Fair Play
A prize pool split by points only works if the points were earned by people. This page says plainly what we look at, what happens when something looks wrong, and how to argue back.
The one rule
Solve the puzzle yourself. You may use pencil marks, notes, a pen and paper, your two free hints, and as much time as the puzzle allows. You may not use a solver, a script, or anyone else's answers.
Everyone plays to the same limits: 2 hints and 3 mistakes on every competitive puzzle. There is nothing to buy, nothing to watch, and no account setting that changes them.
What we measure
For every solve we record an aggregate picture of how it was played — never your keystrokes or your screen. The signals that matter:
- Rhythm. People speed up, slow down, and stop to think. Scripts do not. Entries arriving at near-constant intervals are a strong signal.
- Speed. Each difficulty has a floor below which no human has credibly finished. Beating it is a strong signal.
- Corrections. People erase and retry. A long, flawless, pause-free run is unusual.
- Input. Solves recorded with no keyboard and no pointer events did not come from a person using a browser.
- Consistency across puzzles. Human solve times vary widely from puzzle to puzzle. Near-identical times across many puzzles is a signal.
- Clustering. Several accounts playing simultaneously from one address.
What happens
- A single signal does not do anything. Signals accumulate into a score.
- At a moderate score, the points from that solve are held — visible in your account, greyed on the leaderboard, and not paid until reviewed.
- At a high score, the account is suspended immediately and all its points are held. You can still sign in and read your account; you cannot play competitively.
- A person reviews every held case before anything becomes final. Software never permanently bans anyone or refuses a payout on its own.
- If the review clears you, the points are released and the account reopens. If it upholds the flag, the points are voided and the account is closed.
If you think we got it wrong
Email support@whosin.chat from the address on the account. Tell us what you were doing — an unusually fast solve because you have done ten thousand of them, an accessibility tool, an input device we did not expect. We would rather release a legitimate payout than keep it, and we read every appeal.
What we will not do
- We will not fingerprint your device or track you across other sites.
- We will not sell or share integrity data with anyone.
- We will not keep the money from a voided payout — voided points reduce nobody else's share, because the point value is fixed.