Client said 'surprise me' when asked for design direction - how do you even approach that?

Had this happen last month. Asked for references, colour preferences, anything to work with. Got "I trust you, just surprise me" back. Sounds flattering on the surface but it's honestly the hardest brief to work with, no direction means I'm guessing what's in their head, not designing to an actual need.

What I've started doing now is sending 3-4 completely different mood boards first, wildly different styles, minimal vs bold, modern vs classic, and asking which direction feels closest even if none are perfect. Gets me some signal without them having to articulate anything themselves. Usually one jumps out and gives me enough to actually start.

"Surprise me" clients also tend to have the strongest reactions once they see something, good or bad, so at least the mood board step saves me from building a full concept blind and getting completely rejected feedback with zero direction to course correct from.

Anyone else have a system for this? Curious how others handle the "no brief, just impress me" situation.