Timeline for Things to avoid when writing challenges
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
15 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 17, 2020 at 9:03 | history | edited | CommunityBot | Commonmark migration | |
| Apr 29, 2020 at 9:41 | comment | added | Steve Bennett | I don't agree with this. Twists are fine, as long as they're adequately described. It's only a problem if a massive constraint is buried in an obscure bullet point and easily missed. | |
| Jan 16, 2019 at 16:10 | history | edited | Luis Mendo | CC BY-SA 4.0 | added 12 characters in body |
| Apr 16, 2018 at 20:39 | comment | added | Luis Mendo | @EsolangingFruit Yes, that's a good way to word it, because it doesn't try to fool the reader | |
| Apr 16, 2018 at 20:33 | comment | added | Esolanging Fruit | This can be avoided by giving a description of the pre-"twist" challenge but not phrasing it as if this is actually the problem to be solved. example (one of my challenges) | |
| Apr 13, 2018 at 18:24 | history | edited | Luis Mendo | CC BY-SA 3.0 | added 40 characters in body |
| Apr 13, 2018 at 18:23 | comment | added | Luis Mendo | @NathanMerrill The first item in the example (as well as the third) was meant to represent more than a sentence; usually one or several paragraphs. I've clarified that | |
| Apr 13, 2018 at 17:22 | comment | added | Nathan Merrill | I agree. However, given your short example above, it appears like your twist appears as the second sentence, so I want to make it clear that that's perfectly acceptable. | |
| Apr 13, 2018 at 17:13 | comment | added | Luis Mendo | @NathanMerrill I agree with you, except on terminology. If the twist is explained early on... then it's not a twist. By twist I mean something that contradicts or significantly changes the previous information (i.e. as per a definition like this) | |
| Apr 13, 2018 at 16:56 | comment | added | Nathan Merrill | Whether or not twists are acceptable is largely determined by how it is explained. If the twist is explained early on, or if explaining the twist depends on everything above it, then that's acceptable. You want to get to the core (the twist) of the challenge as fast as possible. Don't waste reader's time. | |
| Apr 12, 2018 at 17:39 | comment | added | user45941 | +1. This is the first rule of technical writing. While misdirection is acceptable for creative writing, it's not acceptable for technical writing. We aim for our challenges to be as easy to understand as possible. | |
| Apr 12, 2018 at 16:33 | history | edited | Luis Mendo | CC BY-SA 3.0 | edited body |
| Apr 12, 2018 at 16:29 | comment | added | Nissa | I disagree. I do this quite often as part of my writing style. | |
| Apr 11, 2018 at 13:27 | history | edited | Luis Mendo | CC BY-SA 3.0 | deleted 3 characters in body |
| Apr 11, 2018 at 13:20 | history | answered | Luis Mendo | CC BY-SA 3.0 |