Hi @osmith
Could you please check it with $args[‘posts_per_page’] = 1?
The load time should be the same as when you search posts using the searchbox. If you have a lot of posts, sometimes your server can’t handle it and need a lot of time to load the data from the database. You can open the developer tools in your browser to check the time each request takes to load the data.
Maybe upgrading your server can help you fixes this issue. Please consult this issue with your hosting.
I hope this makes sense. Thanks!
