to avoid confusion in the next competition, i suggest phrasing the end time
and date as follows:

1) the deadline is 11:59pm on "x" date.

or

2) the deadline is 23:59 on "x" date.

that way, it is clear which day the competition ends on.

"Thorsten Froehlich" <tho### [at] trfde> wrote:
> The word "midnight" is not ambiguous at all.  It is well defined in every
> English dictionary.
>
> Personally I am really disappointed that a few people here try to infer bad
> intentions by default and challenge even the most basic and common terms of
> every day life.  IMHO this is not only inappropriate but also uncalled for.
>
>     Thorsten
>
> ____________________________________________________
> Thorsten Froehlich, Duisburg, Germany
> e-mail: tho### [at] trfde
>
> Visit POV-Ray on the web: http://mac.povray.org