Chess.com, PLEASE get rid of the delay before the first hint on puzzles

I think I get why they do this, so people can't just spam the hint button right away (kind of defeats the point of the puzzles), but it is mindblowingly tilting to be on a tough puzzle, having already failed the first move a couple times, and have to wait 5 seconds to get the first hint. Literally makes me want to delete my account every single time it happens. Again I know they're trying to strike that balance but please make it a setting you can check or uncheck, not just a static thing for everyone.

Have you tried clearing your browser cache?

I tried a bunch of puzzles and when I missed several times, the hint was always available.

haven't, is there like a limit to how many times you need to try a puzzle for the first hint to be immediately available? I've spent like 2-3 minutes on some puzzles, try a couple times, then go for the hint and having to wait 5 seconds (as short as it sounds) feels like an eternity, and totally disrupts my concentration on the puzzle. If that's something they want for puzzles, fine, but at least make it a setting you can change if you don't want it

When I tried it, the hint was available from the start.

Weird, I tried in an incognito window today and still had the same delay, I tried the same puzzle 10 times and each time after retrying the hint was disabled for like 5 seconds before I made any moves. Same thing in a different browser. For you the hint is available as soon as you start the puzzle, no delay?

Seems to be. I actually tried it once yesterday to make sure it was working and sure enough, it cost me 15 points at the end.

It's a rather annoying feature indeed, especially for those of us who resort to the hint button only when all else has failed. At the very least please let us disable it in the settings.

Guess what, I am here because I was googling for a way to disable that very annoying feature only to find out that there is still no way to disable it. Very frustrating. 

Yes, I find this frustrating too. Once I've failed the puzzle, it means I couldn't figure out the solution, so of course I am going to click the hint button. But, no, this site makes me wait a few seconds. It's not a HUGE inconvenience, but it seems like a weird setting to code in the first place.

That's odd - for me, regardless of browser, there is *always* a few seconds of wait time (after failing a puzzle) before the hint button is clickable.

Yeah glad to hear other people have the same thing, I've tried clearing my cache, incognito, multiple different browsers and their versions of incognito, and no matter what I still have that delay. To this day still annoys me, like kick me while I'm down why don't you

Agree, the feature is so stupid. +16 to tilt, that's what it gives, nothing more.

It's even more annoying when I'm recording a puzzle solving video, and have to fill those seconds with mindless banter ("I'm going to click the hint button... As soon as it's ready....") while waiting on the button to prepare itself.

I just ran into this today (or noticed it for the first time). I don't think it's FIVE seconds, but at least two -- I didn't time it, but that's what it seems like. It's a pointless pause in my puzzle-solving efforts.

And here you are taking time out of your day to comment something like that. Maybe instead you should have taken a drink of water Chess.com is a platform, and like any other platform isn't perfect and should rely on community interaction to figure out what features users like and don't like, and use that information to improve. I don't like this feature and am voicing it in hopes they change it. The same way I appreciate how comments can be downvoted when they aren't relevant or useful ^^

The problem the delay was meant to address was that some puzzlers were accidentally hitting Hint immediately after hitting Next, and losing rating points for the new puzzle.

I don't think the current delay is actually five seconds, but I'll check; it might be three. Maybe we can shorten it to just 1 sec. But actually, I think the biggest problem is that the delay is also seen in the case of Retry, where it doesn't really serve any purpose. Thanks, we'll address this!

Gotcha, that makes total sense for when you're actually in the puzzle. For me it's only in subsequent retries is when it is the most annoying. I honestly wouldn't mind a one second delay on the retry (still preferably none at all though), I just think it's way too long right now.

Much appreciated, cheers!

Thanks for explaining and looking into it. 

Why not simply make it an option? In other words, let your users decide what is best for them rather than force on to them what you think is best for them (something that you clearly got wrong with some of your audience at least).

Removing the delay after having failed the puzzle sounds great! Exactly what I need (I fail a lot of puzzles )