Your #3 rings so true to me. I hate seeing my problems getting the XY treatment. They should add a checkbox that says "Yes, I'm asking about a specific approach to a problem. Don't worry about the problem itself. I've already considered alternative approaches."

Also, sometimes the approach itself can be more interesting, or integral to the learning experience. Sometimes you need to implement a few shitty solutions to really grok the pitfalls you're trying to avoid. They cannot always be spelled out.