No I didn't cheat. I took it once thinking I could just guess my way through since I have a BS in finance without having taken the time to really understand what all it consisted of. I failed, obviously. Second time I knew I just had to really lock in on laws and regulations. I did it solo, no firm sponsoring me or paying for study material and the $187 for the test itself (twice) was a lot so I looked for free options. They all sucked.
I ended up going line by line on the NASAA explanation of what is in the test, having Google Gemini summarize, and pull the sources of course to double check. On the stuff that was less niche, like economic trends and financial vehicles, I honestly just trusted that Gemini was right. I had it quiz me on long car trips. Had it lay out a 200 question test that I could quiz myself on, and that's pretty much it.
Not saying it was the best way, but it worked really well for me, and saved me a few hundred dollars in study material. My recommendation for those taking it, focus in on laws and regs. Assuming you know the basics of investing, I'd spend a bit of time on account structure and legacy planning, but for me, a lot of it had to do with notice filing time lines and stuff like that.
Good luck, especially to my unsponsored brothers and sisters out there lol