Thank you for your honest feedback!
Dashing down is performed by dashing while the down key is pressed.
I did not have enough time left to implement a good tutorial unfortunately. Its something I will keep in mind for the next gamejam!
Did you try the speedrun mode? There just dying every time won't work since death is penalized a bit in the end time.
You have to find the right balance between dying and staying alive.
No I didn't try the speed run mode, I didn't see the point because I thought since it was going to be the same word every time (I think it was Wowie) there was no point to figuring it out and I assumed it was the same experience. I'm pretty sure I did try holding the down key and dashing but I don't think t worked. I dunno... maybe I'm just dumb.