Heh... you read into it, ol' friend... no where in the post does there say anything about a time limit. 
[Edit] Ok, I see where you came up with the 2 minute limit... wasn't in Grant's article but in one of the links provided...
If there were a 2 minute time limit for such a thing and it was during an interview, then yes... skip the comments 'cause that's not what they're looking for, but consider finding a job somewhere else because they've just set the stage for how they're gonna operate all the time. 
So far as the total number being limited by some business logic... how many times has that happened to you only to have that business logic change?
I'll say it again, write performance enabled, scalable, documented code even for the simplest things... unless you really enjoy treading water 
--Jeff Moden
RBAR is pronounced "ree-bar" and is a "Modenism" for Row-By-Agonizing-Row.
First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code:
________Stop thinking about what you want to do to a ROW... think, instead, of what you want to do to a COLUMN.
Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.
Helpful Links:
How to post code problems
How to Post Performance Problems
Create a Tally Function (fnTally)