They reveal the entire crossword or most of it and then lie about it ;) don't focus on it too much and just enjoy (creating and solving) the puzzles ;)
Actually if you look at the little emoji, you can tell that's not true - Sendhil's means he solved it himself using down clues, and Kent's nerd emoji says he solved it with no help. They're just really good!
Pixelwalk 🤓9s · 2025-04-12T20:40:34.866Z
I never noticed the hands before, wasn’t sure what it meant!
Ezra is saying they solve it on another account, then use the answers to solve it in record time. 5s seems reasonable, if I was on a computer I might be able to shave some time off.
Ezra Arcane 2:28 · 2025-04-12T18:58:40.743Z
My acquaintance has two accounts here. He uses the first one to reveal the puzzle and the second one to solve the puzzle quickly. People get competitive in the weirdest of things.
Even if it's not the case here, I'll forever remain a cynic ;)
In this case, I think it's just an easy crossword. Some people can think and type very fast.
There are 5s solves of larger grids, and I assume those were solved elsewhere (perhaps another site they were posted?) and the results are copied over.
Rob S 🤓34s · 2025-04-12T17:40:40.097Z
Thanks for the puzzle, Andrew. I solved primarily based on Across but took a wrong guess at 5A that cost me some time to fix using the downs. I don't consider myself fast and I was working with one hand (eating lunch), but even so ... 5 seconds does seem implausible. I don't think I could read three clues in 5 seconds, let alone fill in the grid at the same time. But I agree with Ezra - enjoy, solve at your own speed. Some will be faster and some slower. Challenge yourself and be happy when you 'win'. Constructing is a whole 'nother level and you did a good job of it. I will say that my impression of the word SATE is 'satisfy', not overly so. Cheers!
thevdude 🤓48s · 2025-04-12T17:51:53.660Z
speed solvers are WILD, my best time on the NYT mini (which is 5x5) is an 8s, 5s for downs only on a 4x4 is totally reasonable.