I think the dashes are coming from Comparing Against Real Time (RTA)/Game Time (LRT). These two are different times saved within Livesplit, and it can only show one. To change this, right click on Livesplit and hover over Compare Against, and at the bottom, select Game Time. Once you finish a run with the Load Remover, your splits should show up with numbers.
If you haven't already, this is a great video for setting up TCS and you can skip to Load Remover/Autosplitter segment for more information.
real?
POG POG POG POG POG POG POG POG POG POG POG POG POG POG POG
i think this could open up many different routing possibilities in order to complete 36 levels. like is it faster to beat up to 5-3, or up to 3-3?
Here is the game page for LSW3 (DS)
All extras should be off for Story runs. Free play you can have them on. There used to be a category allowing extras on but that has been eliminated, and I guess we forgot to include that in the rules. I'm fixing it right now. Thank you for bringing it up.