Incident: Competitor entered the scramble area after scrambling started, but before his first solve

A competitor submitted their puzzle and went to the waiting area but then entered the scrambling area, mistakenly believing their puzzle had been swapped. They saw their puzzle with the first scramble, leading to a DNF for that attempt. Uncertain about the correct penalty, the delegates asked if only the first attempt should be disqualified or if the entire average should be affected.

The WRC clarified that violating A2a1 allows for the disqualification of all remaining attempts at the delegate's discretion. Additionally, entering the scrambling area early violated A2a3, which, while not listing a specific penalty, could justify round disqualification under 2k5. Since this occurred before any solves were completed, the competitor should receive no results rather than DNFs (2j1a).

The WRC would like to give a reminder that competitors must never enter the scrambling area while scrambling is in progress, as scramble secrecy must be maintained throughout the group.