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Tales From the LSAT Crypt: Unusual or Difficult Logic Games

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Halloween is a week from today, which means that all things spooky are just around the corner. Of course, if you’re studying for the LSAT, that monstrous test is probably the spookiest thing in your life these days. But you’re in luck. Think of me as the wise, grizzled old man who guides you through the perils ahead, because I’m about to introduce you to an LSAT bogeyman and tell you how to vanquish it.

Tales from the LSAT Crypt: Unusual and/or exceptionally difficult LSAT Logic Games

There are two classes in the Blueprint LSAT Prep curriculum that strike fear into the hearts of my students: one where we cover “neither” games (which are games that fall outside the general categories of ordering, grouping, and combo games), and one where we cover some of the hardest games ever (such as the infamous mauve dinosaur game from the 2009 June LSAT). “If we get an LSAT Logic Game like this on our test, we’re screwed!” they say.

If real life was like a movie, that would be a potent moment of foreshadowing (akin to saying, “What could go wrong if we go visit that spooky abandoned house in the middle of the forest?”). Luckily for my students, real life differs from movies quite a bit; it is very unlikely that you’ll encounter a “neither” game on your LSAT, so as far as LSAT anxieties go, that one should be low on your list.

What if you do get a “neither” game or one of those really impossible LSAT Logic Games? The first, and most important, step is: Don’t panic. Both of these types of games can be solved by taking the same steps you would take with any other LSAT Logic Game: build a setup that allows you to accurately incorporate the rules, look for interaction between the rules to find deductions, etc. You’ll be amazed at how far just going through your normal routine will take you.

And the other important thing to remember is that the LSAT is scored on a curve, and if you’re freaking out about a really unusual or really difficult game, odds are that everyone else is freaking about it too. If a certain section of your LSAT is incredibly tough, it’s likely that the curve will be a little more generous.

To summarize: don’t despair, follow your normal plan of attack, and remember that it will all be OK in the end. The person who panics is the one who ends up locking himself in the basement with the serial killer, and you definitely don’t want to be that person.