First we received the principles from Beijing. Then came the seven questions posed by our own officials. The quest for greater democracy in Hong Kong, it seems, has suddenly become a much more complicated affair.
How are we to make sense of last week's events? One helpful suggestion came from an anonymous member of Tung Chee-hwa's team. Think of it as preparing for a football match, he said. You can't start playing the game until you have decided on the rules.
The game, in this case, is how to go about reforming our political system. Certainly, it will be important to follow the rules. But one very basic requirement, if we develop the football analogy, appears to have been overlooked by the legal experts in Beijing.
It is brought to mind by their claims that we must wait decades for direct elections and only 'patriots' can govern Hong Kong. The rule is: Don't move the goalposts.
But it is also important to remember that the only rules of the game which should matter are ones formulated many years ago.
They are to be found in the Basic Law. Sure, they might be a bit vague and their meaning capable of being stretched.