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Esta categoría no es más que una trampa para bajar el puntaje.

Esta categoría no es más que una trampa para bajar el puntaje.
This category is nothing more than a trap to lower the score.
From Lesson 400:Corrective contrast (no... sino / no... más que)·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about Esta categoría no es más que una trampa para bajar el puntaje.

How does no es más que work here, and could I just use solo instead?
no ... más que is a restrictive negation phrase that translates to "nothing more than," "nothing but," or "only." You could absolutely say Esta categoría es solo una trampa, but using no es más que adds a stronger, more dismissive emphasis, exactly like saying "is nothing but a trap" in English.
Could I use sino here instead of más que?
No, because they serve different purposes. sino means "but rather" and is used to correct a negative statement (for example, "It's not a mistake, but rather a trap" = No es un error, sino una trampa). Here, you aren't replacing a false idea with a true one; you are limiting what the category is. For "nothing more than," you need no ... más que.
I usually think of bajar as "to go down." How does it mean "to lower" here?
bajar is a flexible verb. It can be intransitive (meaning to go down or get off, like going down the stairs) but it can also be transitive, meaning to bring or move something else down. In this sentence, it's transitive: the trap is designed to lower the score (bajar el puntaje).
Why do we use para instead of por before bajar?
We use para because it expresses a goal, purpose, or destination—the trap exists in order to lower the score. If you used por, it would imply a cause or motivation (because of lowering the score), which doesn't fit the meaning of the sentence.
Is puntaje the standard word for "score"?
In Latin America, puntaje is the most common and natural word for a score in a game, test, or evaluation. If you travel to Spain, however, you are much more likely to hear the word puntuación used for the same concept.

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