Well, at this point, more people are concerned with the avatar and trophy than the NP, which everyone assumes will be about 100/each by the time the contest is over. However, while the NP is a guaranteed split between every correct entrant, the avatar and trophy only go to the first 250 winners. Therefore, to maximize chances of winning even though no one knows when the first 250 got their entries in, they bug people for the answer as fast as possible.
It's the stupid avatar that does it, because they are "collectible" and have to be unlocked

Otherwise, most folks don't care about the trophy or NP.