# Inspection - When the stopwatch is reset



## Genius4Jesus (Nov 8, 2014)

I am creating this thread to address a possible problem. 

I notice in official WCA competitions as soon as a competitor places their hands on the StackMat timer, most judges stop and reset the stopwatch. This poses a problem as many people will: a) Take their hands off the StackMat timer, reset it, and inspect for more time. OR b) Keep their hands on the timer and keep inspecting by moving their head around the puzzle.

This can allow people to accidentally or (hopefully not) purposely get extra inspection time, as the judge has no idea if they have gone over the 15 second inspection time. Therefore, I propose that judges should stop and reset the stopwatch, _after_ the competitor turns the puzzle.


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## Julian (Nov 8, 2014)

Well they're supposed to. If a judge does this for my solve (occasionally to decently often) I let them know afterwords.


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## Ranzha (Nov 8, 2014)

The judge should stop the inspection timer when the Stackmat timer starts.
Reset can happen anytime between then and the start of the next competitor's inspection phase.


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## Dene (Nov 8, 2014)

As the two above me have said, the procedure described in the OP is incorrect. I see it plenty enough, but it shouldn't happen. Judges shouldn't stop the stopwatch until the solving phase has started and there is no inspection-time penalty to apply.


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## goodatthis (Nov 8, 2014)

Sometimes judges will not do what they're supposed to. Heck, I've even seen judges not even start the stopwatch.


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## kcl (Nov 9, 2014)

I don't even stop it until the solve is over for this reason. The beep is a possible distraction if they already started, and it doesn't hurt anything to let it run.


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## sneaklyfox (Nov 9, 2014)

Maybe one problem is that the judge is trying to stop the timer when the stackmat timer starts (solving begins) but when the competitor takes hands off the timer because he realizes it needs to be reset the judge mistakenly thought it was the start of the solve (since the hands were taken off the timer).


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## Randomno (Nov 10, 2014)

I was trying to remember this when I judged... think I managed.


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