The official purpose of the test is to select three members of the U.S. Sudoku team, to participate in the 2023 World Sudoku Championship in Toronto, Canada during the week of Oct. 15-22, 2023. Unofficial participation is open to all puzzlers world-wide. Nationality is determined by citizenship, not residence.
For official Team USA qualifying, you must start at 1pm ET (10am PT) on Saturday Sept 2, and complete answer submissions within the 2 1/2-hour time limit (unless a hardship accommodation is granted in advance). Otherwise, the test timing is flexible, starting a 2 1/2 hour window any time and finishing before 10pm ET on Monday Sept 4.
All contestants must register to participate in this online championship, and must login to submit answers. Contestants who registered anytime on or before August 25, will receive an email with a reminder of the test schedule and their user name. See the Privacy Policy regarding our use of registration and other information collected by this site.
Unlike most years, you can start this test anytime between 1pm ET (10am PT) on Sept 2 and and finish before 10pm ET on Sept 4. However to be considered for Team USA qualifying, you must start immediately at the start of the test window (unless a hardship accommodation is granted in advance).
The proper procedure this year is therefore slightly different than normal, so please read the following to ensure you are familiar.
After 2 1/2 hours, your personal test period is over. In case of emergency or network lag, the Answer Page will continue to accept answer submissions; otherwise late answers are not scored.
Your last Answer Page submission for each part will be time-stamped and scored. Your final score is the total of all points accumulated for both parts, including bonus. (One late submission will be considered, if within a grace period of 30-seconds of the deadline or when no other on-time submission is available.)
Ranking and tie-breaking will be based on the following rules in order:
Outside solving help of any kind is not permitted. This includes but is not limited to: assistance of any kind from any other person; prepared notes, books, calculators, computers, or tools other than items explicitly permitted.
You are allowed to use writing implements, eraser, blank paper (including commercial graph paper), ruler, scissors, and tape.
All entries and scores are subject to review for rules compliance. USA winners may be asked provide a copy of their passport ID page to prove nationality, and to sign an affidavit confirming that they did, in fact, abide by the rules of the competition. The organizers reserve the right to disqualify any contestant if, in their sole judgment, they believe the rules have been violated.
In case of a dispute, protest, or other judgment, the decision of the judges is final.
The organizers do not expect any technical problems with the operation of championship. If you do encounter a problem that is likely causing trouble for many contestants, check the Qualifying Test home page. If you have a problem that is most likely affecting only you, you may call the test hotline number: (+1) 650-302-4898. Officials will not, however, answer any questions regarding the puzzles themselves.
Solutions to the test puzzles will be posted no later than one day after the test period.
The USA contestants with the top five unaudited scores will be notified within one day of the test. Within two days, all contestants will receive an email or online summary of their score, and will have a 1-day window to respond with any scoring protests. Results will be posted on this web site no later than Saturday, September 9.
There are three open positions for the USA Sudoku Team, to be filled based on the results the this qualifying test. Participants for USA B- and C-Teams, maybe even D-Team, will also be recruited based on the test results. The U.S. Sudoku Team will compete at the World Sudoku Championship in Toronto, Canada during the week of October 15-22, 2023.
Unofficial scores for participants from other countries will be posted at the same time as the USA scores, and may be forwarded to the corresponding WSC team organizer, upon request, for consideration. If there is no organized team for your country, you may be contacted regarding individual WSC participation.