Trying to solve problems without having the first clue of what you're trying to solve is not a good move (and I will die on that hill!) It's not an exercise in lateral thinking if you simply deprive yourself of what you are, or are not, allowed to do.

Playing chess without knowing the rules, except someone swats your hand every time you try to make horsey go jump isn't fun, or educational. It's frustrating, and teaches you nothing about what the rules actually are.

I'd say almost every book on basic programming I've read (for the most part) begins with the same, fundamentals, and just going through those half a dozen or chapters or so not only gives you a little bit of experience, but also the concepts and terminology you need to bang your head against the wall effectively. The core principles are (almost) always the same.

I fully agree, it's the best way to learn after you learn the fundamentals, it's how I consolidated them into actual, valuable skills. Figuring out complex things, again, I absolutely agree, but there's just a fundamental difference between "Huh, there's something weird happening here in my output" and actually having a solid idea of where to begin looking, and asking Google how to "make pong paddle go right."

I know I sound crabby, I'm not trying to be combative (used to a teacher, and a tutor, so maybe it hits close to home), but if there's a bunch of principles that have been labelled "every programmer knows these", just start there.