Crossword puzzle race

In the wee hours of the morning, I boarded a Southwest flight and plopped myself down in a window seat (so I could fall asleep leaning on it).  Southwest airlines has an open seating policy so you can sit wherever you would like.  Within moments of sitting down, an older couple in their 60s sit down next to me.  The older woman (let's call her Barb) sat next to me in the middle seat and her husband was in the aisle seat.  It only struck me as a little odd at the time, as the flight was half empty and there were plenty of open seats all around us. 

I had forgotten to bring a book to read, so I picked up the in flight magazine and flipped to the "easy" version crossword to kill some time.  Next door, Barb also flips open the magazine, turns to the same page, same crossword and starts furiously filling it out.  And I mean fast and furious.  I try to ignore her, even though she is literally inches away and the pink feathers on the end of her pen are wriggling violently in the corner of my eye.  As she gets further along in the puzzle and the clues get more difficult, Barb slows her pace, although it is punctuated with moments of frantic scribbling when she's figured a word out.  At around two-thirds of the way through the crossword, I start to lose interest and as I'm folding up the magazine, Barb triumphantly places her finished crossword puzzle down on her tray.  I quickly sneak a glance at it and then start shaking in silent laughter.  Her answer for 23 across, Pine for... "AHEL" and for 30 down, exotic apparel... "CHLENM"... and it just got worse from there.  The poor woman was so caught up in her crossword race with me that, in order to beat me, she just filled out the words she knew and then filled in random letters for the blank boxes.

So, Barb, if you're by chance reading this, you win the race.  Now go back and fill out the answers correctly this time.