I disagree. Unlike other years, there is no "hard" problem in this round. So far, 2581 users have submitted an answer to C-large (the "hardest" this year). Last year only 547 users submitted an answer to D-large (and only 141 got the correct answer).

This is just quals...

"Seems much tougher than previous years."

I am comparing these quals with the quals from last year.

That's what I thought initially as well, but in the end I ended up solving more than last year or the year before. I felt like I wasn't going to get anything after A and B at first, though.

It's my first time this year, I can't understand why my answer for the mine sweeper is not correct. I think I found all the edge cases and even checked my results one by one :(