Suppose we have an "oracle" that gives a homogeneous set for a 2-coloring $\hat c : [\omega]^2 \rightarrow 2$ of pairs of integers. Using this oracle, can we "compute" a homogeneous set for a 3-coloring $c : [\omega]^2\rightarrow 3$ for pairs of integers? The answer is an obvious yes - you can use the oracle twice to do that. But what if we are allowed to use the oracle only once?
More technically, for every 3-coloring $c : [\omega]^2 \rightarrow 3$, does there exist a 2-coloring $\hat c : [\omega]^2\rightarrow 2$, computable from $c$, such that for any homogeneous set $\hat H$ for $\hat c$ there exists a homogeneous set $H$ for $c$ computable from $\hat H$ and $c$?
Background : It is a "fact", supposedly easy to prove, stated in a paper by Hirschfeldt and Jockusch, that such $\hat c$ exists. Addendum It's at the bottom of page 34.
On page 17 of the linked paper, near the top, the authors write,
Clearly, Patey's result as stated there would imply $RT^n_3 \not \leq_c RT^n_2$ for $n \geq 2$. Therefore, there is a typo in the following claim on page 34:
I suspect the authors meant to say that $RT^n_3 \leq_\omega RT^n_2$, which is to say that every $\omega$-model of $RT^n_2$ is an model of $RT^n_3$. That is an easy fact, because in that context we can apply $RT^n_2$ more than once.
I think it is worth pointing out that this issue of how it is possible to reduce the number of colors and/or the exponent in Ramsey's theorem is a very active area of research right now, related to Weihrauch redicibility. There are many subtleties in terms of "how uniform" of a reduction is requested, and the differences between the different types of reduction can be subtle.