The takeaway seems less about nifty coding and more about working in isolation. The author found a path he thought would solve the problem and was 'clever', but

The takeaway seems less about nifty coding and more about working in isolation. The author found a path he thought would solve the problem and was 'clever', but never really got feedback from peers. I've done that myself; been so enamored with my own idea that I failed to get feedback and ultimately delivered a non-optimal solution.