Return to Answer

##Patching out approaches

On your challenge, someone posts a solution that's cheap and not at all what you intended. You have the option to change the rules, but do so very carefully as there's many pitfalls.

Don't:

• Criticize the answerer. They were just trying their best towards the winning criteria as stated.
• Simply encourage avoiding this approach. If it's not against the rules, it's fair game.
• Ban answers "not in the spirit of the challenge". Answerers can't read your mind to infer your intentions.
• Require using a certain method. A lot of the fun is in finding novel, unexpected approaches.
• Attack the symptoms. If the exploit suggests a broader problem with the challenge, fix that problem. Also, it's often hard to specify exactly what is off-limits.
• Make rash changes. These might introduce other problems. It's hard to think clearly under time pressure. If you're unsure, ask that the challenge be closed, post it in the Sandbox to get feedback, and reopen it when it's in good shape.
• Post changes solely in the comments.

Patching out approaches

On your challenge, someone posts a solution that's cheap and not at all what you intended. You have the option to change the rules, but do so very carefully as there's many pitfalls.

Don't:

• Criticize the answerer. They were just trying their best towards the winning criteria as stated.
• Simply encourage avoiding this approach. If it's not against the rules, it's fair game.
• Ban answers "not in the spirit of the challenge". Answerers can't read your mind to infer your intentions.
• Require using a certain method. A lot of the fun is in finding novel, unexpected approaches.
• Attack the symptoms. If the exploit suggests a broader problem with the challenge, fix that problem. Also, it's often hard to specify exactly what is off-limits.
• Make rash changes. These might introduce other problems. It's hard to think clearly under time pressure. If you're unsure, ask that the challenge be closed, post it in the Sandbox to get feedback, and reopen it when it's in good shape.
• Post changes solely in the comments.

##Patching out approaches

On your challenge, someone posts a solution that's cheap and not at all what you intended. You have the option to change the rules, but do so very carefully as there's many pitfalls.

Don't:

• Criticize the answerer. They were just trying their best towards the winning criteria as stated.
• Simply encourage avoiding this approach. If it's not against the rules, it's fair game.
• Ban answers "not in the spirit of the challenge". Answerers can't read your mind to infer your intentions.
• Require using a certain method. A lot of the fun is in finding novel, unexpected approaches.
• Attack the symptoms. If the exploit suggests a broader problem with the challenge, fix that problem. Also, it's often hard to specify exactly what is off-limits.
• Make rash changes. These might introduce other problems. It's hard to think clearly under time pressure. If you're unsure, ask that the challenge be closed, post it in the Sandbox to get feedback, and reopen it when it's in good shape.
• Post changes solely in the comments.

##Patching out approaches

On your challenge, someone posts a solution that's cheap and not at all what you intended. You have the option to change the rules, but do so very carefully as there's many pitfalls.

Don't:

• Criticize the answerer. They were just trying their best towards the winning criteria as stated.
• Simply encourage avoiding this approach. If it's not against the rules, it's fair game.
• Ban answers "not in the spirit of the challenge". Answerers can't read your mind to infer your intentions.
• Require using a certain method. A lot of the fun is in finding novel, unexpected approaches.
• Attack the symptoms. If the exploit suggests a broader problem with the challenge, fix that problem. Also, it's often hard to specify exactly what is off-limits.
• Make rash changes. These might introduce other problems. It's hard to think clearly under time pressure. If you're unsure, ask that the challenge be closed, post it in the Sandbox to get feedback, and reopen it when it's in good shape.
• Post changes solely in the comments.