Cheryl, are you certain that the hints in a DNA match list are "totally" unrelated to DNA comparison?

Wouldn't there necessarily have to first be a DNA match between two persons before the system tries to find a common ancestor and then issues a hint identifying that common ancestor?

I would agree with you that the hint's accuracy is dependent upon the accuracy of the trees of the two matches but having hints for a few matches is certainly better than not having them, which is the case for the vast majority of matches. As I mentioned previously I have found only one instance so far where one of my hints appeared to be incorrect. I suspect that one reason for my good fortune has been that a lot of the common ancestors that show up in my hints are members of families that have been pretty well researched over the years. Obviously the experiences of others may differ.

Michael