When the "Show Errors" option is on, incorrect letters are supposed to be added to the count of hints received in the status screen after solving the puzzle, because brute-force checking every letter until you see the one that shows up in the right color is as good as directly filling in the square.
The bug is that this count only appears to be acknowledging spaces that have actually been drawn with a red background at some point. Notably, if a letter is entered incorrectly with the option turned on, but is changed to the correct letter while its clue remains highlighted, its background does not change, only the foreground color: white text on a dark orange background while that letter is selected, or red text on a light orange background while another letter in the same word is active. This erroneously allows the brute-force approach to be used without adding to the hint count.
In clues list mode, there is no faded highlight for the rest of the word, only for the active square. As such, an incorrect letter will show up in red immediately as the cursor moves to the next square, barring the specific case that it's the last letter in the entry. Such an error on the last letter can be fixed without adding to the hint count, while errors in previous letters are correctly tallied immediately.
When the "Show Errors" option is on, incorrect letters are supposed to be added to the count of hints received in the status screen after solving the puzzle, because brute-force checking every letter until you see the one that shows up in the right color is as good as directly filling in the square.
The bug is that this count only appears to be acknowledging spaces that have actually been drawn with a red background at some point. Notably, if a letter is entered incorrectly with the option turned on, but is changed to the correct letter while its clue remains highlighted, its background does not change, only the foreground color: white text on a dark orange background while that letter is selected, or red text on a light orange background while another letter in the same word is active. This erroneously allows the brute-force approach to be used without adding to the hint count.
In clues list mode, there is no faded highlight for the rest of the word, only for the active square. As such, an incorrect letter will show up in red immediately as the cursor moves to the next square, barring the specific case that it's the last letter in the entry. Such an error on the last letter can be fixed without adding to the hint count, while errors in previous letters are correctly tallied immediately.