I also just won (gibybo) and am pleased with the process. Overall it was smooth and what I expected, although it would have been cool if the challenge problem I got had sample input/output like some of the practice ones.
My strategy for those who might benefit: I checked out the profiles of all the previous winners today and found that the challenge question was always one of three. I looked up the algorithms and practiced by implementing a python version of each, noting where the tricky parts were. Then when I entered the challenge I used my reference python version and compared them. I was a bit lucky in that the challenge code was roughly laid out the same way as I happened to do it earlier.
My strategy for those who might benefit: I checked out the profiles of all the previous winners today and found that the challenge question was always one of three. I looked up the algorithms and practiced by implementing a python version of each, noting where the tricky parts were. Then when I entered the challenge I used my reference python version and compared them. I was a bit lucky in that the challenge code was roughly laid out the same way as I happened to do it earlier.