[cjbprime]

Including in 2022 with the self-created programming language the post is about, which is just amazing, and lives somewhere in my head near FlaSh's 2020 decision to switch to playing pro StarCraft Brood War tournaments as the Random race -- requiring him to become world-class at three races (nine race matchups) while his opponents only have to be world-class at one race (three race matchups). FlaSh came third in the largest tournament that year.

From the post:

> I think I predicted that requiring myself to use only Noulith on Advent of Code would make my median leaderboard performance better but my worst-case and average performances significantly worse. I don’t think my median performance improved, but my worst-case performance definitely got worse. Somehow it still didn’t matter and I placed top of the leaderboard anyway. (I will note that 2021’s second to fourth place all didn’t do 2022.)

[dataengineer56]

It seems crazy that 2nd to 4th in 2021 didn't do 2022 at all! It's an annual ritual for me, I couldn't imagine being so heavily into it one year and then not competing at all the next. Was there a reason?

[cjbprime]

I heard something about a large competitive programming tournament (i.e. a commercial one) happening at a nearby time to AoC, I think it was that for at least one person.

(I also don't think it's unimaginable; lives change, everyone's going to have a point where they played one year and not the next, most obviously illness, but also life changes like marriage, kids, stressful new job, etc?)

[avgcorrection]

All it takes is someone convincing you to take a travel vacation around Christmas so that you are too busy to be competitive. (And maybe you don’t bother to play if you can’t be competitive at it.) Nothing LIVES CHANGE sized has to be the case...

[mrits]

"I don't know what his total will be when he's finished because life gets in the way. Things happen."

One great golf on another younger great golfer that might catch up to him.