I didn't quite get the 6 minute time limit. For instance, I coded up one of their problems using a bruteforce algorithm. It worked perfectly with the sample test case they provided. But when I tried it on the their time-limited test case, lo-and-behold, it took a long time. So ... what the heck was the point of that? Since we had 6 minutes to upload the answer, I can't really convert my solution to something much faster in that time period. Should I have coded a faster solution from the get-go? Well .. that isn't clear cut as we had 3 hours to code 3 problems. Oh well. I had fun coding and I have a lot more respect for non-us programmers. Some of the kids coding on the contest were absolutely amazing and far better coders than me.