They didn't fail the test yet. They spent longer time than preferred. And yes, they're looking for a shortcut. There is no way around fulfilling the task. N

They didn't fail the test yet. They spent longer time than preferred. And yes, they're looking for a shortcut. There is no way around fulfilling the task. Not revealing the time spent poses risk of impostor syndrome, risk of actually landing a very stressful job. Refusing to solve the task indicates that they would rather post-pone finding out, and rather risk rejection if it means not being challenged on their solving speed disqualifying them, because they think that it too likely would disqualify them.