"Ever since I learned that, it's never been that 'wowzers' for me."
I am not sure I follow. For people who want to, there is a section where they can find answers even if they have not solved the problems. What was 'wowzers' about HackerRank before you learned that?
Well, some folks would brag about their score (years ago, dunno about now) and use that ranking as an indicator of their coding prowess. When I learned that the whole thing was easy to 'cheat' (whatever that mean in this context), then that rank lost all prestige for me.
Bragging about your rating as a function of solved problems in practice (with solutions available) doesn't seem rational.
HackerRank also used to organize contests where they would have a certain time to tackle a number of new problems (5-10 problems in 1 hour to 1 week, depending on the contest) meaning you have no access to solutions and are competing against other people solving the same problems. They have a rating for performance on those as well.
I am not sure I follow. For people who want to, there is a section where they can find answers even if they have not solved the problems. What was 'wowzers' about HackerRank before you learned that?