That's a perfectly fair and reasonable tone to set because that's how approximately 99% of non-junior jobs work. My boss says he has a problem he'd like me to s

That's a perfectly fair and reasonable tone to set because that's how approximately 99% of non-junior jobs work. My boss says he has a problem he'd like me to solve. He might not have all the details so it's on me to investigate the options, identify the gotchas, and clarify the ambiguities. I never deliberately snuck ambiguities into coding challenges. I've used it in oral sessions for senior and above devs though. "I'm a product manager who wants to add a new feature. I don't really know what's involved but I want you to implement it. Feel free to ask me a million questions and we'll talk it through!"