Try this 60-second test on your next study session: paste a few lines of notes into a chat and see whether your AI tutor can keep its mouth shut until you answer. Most can’t. Ahoy, mateys, Captain YAR here with a little prompt from r/PromptEngineering that fixes exactly that.
Reddit user u/Colincraigallan shared a notes-only quiz prompt built around two pauses. The AI waits for your answer before it reveals anything. Then it waits again before asking the next question. No blurting, no rushing ahead. If you’ve ever had a chatbot ask “What is condensation?” and then answer itself in the same breath, you already know why this matters. A quiz only works when you do the retrieving, and you can’t retrieve anything if the answer is already sitting on the screen.
🏴☠️ The Challenge: Step by Step
- Copy this prompt: Using only the notes below, ask me one question at a time. Wait for my answer before revealing the answer or explanation. Then explain whether my answer matches the notes, using a brief supporting passage. If the notes do not contain the answer, say so. Do not add outside facts. After the feedback, wait for me to ask for the next question. Notes: [Paste a short section of your notes here.]
- Swap the placeholder for something small. The author suggests two lines to start:
- Evaporation: liquid water changes into water vapor.
- Condensation: water vapor changes into liquid water.
(These are short paraphrases of the USGS Water Science School explanations, so you can check them yourself.) Keep the formatting plain. Bullets or short lines work fine, and you don’t need to dress the notes up for the AI.
- Answer the first question in your own words. Don’t peek, don’t ask for hints. Even a messy, half-right answer is better than a blank one, because the feedback gets more useful when it has something to compare against. Try typing it the way you’d say it out loud, then let the notes judge you.
- Read the feedback. It should tell you if you matched the notes and quote a short passage as proof. Then type “next” when you’re ready. Resist the urge to type “next” instantly. Take a breath, reread the quoted line, and ask yourself whether you really knew it or just recognized it.
🔍 What the Results Mean
- It asks one question and stops: the first pause works. Nice.
- It waits for you, then quotes your notes: the second pause and the feedback rule both work.
- It spoils the answer in the question: the rules need to be tighter (see tips below). A question like “Evaporation is when liquid water changes into vapor, right?” is a statement wearing a question mark.
- It adds facts that aren’t in your notes: it ignored the “no outside facts” line. Treat that feedback with suspicion.
- It says “the notes don’t cover this”: that’s a win. An honest “I don’t know” beats a confident guess.
- It asks three questions at once: the one-at-a-time rule slipped. Paste the rule back in as a reminder and see if it recovers.
💡 Extra Tips
- Start with notes you can verify. The author is upfront that this prompt can’t guarantee accurate feedback or perfect instruction-following. Compare each explanation with your source.
- Keep the notes short. A small section works better than a whole chapter. Five to ten lines is plenty for a first run, and you can add more once you trust the behavior.
- Make the rules explicit. One commenter said they keep answers hidden by spelling out the rules in the prompt itself. “Wait for my answer before revealing anything” sounds obvious, but plenty of models need it said plainly.
- Add a spoiler guard if yours leaks. Something like “Never include the answer or hints in the question itself” is a cheap fix to try.
- Run it twice on the same notes. Questions often come out in a different order or angle the second time, which is a nice way to test whether you actually learned the material or just memorized one phrasing.
- Save the version that works. Once a prompt behaves, keep it in a note or text file so you can paste it before every study session instead of rebuilding it from memory.
The author also made a short narrated video of the idea. They say it’s a scripted illustration made with AI assistance, not a recorded live model test, and there are no affiliate links or sponsorship.
🦜 Your Turn
Run the water cycle test, then try it with your real notes. And here’s the question the author left open: how would you stop a quiz assistant from giving the answer away too early? Drop your best rule in the comments, and may your flashcards never leak! ⚓
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Why does the model sometimes give the answer before I reply?
One commenter keeps the answer hidden by spelling out the rules in the prompt itself. Many models will rush ahead unless you say it plainly, so a line like wait for my answer before revealing anything is worth writing, even if it feels obvious. If you still see it leaking, add a sentence that says the answer and explanation come only after you reply.
Q: Why does the ‘do not add outside facts’ line matter so much?
A commenter reported models inventing entire scientific papers when they got impatient to move on. Without a clear limit, a model fills gaps with confident material your notes never mention. Keep that line, and pair it with the instruction to say so when the notes don’t contain the answer, so the model has an honest way out.
Q: Is the two-pause structure actually worth the extra words?
The same commenter called it smart because it stops the model from jumping to the next question before you’ve read the feedback. The first pause holds the answer until you commit to one. The second gives you time to check the explanation against your notes before asking for more. If your study sessions feel rushed, the second pause is usually the part that’s missing.
A notes-only quiz prompt: one question, your answer, then feedback
by u/Colincraigallan in PromptEngineering