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Negative Time Solving Contest 2005

It's that time of the year again! This year, in the United States, Daylight Saving Time (DST) will end at 2 AM on Sunday, October 30. For countries in the European Union, summertime period ends at 1 a.m. UT on Sunday, October 30.

The Contest

I think the following challenge statement by Caltech student Tyson Mao pretty much explains it.

Message #12843 of the Yahoo! Speedcubing Forum:

There is only one day of the year where one can leave the drudgery of Caltech academic life and sprint off for a chili burger, chili dog, and chili fries in a timely manner. A very timely manner indeed... so timely that one can actually return before he departs.

This is the way of the Negative-Time Tommy's run. On one day of the year, a little bit before the first 2 AM, Caltech students hop in their cars and make a dash for the original Tommy's in Beverly Hills for some items with a lot of chili. The goal is to simply return before you left. If you are skilled, you may attempt the trifecta which consists of the burger with extra chili, the hot dog with extra chili, and the fries with extra chili.

Last year, I missed achieving negative time because of an accident on Highway 101. Our total time was 4 minutes. Of course, last year, I did achieve negative time cubing at a time of negative 59 minutes and 1 second. (I was not very fast back then.)

I challenge all of you to take part in the negative time solving tradition. We will have a website with the one, yes only ONE scramble which you will use for this entire year. The date I believe will be October 31, 2004.

The Rules

Please send your times to records@speedcubing.com with the subject line "Negative Time Solving Contest" and include your name, nationality, time, and a comment in the message. To submit your time, you must follow these rules.

Rules:
1. Use the provided algorithm.
2. Begin your solve before daylight saving ends and complete it after it ends in the country you live.
3. Please, don't be an idiot! Remember that this is an unofficial contest. Please follow all the rules you would when submitting a time to www.speedcubing.com.

Finally, thanks to Tyson Mao for bringing this great Caltech tradition to cubing, and to Ron and Chris for accepting submissions for this contest.

The Scramble

L U2 L2 F U2 B' F2 U D' F2 R' U' D' F L U B' L2 U' D' R' L D' U' F2

This is the ONLY Negative Time Run Scramble for 2005. Don't use this scramble before the real attempt.

Pass on the word to your fellow cubers! You only have one chance per year. Good luck, and don't forget to submit your record to www.speedcubing.com!

The Results

The results for 2004 Negative Time Solving Contest is here. It should be noted that Tyson Mao of USA had the actual fastest time since Shotaro Makisumi's solve was started 3 sec after the time changed (on atomic clock).

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Created by Shotaro "Macky" Makisumi

Last updated: 2005/05/15

Macky's site for speedcubers, blindfold cubers, and cube-addicts...
Best average: 13.42 seconds. 12.11 seconds AsR solve here