the-third-answer
Push past the first few obvious answers to a question and surface the non-obvious idea worth having. Use when asked to give me a non-obvious idea, don't give me the generic answer, think outside the box on, or what's the answer nobody else would give. Produces the obvious answers named and set aside (so we don't repeat them), then genuinely different angles found by continuing past where most thinking stops, each with why it's non-obvious and whether it actually holds up — trading textbook-correct for surprising-and-useful.
Profile →npx skills add mohitagw15856/pm-claude-skills --skill the-third-answer --agent claude-code
Same command for any agent — swap --agent for codex, cursor, copilot.
Weekly change comes from our own snapshots, not the repository page — it measures attention, not adoption.
# The Third Answer The first answer to any open question is the average of everything ever said about it — correct, safe, and forgettable. This skill deliberately names those obvious answers, sets them aside, and keeps going to the ideas most people never reach because they stopped at "good enough." The goal isn't cleverness for its own sake; it's the genuinely useful angle hiding past the generic ones. ## What This Skill Produces - **The obvious answers, named** — the 2–4 things anyone (or any search) would say, listed so we explicitly *don't* settle for them - **The non-obvious angles** — ideas found by continuing past the obvious, each from a genuinely different frame - **Why each is non-obvious** — what assumption or default it breaks - **A reality check** — which of the unconventional ideas actually hold up vs. which are just different for the sake of it ## Required Inputs Ask for these if not provided: - **The question or problem** — the open-ended thing you want a fresh take on - **What you've already considered** — so we skip your obvious answers too - **Constraints** — what's actually fixed vs. what everyone just assumes is fixed - **The bar** — surprising-but-doable, or g
- What This Skill Produces
- Required Inputs
- Framework: Name The Obvious, Then Keep Going
- Output Format
- Question: [the problem]
- Quality Checks
- Anti-Patterns
- Example Trigger Phrases
What does the the-third-answer skill do?
Push past the first few obvious answers to a question and surface the non-obvious idea worth having. Use when asked to give me a non-obvious idea, don't give me the generic answer, think outside the box on, or what's the answer nobody else would give. Produces the obvious answers named and set aside (so we don't repeat them), then genuinely different angles found by continuing past where most thinking stops, each with why it's non-obvious and whether it actually holds up — trading textbook-correct for surprising-and-useful.
How do I install it?
Run `npx skills add mohitagw15856/pm-claude-skills --skill the-third-answer --agent claude-code` — it drops the skill into your project so the agent can pick it up. Swap the --agent value for codex, cursor or copilot if you use one of those.
Where does this skill come from?
From mohitagw15856/pm-claude-skills, a repository with 1,277 stars. We read it straight from the repository tree rather than a submitted listing, so what you see here is what is actually published.
Is a popular skill a good skill?
Not necessarily. Stars measure attention, not adoption — a repository can trend for a week and be abandoned. That is why we show the weekly change from our own snapshots next to the total, instead of a single flattering number.