Hmm.. Ok.. It seems that now EVERY level has its time limit criticized. (Just look at the past several reviews, except Conway's.) If a level gives more time than you need, it just means that the challenge isn't in the time limit. That doesn't make the time limit "bad". The only time I think a time limit could be "bad" is if, say, you had a level called "Just 2 minutes..." and you really only needed 1. The focus is on the time here, and that part of it was undermined (although really this just means there probably is a backroute.)
I agree; and similarly, I think it's silly the way JM always criticises the amount required to save. The challenge is to save the amount that actually is required, and if you can work out how to save more, that's a bonus.
Also, on many levels the amount to save doesn't matter at all. For example, many of the Fun levels. You can save all but 2 with the two-blocker method, so the save requirement could be
anywhere between 2 and all but 2 without affecting the difficulty.
Choosing a nice round number is often a good way to mask the solution -- like Shvegait was saying with time, but even more so. If a designer always required the exact maximum, then if you reach a level that requires all but 2, you
know that the solution will involve losing 2, and that can be a big hint.
