Diagram

[noah]

Here is a full solution, written by my colleague Dan Gonzalez (and he's one of the authors of our strategy guides).

[acc0520]

Hi,

I can't understand why (E) is not right for the Q17. Because T can't be more than two in this set-up. There's no explanation about (E) in your diagram.

Can anybody explain it?

Thanks!

[lucia2]

I think I can help with your question. The easiest way to figure out this question is to look back at diagrams that you did in figuring out the other questions.

Why D is right:
We know we have to have two M's, and at least one G, J, and T. For each J, we must have a G right before it. So if we have 2 J's, 2 G's, and 2 M's, that's already six and forces us to make the last destination T. If we had THREE J's, that would force us to have THREE G's, and our TWO required M's, which already makes seven and we didn't even include T.

Why E is wrong:
However, if we had three T's, that is, Freedom made MORE than 2 voyages to Trinidad, then we could have the following scenarios:

From 1-7: T M G J T M T, for example

Or you could have: M T G J T M T

There are many other possibilities. It's really easiest to just try it out and see if you can.

Basically, the point in these kinds of questions are to look for the variables that have constraints on them. Example, J has a huge constraint on it because it's always attached with G. M has a constraint on it because we know there are only 2 and they are separated by at least one G.

T is the only variable without constraint--we know it has to be in the 7th spot, but that's it. For questions that are must be true/false, etc the answer tends to be variables with constraints on them, because those usually have to be one way or another (there aren't as many possibilities about where to put them).

[shawtydatblade]

I am also questioning the difference between answers D and E. I can see why D must be true. However, since J is never at week 4, T cannot be visited more than two times within the seven day range. Am I missing something here?

[noah]

I realized we're talking about Q17 in the diagram thread, so I re-posted this whole thing and I posted my answer here: post12769.html?

[hippo3717]

I was so bummed out...
the rule#4 screwed me over big time
because of the wording "week preceding"

It says G will be its destination in the week preceding any voyage before J.

I thought this meant : G-J, not J -> GJ.
Of course if this is the case, 17 is definitely D:
if 3 J, then you have to introduce 3 G as well which means 3G and 3J and 1 T. What bout M?

Wow, is the wording vague or extremely tricky or did I not just read carefully?

If it were to say "immediately before preceding" or something that would have this game more clear...

did any one have same problem?

[noah]

I was so bummed out...
the rule#4 screwed me over big time
because of the wording "week preceding"

It says G will be its destination in the week preceding any voyage before J.

I thought this meant : G-J, not J -> GJ.
Of course if this is the case, 17 is definitely D:
if 3 J, then you have to introduce 3 G as well which means 3G and 3J and 1 T. What bout M?

Wow, is the wording vague or extremely tricky or did I not just read carefully?

If it were to say "immediately before preceding" or something that would have this game more clear...

did any one have same problem?

Lots of folks struggle with this type of rule--I'm glad you got to wrestle with it as you'll beat it next time!

I think the key is to focus on pulling out the trigger and effect of these types of rules.