My trivia bot (PERL based) simply limits the length that users can ask for hints. If the question is shorter than 4 chars, hints are not available.
And just so you know, the method my bot uses arrays and hashes to allow hints like this:
--- ------ -- ----
T-- ------ -- ----
T-- a----- -- ----
T-- a----- i- ----
T-- a----- i- h---
Th- a----- i- h---
!vowel e
The a---e- i- he-e
etc...
If I feel ambitious today, I may try to convert it to mIRC script.
-genius_at_work
