It's suboptimal but not impossible. As a child I won a prize (not first place, just a mention) in a national mathematical competition despite the fact no-one ha

It's suboptimal but not impossible. As a child I won a prize (not first place, just a mention) in a national mathematical competition despite the fact no-one had taught me algebra yet. The judges found my reasoning "interesting" and I got the right answers to the puzzles. Of course when, a couple of years later, I was taught algebra, I was wondering why I hadn't been told before!