It saves 1/Nth of the total time taken to brute force an N character password compared to starting from length 1. So any password where this is a significant fr

It saves 1/Nth of the total time taken to brute force an N character password compared to starting from length 1. So any password where this is a significant fraction is so short that the time saved isn't really relevant. So yes, "easier", technically. But not in any meaningful way.