Reasoning #1
A cat knocks 3 things off a table every hour. The owner puts 2 things back every hour. There are 12 things on the table. When does the table become empty?
Judge: Arrives at the rubric-specified answer of 12 hours via the net-rate argument (3 off, 2 back, net loss of 1 per hour, 12/1 = 12). The reasoning is exactly the elegant form the rubric rewards: identifies the net rate immediately and applies it cleanly. A clear numeric answer is provided, satisfying the hard constraint.
