Starting the solve in a competition

[JTW2007]

I would say that the cube must be placed on the stackmat, not the stackmat timer, though I can definitely see a case for the stackmat being the entire assembly. I doubt I would do it if this were legal though. As far as I'm aware, there is no penalty for finishing with the cube on the timer, so it wouldn't make complete sense to illegalize starting in the same fashion.

 

[Hadley4000]

Are you guys really making this big of a deal out of this? C'mon man!


But, to throw in my two cents. Though the regulations may seem unclear, I think that logically it is intended for you to place the cube on the mat, not timer itself.

Also,
A4b) The competitor must place his hands flat on the elevated sensor area of the Stackmat, with his fingers touching the sensors and with palms down

It explicitly states where the hands should be, so if the puzzle was allowed on the timer itself, wouldn't it make it more clear to say it was okay to do that?

 

[esquimalt1]

This is something that should be clarified in the 2010 regs.