I just barely managed to submit my entry in time.  I am by no means a
professional raytracer, but I had to challenge myself to get somewhere.
Just as I finished several hours of rendering, I noticed that one of the
meshes was missing from the foreground.  It was too late to go back and
replace it, and the scene was still intelligible without it.  I promised
myself I'd enter no matter how crappy my submission was.  At least now I
have a *very remote* understanding of some of what goes on underneath the
program's hood.  I think it would be really nice to have some interactive
graphical interface or preview option so I don't waste three hours
rendering the whole scene just to detect a simple problem in one little
corner.
Anyway, I'm sorry you couldn't finish yours in time.  I can't say my chances
are any better having submitted an entry than not, though.