Okay, wow, this is super! Thank you so much, definitely using your skill for good here.
This is definitely something we'll have to stick a pin in -- getting feedback at only the correct number of words is something that never even occurred to me, but it makes so much sense now that you've pointed it out. I wonder what else could be done to discourage that sort of systematic brute forcing you describe, as this system does make it significantly easier to reward brute forcing and remove the joy of reading and solving for yourself; maybe the answer does lie in still applying that multi-word-bucket design philosophy, where the sprite lights up only at half, or 2+, or all but one -- which will definitely be handiest for solutions of 3-4 words, which seems to be the sweet spot for puzzles that are tricky but still doable with that sort of hint system -- or maybe there's a greater need to rethink how the puzzles/solving mechanics are designed altogether before we can get into that.
In any case, this is all really promising already! Sending so many thanks, good internet vibes, and invisible baked goods your way. :)