alt Hacker Newsclock != looping, those examples already loop (dont need a line per iteration), but just dont have a built-in clock
and requiring a clock is imo dismissable, because pretty much all modern technology needs a clock too (either from the power grid, or from a hardware component designed for it)
Sure, we can separate loops from clocking for the most part. But it doesn't really change the analysis. These loop. The stuff from several years ago didn't loop properly.
As a tangent though, the system is already powered, you shouldn't need a secondary power source to make your Turing machine go. Something there still feels incomplete, like it probably passes but with an asterisk. But that distinction doesn't matter for CSS since it can self-clock.