Crossword puzzle design involves an intricate dance between vocabulary, letter placement constraints, and clue composition. The puzzle is typically completed by the constructor, then sent to publication, then distributed to the public. Solvers encounter the puzzle months after completion. The temporal sequence is inviolable: construction precedes publication precedes solving. The notion that a solver could encounter a puzzle before it existed in printed form challenges causality itself.

Crossword editor Martin DiCicco of the New York Times mentioned in an anecdotal essay (1989) that a freelance submission arrived with solutions already filled in. The accompanying note stated that the puzzle had been engaging to construct, and the solver appreciated the thematic coherence. DiCicco assumed it was a printing error until he verified that the submitted fill-in version matched exactly with what the constructor had submitted—yet the answer grid bore no resemblance to the constructor's intent.

The commentary doesn't explain the mechanism, leaving it as pure temporal impossibility. By suggesting Chuck solved a puzzle before seeing the clues or blank grid, the fact invokes precognition or reverse causality. It parallels his ability to 'understand' things instantly by glancing (fact #223): suggesting his consciousness can perceive information that hasn't yet been formally presented. The joke taps into a recurring meme theme: that Chuck's perception literally precedes events.