I am in! I will try to fit this around my crazy schedule.
This is a very interesting challenge. I have not used CSS3 just yet but will try things out. Thanks for presenting this contest.
Yes I believe it does rule out the Javascript API’s I was thinking about using canvas in this contest, oh well…
I like the deadline date. Gives me alot of time to think this over. 
Maybe a stupid question:
Is it possible to use conditional stylesheet for IE, or just one stylesheet is permitted?
There’s nothing in the regulations against a conditional stylesheet - As long as it’s included in the HTML file.
Remember: only a single html file is allowed, no external files (css to be included in the HTML head)
Ok! So one html, style in the head, conditions in the head.
I think, now everything is clear.
Disable the CSS then or gaze at the beautiful naked body of HTML code and her lovely CSS3 curves in awe. 
You can add comments to the CSS /* I am a comment */ and HTML source code <!-- Hello World –> like in the ‘terminal emulation’ example.
Though NOT really any additional hard-copy text other than in that seen in the *.txt file.
Obviously if you want to use the title attribute then yes, you could do something in that, i.e. <span title=“TaDa!”> One submission per user we cannot have you winning all the prizes or getting several shots/attempts.
That disagrees with this footnote, from post #2:
† Contestants may optionally embed their CSS styles into their single HTML file or link a stylesheet (in the same directory as the HTML file and therefore zipped with it).
Clarification? I’d like to do the CSS externally, but I won’t if it’s disallowed.
It should still be allowed to have external CSS it was debated several times during the planing stages. You’ll notice one example makes use of 2 external CSS files.
Refer to Shaun’s footnote:
† Contestants may optionally embed their CSS styles into their single HTML file or link a stylesheet (in the same directory as the HTML file and therefore zipped with it).
It’s possible Jake saw an earlier beta version of the rules; when we were discussing of how we could best transmit or host the competitors files.
Obviously you can ZIP them and send to Sarah’s e-mail (refer to page 1) then both myself and the other judges will then get forwarded the appropriate file(s) in due course.
One submission per user we cannot have you winning all the prizes or getting several shots
You can always set a 1 prize per person limit, and allow everyone to submit several creative attempts, after all it’s all about creativity.
also I’d like a clarification with the hidden content option, are we actually allowed to hide the text, and show it on hover for example? or have it spin in the middle of the page? or have it incredibly small, so small that it almost looks like a underline? what about text that can be added with CSS “content:”? what about text thats added for the purpose of visual appeal, for example a huge capital letter behind the first letter of the paragraph? what about graphics made from fonts?
what about making the page into a website with multiple pages?
so many options… so many fun and interesting things that other could learn from, and all of them will sit somewhere hidden away from the eyes of everyone just because were not allowed to submit more than one entry.
Have you considered rel=“alternate stylesheet” that possibly would be allowed. You could then have a whole deck of CSS choices if you really wanted to get the creative CSS juices flowing.
If by HTML5 you mean just the mark-up then no. If you mean canvas, video, audio, javascript, etc, etc then yes.
This contest is about markup and styling only, nothing else.
That will still give the contestants who entered more submissions than others a bigger chance of winning and make the contest unfair / unbalanced.
Yes, you are
Sure
No, all original content has to be visible (and legible) at some point. If it’s initially hidden it should be possible to show it with an hover like you proposed, or similar. The whole point is that it’s not allowed to ignore some piece of the text by hiding it completely without any option to reveal it.
Adding text is adding text, the means doesn’t matter. So, no.
If it’s purely for visual appeal, go for it!
I do realize this contradicts my previous answer, but it’s actually different kind of contents. The previous was about adding content as content (that’s how I understood it anyway) while this question is about using characters as decoration.
Yes, no problem
You can only have one HTML file. No more, no less.
We never said it isn’t allowed, so it is allowed
I’m certain there will be discussions where you can share other solutions after the competition is finished.
So don’t you throw away any not submitted versions!
Now I’m really getting confused. Graphics made from fonts are okay now? Fahrner image replace, backgrounds, all that? It was clear enough when there were simply no images allowed, now it isn’t… 
[FONT=“Georgia”]Don’t be frightened, lbispo.
Keep in mind, as a caveat to ScallioXTX’s answer, that a full third of your score is for logic and efficiency.
This is an HTML competition.
Trying to cheat images and graphics in by any hack and loophole necessary is an option, certainly, but it will cost a large percentage of marks to the offending competitor. It would be unlikely for that competitor to score highly, let alone win a prize.
[/FONT]
Whom exactly are “they”?
I’m contemplating venturing into this little foray in process. It’s been years since I designed for IE6 display. I’m sitting here trying to recall “Once upon a time” when I had to add extra nested table code to get things to look the same in IE6 as the other browsers. The painful process of beating up HTML code to make it look the same or damn close to it.
While an internet Circa 1995 design would be easy to come up with, it would not take advantage of all the awesome things you can do with CSS now days. I’m sitting here trying to recall WTF IE6 is or is not capable of doing. If I recall (from memory) there are some differences in how padding and margin handling worked.
I do remember adding extra HTML code into the mix of things, to sort of brute force attack the proper display in all browsers (at the time) instead of using CSS hacks (not the best recommended practice at the time). This was back in the time when CSS was supposed to resolve display issues and allow you to minimize your HTML. Evil vs. Evil. Either CSS Hacks and Bloated HTML to make things look the same in all browsers vs. going for a simpler design such as an internet Circa 1995 design (which ain’t all the aesthetic without the graphics).
Yes, this competition is rather a challenge. LOL
Wait, how can it possible be considered “cheating images in” if even the first example provided by sitepoint has “css trickery” that makes the triangular borders. Also Font based imagery has been a tradition for many CSS’ers, even IF I ain’t any good at it, I would still like to know if it’s allowed, and if its allowed it should not have any loss in chance of winning especially if it looks good! (In my opinion obviously)
So what is this competition really about? ingenuity? creativity? or just make some pretty layout out of this.
If consistency, browser compatibility, and efficient markup are big pluses, then by my experience having a boring, linear top-to-bottom layout without anything special is the way to go, but where’s the fun in that?
or…er… what iDude says.
Now that I see that we get downgraded for ingenuity, I am forced to ask the strange question: How much allowed is it?
I want to get the rules and conditions straight before I start spending time on CSS trickery that will get me disqualified.
This is not clear to me:
@font-face is permitted or not?
I read the rules… i think its ok.