I'll probably only sign a message if I ever find the answer

What do you mean by this last sentence sorry?
In order to prove ownership of a key in bitcoin, you can sign a message with the private key and everyone can easily verify that you own the private key to a public key (bitcoin address).
Like what people are doing here:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=996318.0Ah, I see what you mean. I guess that stops someone from quietly solving the puzzle and taking the funds while someone else claims to have been the winner on this forum? I had assumed they'd just sweep the address and then post the privkey on here but your way means that they don't have to give away the privkey straight away. I think it makes sense for the privkey to be available once the funds have been moved because otherwise the winner is at an advantage for the next puzzle by being the only person to know how every clue worked.
I certainly need the winner to state/prove they have won on here to convince people that I'm not the one taking the funds so that people will be more likely to donate to new puzzles. I assume it's in the winner's best interests as that way the puzzling can continue and they may well win again.