...and turned out to be The brave Roman Perigrinator, quite capable of handling constructive critique all by himself...

Oh, how I hate that "ostrich technique", keep smiling, be nice, close your eyes, don't get involved! NOT caring, NOT taking a person seriously, is to me the ultimate disrespect.

So now I can see your point. You wanted the whole contest to be ONE big Mystery, throwing in (halfheartedly!) all practical arrangements, too, contest rules, duration, speed etc. Well,a bit too optimistic...Next time we'll get a better version. Great!
Ciao from Tuscany!