You've learned two DP optimizations based on the quadrangle inequality:
D&C improvement: For layered DP. Solve middle first, recurse with bounded ranges. O(kn \log n)$$.
Knuth's improvement: For interval DP. Use . O(n^2)$$. The observation: monotonicity of optimal splits means you can skip most of the search space. Practice these on the problemset. They're advanced techniques, but once you understand them, they become mechanical to apply.