2
$\begingroup$

The puzzle I have in mind is this one.

I have an incomplete idea to solve a riddle, but I want to share it so that other puzzlers might have an epiphany and come up with an answer. My incomplete idea is something along the lines of: "I have a pretty good hunch the puzzle works like X, and I can make a few interesting connections, but I haven't figured it out."

Is it appropriate to share my incomplete idea? If it is, would it be in the comments, or in some kind of WIP answer?

$\endgroup$
  • $\begingroup$ There was a riddle, once, that the OP encouraged me to solve. I thought of the answer, but there was this one part I couldn't quite grasp. Then, somebody else posted the exact same answer I had thought of, also having trouble with that very line. Although that other person had a partial answer, it was only so because of the lack of explanation for that one line; the answer was correct, thus it got the tick. I was a little bummed out, but I had more reputation than the user who answered correctly, so I figured he/she deserved the tick more than I did. But that goes to show about partial answers $\endgroup$ – Mr Pie Sep 2 '18 at 1:50
3
$\begingroup$

Yes, it is appropriate. These are called Partial Answers. This is when someone doesn't have the full solution, but has something that might help.

You should share these as an answer.

$\endgroup$
3
$\begingroup$

Note that while partial answers are perfectly acceptable, there is a threshold test you should keep in mind before posting. Ask yourself how does what you intend to post contribute toward a solution?

Too often, a brain dump of incomplete ideas ends up being Not an Answer, not even a partial one, because there's nothing in it that demonstrably brings the reader closer to the solution. Having fragmentary thoughts on aspects of a puzzle might be comment-worthy, but you probably want at least a germ of an idea that seems to lead forward before you should post as even a partial answer.

$\endgroup$

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .