He often uses words from a poem or song passage as his starters. Adds a layer of complexity, and in this case, as you point out, it cost him. He also is trying to make YouTube/Instagram shorts, so must keep it under a minute or so.
If one watches him everyday, the background music will tip you off if he goes longer than a minute, or as in this case, fails.
I have no doubt that he would never miss, even on hard mode, if he used better starting words, or didn't try to speed his way through. Mark Goodliffe is a many times crossword and cryptic crossword national champ, and has been on UK's Sudoku competition team for years.
If one watches him everyday, the background music will tip you off if he goes longer than a minute, or as in this case, fails.
I have no doubt that he would never miss, even on hard mode, if he used better starting words, or didn't try to speed his way through. Mark Goodliffe is a many times crossword and cryptic crossword national champ, and has been on UK's Sudoku competition team for years.