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Indian GP

Not quite sure how to structure this, but I wanted to post some feedback. First off, thanks to authors and organizers for putting together the contest.

I didn't expect this good a result, after finishing with 5 minutes to spare and knowing that most competitive players were expected to finish easily. But let's see how much that counts after the next rounds. Looking at the results, I think a large factor was that I got through the 148-point Place by Product smoothly (one case distinction to rule out 3x3 in column 5, otherwise I think I got most of it logically). But what do other players think?

With respect to the format, I have mixed feelings. Clearly, given the length of the competitive round, the idea that competitive solvers would go on to solve casual puzzles couldn't work well this time around. Whether that changes with the next rounds remains to be seen. For myself, I think I wouldn't have wanted to keep going if I managed to finish with 20 minutes to spare -- focussing on the competitive contest, it just feels like the contest is over after hitting "Claim Bonus"; keeping concentration up and continuing immediately instead of taking a break would necessarily be hard.

I solved the casual puzzles afterwards: I'm happy the sequences weren't on my test, but other than that, I feel that almost all puzzles would fit a "competitive" contest well. Arguably, the word search puts non-English speakers (and particularly non-Latin alphabet users) at a disadvantage, but that can be said for Full Tapa as well. It's a bit sad if the distinction turns out to be "puzzles with beginner-friendly rules" vs "puzzles with complicated rules".

Oh, I find the feedback question about "overall aesthetics" a bit hard, can't we just be asked how much we liked the section?

I'll just continue here... Thanks Matus for the set, I really enjoyed it. I found the Snakes particularly nice. Breaking into the Kropkis was a bit guessy, but that went quite well. This time around, I gave the casual section a serious try, again I thought the puzzles there would have been just fine for competition. I hope you include some puzzles of that style in the WPC. Now I just need to learn to check more usefully (a real error on a Masyu, and slipped one line for the code on a Snake), these errors get a lot more expensive when there's bonus involved!

By the way, it seems the "General Results" still include the competitive time bonus.

Thank you, Rob! I am sorry about your bad luck, the victory was so close... It seems that you are in a great form this year :)
I am glad that you enjoyed the puzzles, even those in the Casual section. Be sure that some of these puzzle types will appear in the WPC.