Dear WCA Community,

2022 has been a productive year for the WCA Regulations Committee, and now the WRC would like to share with you some insight on the work we have done in the recent year.

Firstly, 8 new members joined our committee. So far, their contributions have been extremely welcome for the WRC, and we look forward to seeing what the future holds for our committee.

In the second half of 2022, the WRC concluded an investigation regarding competitions in Vietnam. For more details, see this announcement and this investigation report.

Along with this investigation, we resolved many incidents, which you can find in the Incidents log, here are the most noticeable ones:

1. During the inspection of a Megaminx attempt, the competitor caused an unintentional misalignment to the puzzle, possibly against Regulation A3c1. After careful review of the video footage, the WRC has decided not to DNF the attempt. None of the frames analyzed point to the face having moved beyond the allowed 36º (see Regulation 10f2). See this incident log. Misalignments during inspection have been clarified with the February 2023 Regulations update.
2. A competitor used a Clock with a sticker (logo) placed on the side. The puzzle was determined to be competition-legal as there were no regulations explicitly forbidding logos for Clock puzzles and the competitor is not likely to have gained an advantage. See this incident log. Clock hardware has been clarified with the February 2023 Regulations update.
3. A competitor claimed to be distracted after finishing the solve (i.e. stopping the timer), but before finishing the attempt (i.e. signing the score sheet), and requested an extra attempt. The WRC further discussed this incident and agreed that the original attempt should stay. For more details, see this incident log. Regulation 11e and its guidelines have been clarified with the February 2023 Regulations update to not cause any further confusion.
4. After a competitor finished their solve, the timer was reset by either the judge or by the timer itself before the result was fully recorded on the score sheet. The video evidence showed the display but not the timer. Since the display was clearly shown in the evidence and it was working fine through the solve, WRC agreed that the original result shown on the display may stand. For more details, see this incident log.
5. A judge forgot to hold a sight blocker for a significant amount of time in a 3BLD attempt. The decision from the WRC was to keep the extra attempt. However, in the latter, the decision was overturned by the WCA Board of Directors, thus keeping the original attempt. For more details, see this incident log. The Regulations on sight blockers have been clarified in the February 2023 Regulations update.

To conclude the digest, we would like to remind everyone about the importance of adhering to the WCA Regulations, Guidelines, and Policies. It is important to make sure you understand them properly to ensure they are followed during your official attempts.

If you have any WCA Regulations related questions, do not hesitate to contact us at regulations@worldcubeassociation.org, or to ask your questions in the WCA Regulations category on the WCA Forum.