Apropos JEG, he is happy if you declare in advance that you are in a solving group. There are a number, of famous father/daughter, mother / son (and other combination) solving teams, and his principle is that if you spend 51 weeks solving alone, and you get help to complete the 52nd in order to be all-correct, is that fair?
At the end of the day you are cheating no-one but yourself.
I haven't entered for five years and am still solving. I can put my hand on my heart and say I have never entered a crossword comp and had help with that puzzle. I have won a few prizes and feel I've deserved them.
My Listener solving has gone backwards instead of forwards and I am lucky to complete ten a year now (three so far in 2010!) I despise long and unnecessarily complex preambles and this "challenge" that seems to go on to find a way to hide the secret message needed to solve the puzzle.