So when you switched to the blunt version, did you change anything else at the same time? Like did you also cut the extra context or background you were giving it? Curious because I tried dropping the please and thank you stuff and my results barely changed. But then I also shortened my prompts from like a full paragraph down to two sentences and that made a way bigger difference than the manners part. Maybe the politeness is not really the thing that matters, maybe it is all the padding around it. What does his blunt prompt actually look like compared to yours?