I just trust that people aren't dumb, that they did all they could and had a solid plan up until they got stuck which prompted the question. Then I empathize wi

I just trust that people aren't dumb, that they did all they could and had a solid plan up until they got stuck which prompted the question. Then I empathize with their situation and try to pinpoint what piece of the puzzle they are missing. Usually it is just a tiny bit of information that gets them going. Others prefer to go through the whole "rtfs rtfm make a test case and how to be a hacker faq" stuff.