[wodenokoto]

How much external help do you guys seek out for these puzzles?

Last year I solved two puzzles by looking up the answer on reddit, and other than that I tried to solve them as is. But I feel like it is sometimes a bit like solving a puzzle is a bit like reinventing parts of math and computer science if you didn't happen to have learned those from school or a book.

[dolmen]

Exactly. This a very good set of exercises for training on algorithms.

Use platforms such as codingame.com for more targetted training, or if you need motivation.