When I first started, I could do the Monday & Tuesday puzzles in under an hour (correctly), finish a Wednesday in about the same time (and correctly about 10% of the time); Thursdays and Fridays were "all day affairs", and I would rarely fill the grid (much less worry about what percentage of the grid was correct!!); Saturdays were skipped altogether, and Sunday puzzles were carted along with me to brunch, the bookstore, etc until I finished them. Anyway, my point being -- after about a year or so, I had improved to the point where I could dash out a Mon or Tue in less than 5 minutes (my personal record, when I was actually keeping track with the AcrossLite timer, is 2:38 for a Tuesday NYT), and the rest of the week saw similar improvements (and I started doing/enjoying the Saturday puzzle, too! ).

Moi? A cruciverbalist?

okay, yes... but not one of the sadistic ones. (or, for that matter, one of the particularly prolific ones, either! ...but, there's a few of mine buried in the mix out there)