Fast Puzzle Solving Times

[Molasses]

How can someone possibly solve some of these puzzles in 80 seconds or less. I know I'm not very fast, but I can barely read all the clues in 80 seconds, let alone fill in all the answers. Are people cheating? Have they already done that puzzle, and they remember the quote?
As a test, I tried hitting the back button, and resolving a puzzle I had just completed, but when I tried to submit I received a message that the puzzle had already been solved.
If there is a way to cheat, please don't share it here, we don't need more people cheating. If anyone is cheating. I'm not saying they are.

I can solve some of the easier puzzles in 300 seconds or so, I just can't see how people are doing it in 63 seconds...

Are people really that fast?

[OldManInNNV]

It's really hard to get a repeat puzzle. Even if you do, you've probably done so many other puzzles that you don't remember the one you're working on. But if you do enough puzzles, you see the same clues over and over. So, even if you haven't seen the puzzle before, you can work the clues quickly. You also get used to spotting letter patterns in the quote and filling in blanks from there.

It takes time, to be sure, but you can get there.

[Molasses]

It does seem hard to get repeat puzzles.

Ultimately, I should just ignore the performance of others, because I'm playing for fun.

I have made the record 3 times, but only on puzzles that are only for members. Those times I felt like I was flying through the puzzles, yet (assuming it was a longer puzzle) I was still taking 300 seconds or so. That's what makes me wonder how people can solve other puzzles so quickly. Of course I haven't been doing these puzzles for long, so I shouldn't be surprised that I'm not the best. If there were no stats, I probably wouldn't feel so competitive. LOL

When I see these really fast results, it feels like people must somehow be cheating. But I don't want to insult the people who are fast. Maybe they just are really that good.

[squitchy11]

It might come with routine; personally I skim the clues completing what I can, then go up to the quote and like OldManInNNV says, recognize the patterns (my go-to's are a word ending in G likely has IN-G, or a 3 letter work ending in E is a high probability to be TH-E). So after a clue pass, then a quote pass, sometimes filling in the remaining clues gets easier.
I do better with the higher number of clues, those short ones get me scratching my head almost every time.

I have found a knowledge of both American and British English in both spelling and definition has come in helpful.
Ironically, in the end, I rarely review the quote after a successful completion, it's all about the journey not the destination for me.

[Molasses]

I am certainly getting faster, so I can see how someone with more natural skill, experience and knowledge, might be much faster than me.
I agree about British english. There are a lot of references to England and english slang. Knowing some french helps too, but not as much as it does with NYT crosswords.

As for the shorter puzzles, it can go either way. Either I know some of the answers right off the bat, and solve them quickly, or I don't know any, I get really stumped.

[duhmel]

I don't understand why anyone would want to 'cheat'. No prize for 'winning'. no joy in actually figuring out the solution.

[conanpb5k]

On my absolute fastest acrostics solves (maybe my top 1%), I've hit an average of 9-10 seconds per clue.

I therefore almost never feel shocked when I see all-time best acrostics solve times, some of which can dip into an average of an 8-second per clue range... after all, I'm certainly not the best ever, and since each of these puzzles has been solved hundreds or thousands of times, lightning-fast solves certainly seem reasonable to me!

(But that doesn't make me feel any less jazzed when I happen to get a new top score!)

[Molasses]

I've been thinking about it more, and I'm starting to believe these super fast solve times are not as unbelievable as I first thought. I am about average. I usually solve puzzles in about the average amount of time, occasionally I take longer, and occasionally I race through an finnish in the very fast range. I'm sure that people who are much faster than I usually finish in the very fast range, and sometimes they really fly through the puzzles, finishing with these almost unbelievable times. I'm sure they don't set records on every single puzzle.

[duhmel]

I just came across a 9-clue puzzle with seventy-two letters with a solution time of 34 seconds. Say it takes 15 seconds to recognize the quote (which is unbelievable), that leaves 19 seconds to type in the rest of the letters. NO WAY JOSE. Even if the person knew the answer ahead of time, 34 seconds would be a good typing effort.