Q. I have never been to a competition before, is this a good competition for me?
A. YES! All of our competitions cater for newcomers. There is a new competitor tutorial and plenty of friendly delegates, organisers and other competitors who can help you understand what you need to do.

Q. How old do I have to be to compete?
A. Anyone can compete at any age! We encourage anyone considering to compete to register as it will be a great experience regardless of age. Competitors range from young children through to older adults, with a majority being between 10 and 20 years old.

Q. How fast do I have to be to compete?
A. To compete you only need to know how to solve the cube! Please check the events tab to see the time limits for each event.

Q. Do children need to have adult supervision?
A. Yes. Adult supervision of children is required at ALL times. The WCA Delegates and Organisers are very busy running the competition and cannot be responsible for supervising children.

Q. How can I change my events?
A. You may make any changes to your registered events by the closing registration date. After this date you can only remove events. You can change your events by contacting the organisational team detailing your event changes.

Q. What time should I arrive at the competition?
A. You should be at the venue ready to compete at least 30 minutes before your scheduled events, however if you wish to turn up earlier and help with the competition then please do. Please note the schedule is subject to change on the day. If this is your first competition then you should also attend the competitor tutorial to make sure you know how to compete.

Q. How can I prepare before the competition day?
A. Before attending you should have read and understood the WCA regulations. Here is condensed version of the competitor tutorial made by Speedcubing Australia. You may also like to watch this helpful competitor guide.

Q. What do I need to bring?
A. You need to bring a puzzle for each event you are signed up to compete in - make sure they are allowed per the WCA regulations. We also recommend you bring a water bottle. Many competitors also bring a 'warm up cube' to use between submitting their puzzle for scrambling and starting their official solve. All timing equipment is provided by Speedcubing New Zealand.

Q. How do I find out if I've progressed to the next round?
A. Times will be uploaded throughout the competition to WCA live. Please allow up to an hour from finishing your solves to them being uploaded. After all competitors times of a round have been entered, you can see if you are in the following round.

Q. Who can I ask for help on the day?
A. Your Delegates for this competition are Caleb Hall and Liam Wadek, feel free to ask them any questions you may have on the day.

Q. Can I help on the day?
A. Of course! Throughout the day we will need judges and runners so please see our Delegates or Organisers to ask how you can best assist.

Q: How do I get a WCA ID?
A. After official results are posted after the competition you will receive an email with information on your WCA ID.

Q: I lost a puzzle at the competition, what should I do?
A. There are hundreds of puzzles at these events, so please make sure to keep yours together so you don't lose them! Keeping them in a bag and looking after it at all times is recommended. If you do lose a puzzle (or anything else), please speak to us at the event or contact the organisational team, it is possible someone has handed it in to us.

Q. Where can I ask other questions?
A. You can contact the organisational team to answer any other questions.

Spectators are welcome and may enter FREE of charge.

We encourage anyone who is capable of solving under the time limit to compete, but if you feel you're not quite ready to compete yet then we encourage you to come and spectate, then you will have a better understanding of how a competition operates and will know what to do when you do compete later.

There are also plenty of opportunities to get involved as a volunteer. If you would like a judging tutorial please approach an Organizer or a Delegate. If you don't know how to find us, just ask another competitor in the venue and they will be able to help point us out!

Spectators are encouraged to learn how to judge. We will run a judging tutorial at the same time as the new competitor tutorial, you can also have someone teach you how to judge later in the day. Judging is not difficult and you don't need to be a cuber to be a successful judge, it is an excellent way to make the time fly by!

The Decathlon

In addition to the normal events being held, we will have an added layer of competition - The Decathlon! Competitors who register for all 10 events will automatically be signed up for this challenge. Decathlon competitors will do their solves as normal, but for each event will earn points based on how well they perform. Most events have multiple rounds, so a competitor's result from whichever round they perform best in is the one that ultimately determines their score for that event. For most events points are based on a competitor's average, but for 3x3 Blindfolded and Multi-Blind it is based on their single instead.

To check how many points a certain result is worth, you can see the scoring tables here.

Updates about how the decathlon competitors are doing will be provided at the competition, but you can follow along with the scores here.

While we encourage competitors to attempt every event, if you are unable to compete in an event but would still like to take part in the decathlon, please contact the organisers.

The winner of the competition overall will be determined by who has the most points at the end of the decathlon.

New Zealand Cubing Decathlon 2024 is proudly sponsored by MindPlay.nz!