Which one has skill, and which one has a guessing kind of skill?

I believe it is a good idea to leave it as an option for the pond creator.

I suspect a 2 day deadline with this option would generally play faster than the current setup using a 1 day deadline... and would give a minimum of a 48 hour cushion.

However, it seems that giving people the option to select/deselect this as an option every turn might be an unnecessarily complication.

Even "real-time" or some other fast version of the game could be played informally, if agreed by the players. That isn't possible with the current system.

I am currently in a game with a 5 day deadline. When play moves forward as soon as moves are made (which is typically daily, but a longer deadline allows a buffer), a 5 day deadline is practical. But in the current system for ponds, a 5 day deadline seems silly.

I'd suggest ponds advance to the next round as soon as everyone makes their bid, or upon reaching the deadline, whichever occurs first.