Hi fellow Codeforcers,

Merry Christmas, I hope you are all well. Apologies in advance if this question has been raised before. I noticed that in Codeforces div3 and education rounds, the standings are calculated as the sum of the times to solve each question. However, on previous sites where I used to practice, the standings are calculated as the maximum of the times needed to solve each question. For example, on Codeforces, someone who solves q1 by 1 minute and q2 by 60 minute will receive score of 61, whereas someone who solves q1 by 59 minute and q2 by 60 minute will receive 119. In my opinion, I believe these two contestants should be ranked equally as they both finished the first two questions in the same amount of time (if anything, the second contestant solved the supposedly harder question in less time). Hence, for those who believe the current ranking system is fairer, I would love to hear your perspective and understand why the ranking system is calculated this way instead?

Edit: Just came across this older discussion https://codeforces.me/blog/entry/127921. Explanations here are very convincing!