Pull The Rug
- File name sp_a2_pull_the_rug
- Appearance The Return
- Native to Challenge Mode Yes
- World Record loading...
- Least Portals loading...
Contents
Overview
Pull The Rug is the ninth and last map of The Return. The route is simple and generally easy for most people.
General Route
After circle jumping out of the elevator, you either do some stair hops or wall strafe up the stairs. After reaching the door you can choose to try and continue your hops by slowing down, or you can circle jump through it. Entering the test chamber you place a blue portal on the wall with the bridge hitting it. Then place the orange portal on the wall on the other side of the entrance, so that the bridge goes over the floor button. Grab the cube and place it directly in the middle of the bridge above the button, blocking the laser. Hop to the elevator, and after reaching it, move the orange portal to be next to the blue, dropping the cube onto the button. Before the elevator reaches the top, jump to activate the dialogue earlier.
Challenge Mode Specific
In Challenge Mode, the main way that time is saved on this level is with the reduction of groundframes and the use of a cube throw immediately after grabbing it. Upon entering the chamber, runners shoot the blue portal like the General Route, but grab the cube before shooting orange. Runners then throw the cube toward the floor button and shoot the orange portal, which catches the cube on top of the bridge. It is recommended to watch runs of this level to see how the cube throw is accomplished.
Full Game Specific
It's quite important to ensure that the cube is placed in the middle of the bridge blocking the laser, as if it is closer to one side, it is highly likely that the cube will fall off of the button, losing around 4 seconds at the least.
Full Game Dialogue
Enter the ending elevator when GLaDOS says "these" in "after all these years".
"I bet you think I forgot about your surprise. I didn't. In fact, we're headed to your surprise right now. After all these [Enter Elevator] years. I'm getting choked up just thinking about it."
History
The recorded history of this map begins with Zemanzo, with an 18.94 on the 23rd of March, 2012. Then Terada improved it to an 18.63 over the next month. After Terada came taNa, who improved the world record 5 times, eventually reaching 17.11. Terada then took it back with a 16.68, eventually bringing it down to 16.33. In December of that year, SUPAH took it with a 15.86, standing for 7 months before being overtaken by Yarby with a 15.63 on the 3rd of July, 2013.
Then came the reign of Zypeh, achieving a 15.60 time on the 22nd of March, 2014. He then improved this time to a 15.41 later that year. This record stood for nearly 2 years before being improved by Markel in September of 2016, down to a 15.28. Just 4 days later, Zypeh struck back with a 15.15. This stood for another 8 months before being taken by Rex with a 15.10. Zypeh tied it and then improved it in 4 days to a 14.96. Once again, Zypeh stood supreme for 2 years and 3 months.
Finally, Nate saved 0.1 on the level on the 4th of August, 2019, bringing the time to 14.86. Three hours later, Zypeh took it back with another hundredth saved. Another year and a half later, Rex saved 0.06 on the level with a 14.79, standing for an entire week before being retaken by Zypeh with another hundredth saved. Zypeh then improved his time two hours later with a 14.75. This stood for four months before being retaken by Rex with a 14.73, which was improved 4 months later with a 14.66, which is where the record stands today. A total of 4.28 seconds has been saved over the last 10 years.