Comment by dataflow

My beef with someone using a constraint solver here is that they almost certainly wouldn't be able to guarantee anything about their solution other than that, if it produces an output, it will be correct. They won't be able to guarantee running time, space usage, or (probably for most tools) even a useful progress indicator. The problem isn't merely that they used another tool - the problem is that they abstracted away critical details. Had they provided a handwritten solution from scratch with the same characteristics, it would've exhibited the same problems.

This doesn't mean they can't provide a constraint solver solution, but if they do, they'd better be prepared to address the obvious follow-ups. If they're prepared to give an efficient solution afterward in the time left, then more power to them.