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Some months ago, I was looking for ways to optimize my AO3 searching. I found this AO3 blog post on the topic, which was all I ever could've asked for and more. These are some of the ways I've used the hidden search operators, if anyone is wondering what they might be good for.

restricted: true for restricted works (if you're logged in to access them)
This was the first one I used, before I even found the blog post. After some years, I finally bit the bullet and signed up for an AO3 account, and I wanted to see what works I'd missed because they were restricted.

otp: true for works tagged with only one relationship
This is good for when you don't want any other relationships in the mix. Best for pairings that are frequently listed as minor or background to the major pairings in a fandom.

-relationship ids: * for works with no relationship tags at all
Sometimes just filtering for "gen" in pairings isn't enough. Does seem to have some difficulty with filtering out relationship tags for Original Works (likely because both characters are not canonical), but should be fine for all established fandoms.

private: false to filter for public bookmarks only
I like to keep most of my bookmarks private. This filter lets me check if I've missed any.

-language id: en to filter out all items in that language
Normally, I filter for English fics only. If I get desperate enough, though, I'll go through all those ones I skipped and attack them with a machine translator.

imported_from_url: xyz or works imported from a specific site or domain
I tend to like fics that were originally posted on other sites a lot. Maybe people are more likely to cross-post if they feel the work is truly great? Usage of other fanfic sites - especially older ones like LiveJournal, DreamWidth, etc - does also tend to point to a more experienced writer.

backdate: true for works that have been backdated
I tend to like the older fics in a fandom more. This might be survivorship bias, but it's still true. Older, backdated fics often might not rank highly when sorting for kudos, since they often have very minimal tagging. Aside from trying to figure out the appropriate "old" date range for a fandom, this could be useful.

bookmarkable_type: ExternalWork for bookmarks of external works
When someone bookmarks an external work on AO3, it means they really liked it and it's not in the archive. What a great way to find fic outside of AO3!