[BobKabob]

On the contrary, sometimes "out of the box" thinking by a non-expert is exactly the lightning bolt from out of nowhere that can cause a breakthrough.

[portmanteaufu]

True! ...but if they could tell me that they had already tried X, Y and Z classes of rot cypher, then I'd at least know I wasn't going down a path that's already been examined.

[Shibalba]

You could be disregarding the answer from the start, all because the FBI told you to.