The CPU contest mode seems very unreasonable in terms of difficulty.
This was on easy, because at this time I was still learning how the contest mode worked. I had come across a really strong setup, and was getting better at it over time, but no matter how well I did I was utterly destroyed by nearly 300-350 points.
Eventually, I had a game where the setup clicked with me, and I was clearing the board so fast that it actually broke the board. Two slots in the top-left side of the board wouldn't fill with anything anymore. Yet despite this, I was still multiple hundreds of points behind the opponent.
Overall, I was curb-stomped by about 265 points in that game. I watched as I'd combo out nearly half the board and in that time frame the opponent would easily be outpacing me.
Toning down how fast the CPU gains points would probably be for the best.