I seem to be getting slower and slower with the timed puzzles. I think it's a case of festina lente - the more I rush the more mistakes I make. I was very lucky to finish 25th in the 8x8 two days ago with a time of 6:4x.xx and today I was over 8 minutes because I had to redo a puzzle practically from scratch.

While my times have been somewhat better, my luck is definitely not in this week on the 8x8 timed. In the last 3 days, I've finished 11th, 11th and 26th.

Similar frustration for me yesterday on the 4x4s. I got my 5th best time ever in 4898 tries -- at 9.856 sec. It was good for 26th.

Almost relieved to be 28th today! Bad result, but better than 26th!,

Yesterday, a 6:03 didn't even make the top 25!

I'm thinking my 3:07 will make the top 10 though.

Even if it's a bit on the slow side

23+ minutes for the timed 8x8.....my times are getting "worser and worser"

Just finished the 8x8 normal puzzle of today and got a 6m1s time......to bad I can not do that for the timed puzzles

Just finished 8x8 of today in 5m2s......not timed and hence no pressure---- no choking

The times needed for a top 25 seem to be getting faster and faster. I was outside the top 25 with a 6:20 earlier in the week and just barely squeaked in with a 6:15 the following day.

Today, I got completely stuck and it eventually took me over 20 minutes to solve the puzzle - my 873rd fastest of 899 completed puzzles.

I rarely get as confused as I was today when I'm doing regular puzzles. I guess it's the added pressure of being against the clock that scrambles my brain.

How true.....my eyes seem to "defocus" when I am looking to see what number I am missing and which number is used twice......would be nice to see the same "red" number that we see on the regular puzzles......am sure it would not affect the fastest puzzlers and it would take away the frustration of just completing the puzzle......how about it "pnm"?

Paul — While I agree with you that times are getting faster, there are also other things working when doing the 8 x 8s

I got my 11th best time today and while in the top 25, not in the top 10. (Time 3:2?). I remember when I got my best time, 3:4? and did not make it in the top 10. This was before top 25 got an extra point.

I have also had recent times in that were 7:?? and been in top 25.

This may be where we remember the unusual events - Bad times that get us two points or great times that only get us two points. - (? Tester’s bias - confirmation bias? Can’t remember the proper term)

The subscribers only get one shot per day at a timed 8 x 8. To get the extra point you HAVE to solve it no matter what. Some of us have solved it but our times that are in excess of an hour because of real life. I believe my worst time is in excess of 3 hrs. We can bail on smaller puzzles where we didn't see something, something didn't work out right and we have another chance at a different puzzle. The 4 chances per subscriber has helped me greatly. But we have to slog through that 8 x 8.

As much as Patrick does his best to equalize the difficulty, there are puzzles where one user will see a key (something) and get it solved quickly and others do not see it and spend more time on the puzzle.

So while times are getting faster, there is still a random element in all of this. I appreciate it.

In a way, I think the timed 8 x 8 is the true challenge of the timed puzzles. The person gets one shot at a random puzzle. Sometimes I get in the top 10 - not a usual occurrence, most of the times I get in the top 25, but sometimes I just get a puzzle that takes work and only get the participation point. I will work on an 8 x 8 just to get the participation point.

But only subscribers get to do the 8 x 8. The pool of users is reduced. Because I often place into the top 25 in the 8 x 8, but not in the smaller puzzles, I am OK with that. There should be perks for paying for a subscription.
If I competed against all users in the 8 x 8 I might find myself where I am often with the smaller timed puzzles - in the the top 30s or 40s.

Beaker - I disagree with your suggestion about error correction. I believe it will make a HUGE difference if that is added to timed puzzles. If I had error correction on any size it would save me time and effort.