[mckirk]

Hmmmm yes, this assumption of good faith might actually be an important part of approaching these problems. I think I instinctively look for approaches to problems that would work even for adversarial examples. In the case of these puzzles, that of course doesn't work, because you then imagine the rule to be something completely outlandish and give up before you've even checked the easy options.

Something like "I know it's _possible_ the author has chosen a ridiculous rule, so it doesn't make sense for me to look for it, because even if I find it, I just got lucky and didn't actually solve the problem."

That might be a side-effect of perfectionism, actually.