And it affects script run times: http://eternagame.org/web/script/6022223/ (an example I put together)
All of the information in a puzzle query is not info about the puzzle, and I believe it’s the same info (appears to be cleared puzzles for the currently logged in user, and in fact does not show up when not logged in) for each puzzle id you query: http://eternagame.org/get/?type=puzzle&nid=2233221 (try it logged in and logged out, you should see quite a dramatic difference)
I think type puzzles might also include this extra information as well, but I’m not positive.