What the results show
Claude Opus 4.5, released November 2025, produces a polished, working analog clock in all five replicates. Earlier models in the timeline produce inconsistent results at best.
A working analog clock is a surprisingly good probe. The model has to understand what “analog” means, render a clock face with hour markers, position three hands correctly for the current time, and animate them every second. Getting that right consistently, across five independent runs, is a real bar to clear.
This is what the November 2025 surprise looked like.