Candidates lose coding rounds in the silent first minutes or in a five-minute speech before a single line. The spoken opening should be long enough that the interviewer can correct your reading of the problem, and short enough that you still have time to write. Ninety seconds is a tight version. Three minutes is the long version, for a problem whose constraints actually need that much talk.
What to say inside the window
Restate the input and the output in your words, including one example you invent. Say the brute-force cost so they know you see a correct answer. Name the better idea and why the brute force fails. State time and space before you claim you are ready to code. If you need a clarifying question, ask it in this window, not after you have written the wrong function.
A budget that fits: thirty seconds to restate, forty to the baseline, forty to the approach and the cost. The rest is margin for their interruption. If they interrupt, stop talking. That is the point of leaving the margin.
What this timer will not do
It will not judge whether the algorithm is right. A fluent explanation of the wrong structure still scores well on pace and fillers. Use the clock to keep the explanation from eating the writing time. Use a blank editor, or the communication tips for coding interviews, to check the content. Random question loads a coding-style prompt from the hub so you can practice the talk track on a theme you did not rehearse.
Pace for this type is aimed at 110–150 words per minute. You are naming data structures. Leave air after the name. Fillers matter less than a missing complexity sentence, but an opening full of ums still tells them you have not said this out loud before.
FAQ
Should I time the whole coding round?
No. Time the explanation. The range is 90–180 seconds. The code comes after, on its own clock.
What if I do not know the optimal solution yet?
Say the correct slow one and its cost, then start it. Three minutes of silence while you hunt for the clever version is worse than a baseline you can improve.
Does the timer hear my code?
It transcribes speech where the browser can, and it times whatever you say. It does not read an editor and it does not upload audio.