diff --git a/.all-contributorsrc b/.all-contributorsrc
index bdcf53c6..a973b2d7 100644
--- a/.all-contributorsrc
+++ b/.all-contributorsrc
@@ -2037,6 +2037,33 @@
       "contributions": [
         "content"
       ]
+    },
+    {
+      "login": "smlavine",
+      "name": "Sebastian LaVine",
+      "avatar_url": "https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/33563640?v=4",
+      "profile": "http://smlavine.com",
+      "contributions": [
+        "code"
+      ]
+    },
+    {
+      "login": "akgerber",
+      "name": "Alan Gerber",
+      "avatar_url": "https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/201313?v=4",
+      "profile": "http://www.alangerber.us",
+      "contributions": [
+        "content"
+      ]
+    },
+    {
+      "login": "esotuvaka",
+      "name": "Eric",
+      "avatar_url": "https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/104941850?v=4",
+      "profile": "http://esotuvaka.github.io",
+      "contributions": [
+        "content"
+      ]
     }
   ],
   "contributorsPerLine": 8,
diff --git a/AUTHORS.md b/AUTHORS.md
index 9e757bc2..8e4d0fab 100644
--- a/AUTHORS.md
+++ b/AUTHORS.md
@@ -288,6 +288,11 @@ authors.
       <td align="center" valign="top" width="12.5%"><a href="https://ktheory.com/"><img src="https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/975?v=4?s=100" width="100px;" alt="Aaron Suggs"/><br /><sub><b>Aaron Suggs</b></sub></a><br /><a href="#content-ktheory" title="Content">🖋</a></td>
       <td align="center" valign="top" width="12.5%"><a href="https://github.com/alexwh"><img src="https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/1723612?v=4?s=100" width="100px;" alt="Alex"/><br /><sub><b>Alex</b></sub></a><br /><a href="#content-alexwh" title="Content">🖋</a></td>
       <td align="center" valign="top" width="12.5%"><a href="https://github.com/stornquist"><img src="https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/42915664?v=4?s=100" width="100px;" alt="Sebastian Törnquist"/><br /><sub><b>Sebastian Törnquist</b></sub></a><br /><a href="#content-stornquist" title="Content">🖋</a></td>
+      <td align="center" valign="top" width="12.5%"><a href="http://smlavine.com"><img src="https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/33563640?v=4?s=100" width="100px;" alt="Sebastian LaVine"/><br /><sub><b>Sebastian LaVine</b></sub></a><br /><a href="https://github.com/rust-lang/rustlings/commits?author=smlavine" title="Code">💻</a></td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <td align="center" valign="top" width="12.5%"><a href="http://www.alangerber.us"><img src="https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/201313?v=4?s=100" width="100px;" alt="Alan Gerber"/><br /><sub><b>Alan Gerber</b></sub></a><br /><a href="#content-akgerber" title="Content">🖋</a></td>
+      <td align="center" valign="top" width="12.5%"><a href="http://esotuvaka.github.io"><img src="https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/104941850?v=4?s=100" width="100px;" alt="Eric"/><br /><sub><b>Eric</b></sub></a><br /><a href="#content-esotuvaka" title="Content">🖋</a></td>
     </tr>
   </tbody>
 </table>
diff --git a/exercises/smart_pointers/cow1.rs b/exercises/smart_pointers/cow1.rs
index 885138a7..bc5b28e5 100644
--- a/exercises/smart_pointers/cow1.rs
+++ b/exercises/smart_pointers/cow1.rs
@@ -52,7 +52,8 @@ mod tests {
     fn owned_no_mutation() -> Result<(), &'static str> {
         // We can also pass `slice` without `&` so Cow owns it directly.
         // In this case no mutation occurs and thus also no clone,
-        // but the result is still owned because it always was.
+        // but the result is still owned because it was never borrowed
+        // or mutated.
         let slice = vec![0, 1, 2];
         let mut input = Cow::from(slice);
         match abs_all(&mut input) {
diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index 704398e5..793b826d 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -298,13 +298,21 @@ fn spawn_watch_shell(
                     println!("Bye!");
                 } else if input.eq("help") {
                     println!("Commands available to you in watch mode:");
-                    println!("  hint  - prints the current exercise's hint");
-                    println!("  clear - clears the screen");
-                    println!("  quit  - quits watch mode");
-                    println!("  help  - displays this help message");
+                    println!("  hint   - prints the current exercise's hint");
+                    println!("  clear  - clears the screen");
+                    println!("  quit   - quits watch mode");
+                    println!("  !<cmd> - executes a command, like `!rustc --explain E0381`");
+                    println!("  help   - displays this help message");
                     println!();
                     println!("Watch mode automatically re-evaluates the current exercise");
                     println!("when you edit a file's contents.")
+                } else if let Some(cmd) = input.strip_prefix('!') {
+                    let parts: Vec<&str> = cmd.split_whitespace().collect();
+                    if parts.is_empty() {
+                        println!("no command provided");
+                    } else if let Err(e) = Command::new(parts[0]).args(&parts[1..]).status() {
+                        println!("failed to execute command `{}`: {}", cmd, e);
+                    }
                 } else {
                     println!("unknown command: {input}");
                 }