Schedule

The contest starts on September 14, 2024. The contest results will be published no later than on November 19, 2024.
The dates of the whole contest are given at the table below.

"Sherlock Holmes and Mahjong" contest schedule.

Please, note that the table shows only days, while for exact time please refer the table below.

Starting/ending time of publishing the "Sherlock Holmes and Mahjong" contest mysteries.

Each new mystery is published exactly at 13:00 London time, which automatically means the respective time for each listed city or country.
In 3 days (72 hours) after that "bonus phase" expires, in 6 days (144 hours) time for sending solutions expires.
For the mystery #0 (major challenge) the "bonus phase" will last for 3 weeks, while solutions are excepted for 5 weeks.

Scoring

Each typical mystery can bring 3 (), 2 (), 1 () or none of so-called "Sherlock points", no point fractions will be used.
Mysteries with the multiple questions and the mystery #0 may bring more than 3 () "Sherlock points".
In addition, it is possible to receive an extra 1 "Sherlock point" () for complete or partial solution sent within 3 days (72 hours) from its publication (3 weeks for mystery #0).
Participants' answers for nine mysteries will be scored, and their combined scores will determine their final standings.
All scores except prize winners will be published in a "shared-score" manner.
Only to break ties in top three positions for the prize winners, so-called "time stamp" procedure will be applied.

Communication

To submit your proposed solution, please, write to Vitaly Novikov, you can have several options:

• preferrable option — e-mail address, vitaly.novikov@mail.ru
• WhatsApp: +7(925)771-45-92
• telegram: @Novikov_mahjong
• WeChat ID: Novikov_Mahjong

Multiple attempts

What will be NEW in the 5th Contest is that ONLY ONE attempt to send a solution per each mystery from one contestant will be accepted!
For each subsequent attempt, 1 () "Sherlock point" will be DEDUCTED.
The only exception is a letter without the solution, just to clarify information (which may take place due to language, or other issues).

Personal data

Contestant identification used in publication will be based either on explicit signature under the solution(s), or on implicit name tags provided by e-mail program.
Only for the prize winners: full name and mail address is needed to send prizes by regular mail.

Language support

Official language of the contest is ENGLISH.
All mysteries texts and solutions will be provided on 3 (three) languages: English, Russian and French.
For French the author will predominantly use special tools like "Google.Translate".
It is recommended, if possible, to communicate in English, otherwise, please, use your native language.