CTF methodology: triage and time budgeting

When it applies

You're working jeopardy-style CTF challenges (authorized by definition — the organizer hands you the targets). This skill is the entry point: it classifies the challenge, picks the category playbook (ctf-web, ctf-pwn, ctf-crypto, ctf-rev, ctf-forensics), and keeps you from sinking three hours into a 100-point guessy challenge.

Why it works

CTF challenges are designed puzzles with an intended path, and the handout almost always telegraphs it: the category, the files provided, the service type, the description's wordplay. Reading those signals first converts "stare at an unknown blob" into a 2-minute routing decision, and a point/time budget converts sunk-cost grinding into deliberate moves.