

As another option to the great points made thus far: When applicable I place working diagrams directly below the master diagram/frames. The purpose of "stacking" solutions is to (1) facilitate routine use of previous work, and (2) reveal further inferences from any patterns.

- For linear sequencing games, vertical lines extend down below the master diagram/frames to delineate space between each slot. Then for each question (numbered at left for ID) horizontal lines extend across - eventually creating grid that extends down. This take less than one second to setup for each new question.

- For other types of games, minimal bare-bone frames (that often look like weird hashmarks) are neatly written directly below their applicable master frames. Same deal: this setup routinely lays out previous work for reuse, plus its patterns often yield further inferences.

Instead of local diagrams next to each question (which still requires reviewing the master diagram/rules) I found this method ultimately saves time and reduces room for mental transcription errors. And if able to write small/neat enough, one can keep all work on the bottom half of the second page (not me, so I just use the first page).