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One-Answer WCA Competition and Regulations Question Thread

AlphaSheep

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Hey did anyone answer the initial question? Bc I might consider doing that.
Or do you mean by pushing the limit of the regulations so that it to the judge it looks like you're breaking the regulations, but each time you can argue that technically, just the tiniest bit of the base of your finger was touching the timer sensors, so technically it's not breaking the regulations.

Please don't be that guy. Delegates hate that guy.
 

Shaky Hands

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I don't see anything in the WCA regulations to say that I can't bring a list of algorithms to a solving station if I wanted to and refer to them mid-solve. I accept that I'd be faster if I had algs committed to memory.

Have I missed anything in the WCA regulations regarding this, or is this competition-legal?
 
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worldcubeassociation.org/regulations
Ctrl+F "fingertips"
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I really would have argued with my judge at Nats if I knew the exact wording. I got a +2 on a 3 and it screwed me up. Besides, it wasn't even ambiguous that I had a decent part of my fingers on the timer and not very much of my palms.
 

biscuit

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Ctrl+F "fingertips"
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I really would have argued with my judge at Nats if I knew the exact wording. I got a +2 on a 3 and it screwed me up. Besides, it wasn't even ambiguous that I had a decent part of my fingers on the timer and not very much of my palms.

For some reason I thought it was Fingertips too... Now I'm confused.
 

AlphaSheep

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A4b) The competitor uses their fingers to touch the elevated sensor surfaces of the timer. The competitor's palms must be facing down, and located on the side of the timer that is closer to them. Penalty: time penalty (+2 seconds).

A literal interpretation says your palms can't be over the sensors at all - they must be on the side closest to you. I've heard it was a Chinese translation of that that introduced the fingertips idea, and that's somehow spread? I don't know.
 

aybuck37

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Or do you mean by pushing the limit of the regulations so that it to the judge it looks like you're breaking the regulations, but each time you can argue that technically, just the tiniest bit of the base of your finger was touching the timer sensors, so technically it's not breaking the regulations.

Please don't be that guy. Delegates hate that guy.
Wait what? No I mean like if you wanted to change your country.
 
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So I can compete with any center cap I want missing for 3x3? Doesn't this give me a big advantage?

(Obviously you can't submit it like this but I could pop it off at the start of my solve and never fix it)
1) I think there's a reg somewhere about introducing a defect intentionally but too tired to look right now
2) I don't think it would help much for 3x3, maybe for BLD though? For someone using M2 for example, pop off a center cap from the M slice and now you can tell where the slice is at any time.
3) Wouldn't you be wasting time to pop the cap off instead of solving?
 

Loiloiloi

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1) I think there's a reg somewhere about introducing a defect intentionally but too tired to look right now
2) I don't think it would help much for 3x3, maybe for BLD though? For someone using M2 for example, pop off a center cap from the M slice and now you can tell where the slice is at any time.
3) Wouldn't you be wasting time to pop the cap off instead of solving?
Half a second spent popping a cap off to identify a side by handfeel would actually be nice for someone of my skill level or a beginner. I know which colors are opposite but not which are adjacent and it would save me 3-4 seconds between cross and F2L.

Also it's not a reg but it was a big discussion on this forum like 3 or 4 pages ago
If you twist a corner intentionally, knowing the resulting state will be unsolvable, you deserve a DNF on that attempt at the very least.

During the solve, the competitor must not intentionally perform a repair to a puzzle that has no defect.
 

cubo

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Hello!
With regards to official solve stats, what does ETM / ETPS / STM / STPS mean?
 
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If there are two events scheduled for the same block of time in a competition, can I only compete in one ?
In a competition there is only 1 event going at a time (this is second hand info.) but even if 2 events are happening at the same time they both would happen for at least 30 min. so you can give the first one (I think it will only take about 10-15 min.) then go for the second one. But make sure you take the permission of the delegate as you might mess up the alphabetical order of the event.
 

AlphaSheep

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In a competition there is only 1 event going at a time (this is second hand info.) but even if 2 events are happening at the same time they both would happen for at least 30 min. so you can give the first one (I think it will only take about 10-15 min.) then go for the second one. But make sure you take the permission of the delegate as you might mess up the alphabetical order of the event.

That question was answered 26 pages ago, but no. It's quite common for two or even three events to run simultaneously in some countries. It differs depending on the organiser, but they can either
  1. Make you choose only one of the events
  2. Or more commonly, the groups will be scheduled so you will be in an earlier group in one event and a later group for the other event so you can compete in both.
 
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That question was answered 26 pages ago, but no. It's quite common for two or even three events to run simultaneously in some countries. It differs depending on the organiser, but they can either
  1. Make you choose only one of the events
  2. Or more commonly, the groups will be scheduled so you will be in an earlier group in one event and a later group for the other event so you can compete in both.
Irealised that 3min. after posting
 

mark49152

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Hello!
With regards to official solve stats, what does ETM / ETPS / STM / STPS mean?
Slice Turn Metric measures the number of turns in a solution or algorithm, whether performed or written. Contrast with alternatives like HTM (Half Turn) and QTM (Quarter Turn). STM counts a slice turn like M as one move, whereas HTM counts it as two moves. QTM counts double turns like R2 as two moves.

Execution Turn Metric measures the moves actually made in a solve. It can differ because for example U2 might be done as a single move double flicked, or as two separate moves with the same finger. Typically, redundant moves during the solve are also counted, like when turning U to look for a piece.

STPS and ETPS describe how fast a solution is executed, by dividing the move count in that metric by time taken in seconds.
 

Ranzha

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Hello!
With regards to official solve stats, what does ETM / ETPS / STM / STPS mean?

ETM - Execution Turn Metric. Rotations (and combinations), outer block moves, and slice moves each count as one move.
ETPS - Execution Turns per Second. For one solve, ETPS (ETM/sec) = movecount (ETM) / time (sec).

STM - Slice Turn Metric. Rotations (and combinations) count as one move. Outer block moves and slice moves each count as one move.
STPS - Slice Turns per Second. For one solve, STPS (STM/sec) = movecount (STM) / time (sec).

Example solution:
Scramble: B2 R2 U B2 U' F2 L2 B2 D R2 U2 B' U F' R U L R U' B'

Moves per step are in brackets [STM|ETM]

x2 // inspection [0|0] (note: inspection rotations are never counted)
D' L' U F' U' F2 x2' // 2x2x2 [6|7]
y' R2 U R2 U' R // 2x2x3 [5|6]
y' U R U R' U R U' R2' // F2L-1 [8|9]
y' U' R U R U R U' R' U' R' // EOLS [10|11]
R2 U2 R' D' r U2 r' D R2 U' R // COLL [11|11]
U2 M2' U M' U2 M U M2' // PLL [8|8]

Time: 11.91 seconds
Total Movecounts: 48 STM | 52 ETM
Turns Per Second (TPS): 4.03 STPS | 4.37 ETPS

Other turn metrics:
OBTM (classically HTM) - Outer Block Turn Metric (Half-Turn Metric). Rotations count as zero moves. Outer block turns (U, U' U2, Uw, 3Uw2, et al.) count as one move. Slice moves count as two moves. This is the official turn metric for Fewest Moves.

OBQTM (classically QTM) - Outer Block Quarter-Turn Metric (Quarter-Turn Metric). Rotations count as zero moves. Outer block turns of 90 degrees (U, U', Uw, 3Uw', etc.) count as one move. Outer block turns of 180 degrees (U2, Uw2, etc.) count as two moves. Slice turns of 90 degrees (M, E', etc.) count as two moves. Slice turns of 180 degrees (M2 etc.) count as four moves.

SQTM - Slice Quarter-Turn Metric. Same as OBQTM, except: slice turns of 90 degrees count as one move, and of 180 degrees count as two moves.
 
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