I'm quite happy with the idea of sketching a solution and posting that first before working on a full solution. But I would like to ensure that the reason for doing so is clear to all: that it is to avoid duplication/waste of effort and not as an attempt to be "first to post". So I'd like to have some examples of how this could be worded (along the lines of our "Text blocks", it's not that these have to be used, but that they set a baseline for politeness). One thing I really like about this site is its collaborative nature and I would be sad to see that go.
Here's an idea for Tobi's situation:
My initial thoughts are that this can be solved using Obscure Package together with a bit of work on saving private macros. In brief, one should be able to define a general macro which fixes the lieutenant macro. It'll take me a little while to work out the wrinkles to be sure that this works. If anyone has any ideas that might help, I'll keep an eye on the comments to this "answer" and in the main chat room.
Here's an idea for where you don't have the opportunity to work on it:
My initial thoughts are that this can be solved using Obscure Package together with a bit of work on saving private macros. In brief, one should be able to define a general macro which fixes the lieutenant macro. I don't have the chance to work on this right at this moment (or: I had a go at implementing this but don't have the time to finish it right now), but if no-one figures out a better solution then I'll take some time later.
I should emphasise that I agree with Martin that there's no problem in honestly duplicated answers, but I do sympathise with Tobi's desire to focus effort where it's needed rather than on writing the same thing as someone else.
(This answer is CW so that others can edit the sample texts. They were just a first draft.)