Can「箱の中を手で探った」be shortened to 「箱を探った」?

Question

By using default meanings, couldn't the title be shortened to:

箱を探った。

Isn't の中 so obvious, it is assumed to be the location you searched? If I were to search under the box, then I would write の下?
Isn't 手で so obvious, it is assumed to be with what you searched? If I were to search with my foot, then I would write 足で?
In formal written Japanese, shouldn't you try to shorten your sentences as much as possible?
Is the following correct usage of `暗黙了解':

この例では、の中も手でも暗黙了解です。

I am only talking about formal writing. Unnecessary words are naturally used in every language in conversation.

@Ash Good point. I had a misleading translation for さぐる in my notebook (French has a verb than can cover both さぐる and さがす at once). Thank you for pointing it out. — 永劫回帰, Mar 23 '16 at 16:27

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Mar 24 '16 at 11:28

2

I would say either "箱の中を探った”　or "箱を中を手で探った”.

箱を探った。is grammatically not wrong, but it just sounds not natural to me.

answered Mar 24 '16 at 11:28

langeng

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 24 '16 at 19:23

2

箱を探った usually means to search a box in a blind spot by touching the surface of it.
Even without 手で, it's usually interpreted so.
Not particularly.
暗黙の了解 is correct.

answered Mar 24 '16 at 19:23

user4092

2 Answers2