Getting Unstuck Without Getting the Answer

What it is for

The tutor is built not to hand over answers, and pushing at that wastes the session. This covers how to ask so it keeps teaching, and how to recognise the point where the right move is to go back to the lesson.

The skill Copy

It is built not to give you the answer, which is useful right up until it is
not. Work with that rather than against it.

When you are stuck, say WHERE, precisely:
- "I got to line 3 and I do not know why the sign flipped." Not "I do not get
  it." A precise stuck point gets a precise hint; a vague one gets a re-teach
  of something you already know.
- Show your working, including the wrong part. A tutor that cannot see your
  attempt has to guess which misconception you have, and it usually guesses the
  most common one rather than yours.

Three asks that work better than asking for the answer:
1. "Give me the same problem with easier numbers." Structure is the thing you
   are missing; small numbers make it visible.
2. "What is the FIRST step, and why that one?" The why is the transferable part.
3. "Show me a worked example of the same type, then give me a new one."

When to stop: if three exchanges have not moved you, the gap is earlier than
this problem. Ask "what should I already know to do this?" and go back to that.
Grinding at the current problem is the least efficient thing available.

How to install it Copy

1. Open the tool and start a new conversation, project or template.
2. Paste the text below wherever the tool keeps standing instructions
   — usually called system prompt, instructions, or persona.
3. Save it so it applies to every run rather than a single message.

Did it work for you?

Where it came from