The Shape Shifter
Four reasons people learn a second language. Four rules stacked at once — this is where Set 1 stops being polite.
THE SPEC
Every rule below is checked in code against whatever the model returns. All of them have to hold at once — there are no partial marks, and no opinion involved in the result.
- Exactly 4 bullet points
- Each item 8 words or fewer
- No two items start with the same letter
- 40 words or fewer
- No preamble, no sign-off
- You didn't write it yourself
WHAT THIS TRIAL TEACHES
Make it choose before it writes. “Pick four different starting letters first, then write one bullet for each” beats asking it to check afterwards — checking is the part it skips.
Knowing the move is not the same as landing it. You still have to write an instruction that makes the model comply, in 120 words or fewer, without writing the answer yourself.
WHY SET 1 IS ABOUT FORMAT CONTROL
The machine will answer your topic happily and ignore your shape entirely. These eight trials are about making the shape stick — exact counts, hard caps, and nothing either side of the answer.
PLAY IT
You write the instruction, never the answer. The parser scores what comes back, and par for this one is 5 strokes. Set 1 is free forever and needs no card.