Dear WCA Community,

After careful consideration, the WCA Board has decided to add Face Turning Octahedron (FTO) to the WCA’s list of official events and remove Clock. FTO will be available for inclusion in WCA competitions from January 2, 2027. Clock will no longer be available following the WCA World Championship 2027, which will be the last competition to hold the event. The WCA will continue to explore options for how other events are managed, particularly at championship competitions.

We are excited to add FTO to our lineup. This is the first new WCA event since Skewb was added in 2014. FTO has seen a high level of sustained interest from our Community for several years and a majority of respondents to recent surveys supported its addition. FTO is both sufficiently well-aligned with the nature of other events recognized by the WCA to smoothly integrate and different enough from existing events to bring something fresh to our competitions.

FTO will be held using the same “Average of 5” format used by the majority of current events. Regulations for FTO will be developed by the WCA Regulations Committee and will be available for feedback as part of the January 2027 Regulations cycle. Other WCA Volunteers will be hard at work to make the necessary changes to our software and systems which support FTO going live in January 2027. FTO will be available from January 2, 2027, providing opportunities for competitors around the world to experience a thrilling first weekend with this new event.

At the same time, we prepare to say goodbye to Clock. Although Clock has seen significant interest in recent years, it continues to be a relatively problematic event, as frequently highlighted by WCA Volunteers and Community members. Despite multiple changes to the WCA Regulations, Clock remains highly prone to incidents. Running Clock at competitions can be challenging, as it is difficult to scramble correctly and requires the use of different procedures or equipment from other speedsolving events. Determining whether a Clock is solved and seeing a competitor progress through a solve are not easily visible at a distance and substantially reduce the spectator appeal of the event, particularly to non-specialist audiences.

These issues stem from the fundamental differences between Clock and the puzzles used for other events. Clock is highly dissimilar from these puzzles and Clock’s existing recognition by the WCA arises from historical factors. Removing Clock strengthens the WCA’s identity as being an organization for three dimensional geometrical twisty puzzles and not other mechanical puzzles.

Clock will continue to be generally available at WCA competitions until July 18, 2027. The WCA World Championship will then be the last competition to officially hold this event. This provides a substantial notice period for the pending change and gives a final send off to Clock on the WCA’s largest stage.

Recent Volunteer and Community surveys concerning the WCA’s list of recognized events formed an input into the decisions taken, although were only one of several factors considered. You can see a summary of these survey results here. We know that the changes in this announcement will be disappointing for some, but consider these to be important strategic changes that strengthen the WCA’s core identity and best set us up for future success.

No formal changes to other events are being made at this time, although the WCA will continue to explore options for how events are managed, especially considering the impact on championship competitions. High degrees of similarity between 6x6x6 Cube and 7x7x7 Cube and between 4x4x4 Blindfolded and 5x5x5 Blindfolded point to these events as potentially subject to future changes. However, existing policies already allow impacts from these events to be managed through measures such as more stringent qualification requirements and recent changes to the WCA Competition Requirements Policy allow “quiet” events, including 4x4x4 Blindfolded and 5x5x5 Blindfolded to be held at separate championship competitions.