Guessing before you know the answer creates suspense: a cognitive receptacle for the answer + emotional engagement. When the answer comes along, you grab it, li

Guessing before you know the answer creates suspense: a cognitive receptacle for the answer + emotional engagement. When the answer comes along, you grab it, like an enzyme grabs one of its raw materials, because it fits. And it's a relief. When studying at uni, I took a past exam paper under exam conditions, before doing any study: it wonderfully concentrated the mind on what I needed to learn. (I got the top mark, with a big gap to the next person). When teaching at uni, I presented a puzzle at the start of the class, that didn't make sense until the material in that lecture had been heard. The entire class came up to me at the end to check what the answer was.