starting to understand how you can solve without filling out the bottom grids

[pat44]

Geez, I "got lucky" and got a grid that totally made sense to me! I solved only the top rows and got into Fast territory. Then, realized, it was mainly luck. Sometimes the grid just works out better for top row solving!

[JoshGrams]

Some of them are definitely way harder for top-row solving. Makes me wonder where the trade-off point is.

I don't know if I'm regressing but I moved up to doing 4x4 challenging and oof, seeing these patterns is a whole other level of challenge. Back into slow or very slow territory a lot of the time.

[grimmgiraffe]

That's ok when you move up a grid. You're challenging yourself, and there's a learning curve. I found it was easier to move up a grid if I had been playing "challenging" on the smaller grid and switched to "easy" on the larger grid. Not sure if you make use of those, but they do make a difference. (although I didn't try it with top grid only solving)