"Maybe there's a consistent format and you can read one and then know what the others will look like and cover up parts, or something?"

"Hopefully. I'll see what I can find," he says, and does just that.

Questions are always presented in a consistent format in a sort of chart and with strategic occlusions could be used this way!

Oh that's convenient he can get a simple question none of the people present know.

Inconveniently, only after such charts is the quality of any question discussed, e.g. "this one didn't work because it used the wrong symbol for a speculative meaning we now know to be this other thing instead".

Well, he'll eventually hit something that makes sense and has a canonical answer, right?

Yup.

He does not get the canonical answer.

Does he get any answer at all?

The alethiometer keeps talking. But it's hard to tell when it's between statements and in this case it seems to be mid-counting to an extremely high number of alpha and omega.

"Okay, can you read what this here question is meant to be and not tell me and I'll ask it again?"

"I'mcountingdon'tdistractme."

"Whoops," he whispers, and waits.

Eventually she marks a number and looks up. "What'd you need?"

He repeats the request.

"Yeah, sure." She looks at the book. "...how did you pick this one -"

"Tried to find one that didn't later turn out to use an incorrect interpretation for a symbol or something, why?"

"I'm not sure it'll be a good test."

"Argh. Tell me why later, let me try to find some other question then."

"If I'm supposed to read them should I just find one?"

"I only want you to read them after I've tried one without either of us knowing what it is. It wouldn't necessarily mean that any valid question would work regardless of whether anyone knew what it meant but it'd be suggestive."

"Okay, suit yourself." She passes the book back.

Come on some simple question like what fruit is red and juicy.

The alethiometer won't answer any questions in the book while he doesn't know what they are.

Okay... What if he picks three, gets Isabella to learn one of them (when she's not busy), and then tries to figure out which of the three it is by asking each of them, does that work?

"- pick a different one instead of this first one."