Friday, 8 April 2016

Word for cut-the-knot style solutions

I have to solve a Rubik's cube, so I rearrange the stickers.



My friend asks me to remind her to read chapter five, so I immediately say, "Don't forget to read chapter five."



I have to find d such that f(x + d) - f(x) < 0.1, so I pick an infinitesimal d instead of solving the inequality.



I have to untangle something, so I cut the knot.



What do you call a technically correct solution that doesn't answer the question or solve the problem as intended?



(I'm bracing myself now for a bunch of words that meet that description but don't answer my intended question…)



Here's an example sentence:
I wrote a brute-force algorithm, Annette wrote a nondeterministic probabilistic algorithm, Yun wrote a recursive branch-and-bound algorithm, and Jen wrote a(n) ________ algorithm that just returned pre-calculated answers for every possible input.



(It's fine if the words aren't adjectives or don't relate to programming.)

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