is there a way to phrase the questions better with points based incentives so that the user can ask for a hint but lose points etc

sometimes I cam so close to completing a lab and i have been stuck on it for ages but I am maybe one / away from the answer but the question does not lead to this. it ight be of help if there was a popup stating. ohhh your close when you get on the right lines. but have the points drop incrememtally to stop brute force guessing.