"Crack engineer" means an engineer who is smart and capable. "Cracked engineer" means an engineer who is insane.

It's just how the kids and the terminally online are saying it these days

Cracked founders!

Not even particularly new. I remember seeing it used talking about Counter-Strike pros in the early 2000s

> (slang) Extremely good at something (usually a video game).

>> 20 kills? Dude, you're cracked.

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cracked

Except for the very online, I think meaning 5

> (slang) Crazy; crackpot.

is more common in every day use than meaning 4

>(slang) Extremely good at something (usually a video game).

Neither the Merriam-Webster dictionary nor the Cambridge dictionary[0] list meaning 4, further hinting that it is a use that is mostly occurring in niche online communities. Note that I'm not saying meaning 4 is incorrect[1]. There's no such thing. Words is words. Usage is meaning. But I think I am justified in my belief that it is still relatively uncommon.

[0] The OED wanted money to show me their list of meanings.

[1] Although it is almost assuredly a mishearing of "crack".

This is an extremely online place filled with people who game or are gamer-adjacent.

This intended meaning is obvious from context.

It's generational. Gen Alpha increasingly use "cracked" to mean talented.

Even "S-tier" has crept into the non-gamer vernacular. My wife and her friends - not gamers - are using it.

TikTok spreads this stuff like wildfire.

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Cracked

https://www.tiktok.com/discover/what-does-cracked-mean-in-sl...

I assume the word "cracked"?