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  1. Old Tom

    Blindsolving stamina

    One. I try to do more, but I get noticeably worse, so have to stop and go back to sighted solving, that relaxes me. But hey, I will be83 next month.
  2. Old Tom

    Solving a rubik's via a method or not?

    Same here. 1981, inspired by that Martin Gardner article in Scientific American.The ideas of commutators and conjugation. Looked for sequences of moves that would shift only a few pieces, latched into the concept that these moves could be reversed and also combined with simple shifts. Wrote...
  3. Old Tom

    Older cubers discussions

    And as I learned, long, long ago, when studying anything: just writing something down improves memory.
  4. Old Tom

    Older cubers discussions

    Since I’m 81, I guess I can talk about this. Learning new algs, remembering thrm, and not forgetting old ones in the process is tough for me. But I am doing it, sort of. For me it takes drill, drill and more drill. Then repeat. I frequently go through my complete alg set, one after the other...
  5. Old Tom

    Older cubers discussions

    There is another trick in the memo trace that is helping me also: suppose the pre-inspection of the corners shows one piece twisted. So, instead of remembering “8” moves, I focus on “6 plus 2”, then I am prepared to hit the buffer piece at “6”, followed by a double hit at the twisted location. I...
  6. Old Tom

    Older cubers discussions

    I use mod Y, T, Ja, Jb, and Ra for parity correction. Ja and Jb are mirror images, which I find easy to memorize and execute as such. As to new cycles, I am still at the stage where those are hard for me for edges, but the (fewer) corners are getting much easier. It helps to remember by “what’s...
  7. Old Tom

    Older cubers discussions

    You also need an alg to correct parity when necessary. I use Ra for that.
  8. Old Tom

    Older cubers discussions

    I can tell you what’s the easiest: the Old Pochman method, but it is slow. However, you only need five algorithms to do it. Three actually, but five is more efficient. It is a piece by piece method which is why it is slow, but also why it is relatively easy.
  9. Old Tom

    Older cubers discussions

    Also, so far the FB group is mainly about "accomplishments", which is ok. This group was always more about nurturing, helping each other out.
  10. Old Tom

    Older cubers discussions

    This thread was astonishingly helpful for me when I stumbled on it about three years ago. Until that I had been just a lone LBL solver, since way back in the 80s. I was nudged by many in this group to do F2L, and then, huge step, blind solving. Had almost daily advice for a month while I learned...
  11. Old Tom

    Older cubers discussions

    I am just getting back to cubing after a necessary break of more than a year where I simply had no mental energy or focus to even pick up a cube. I am back at it now. At 81 it is coming back slowly: the 3x3 was easy (though I am NOT FAST). The 3BLD is proving a challenge. The OP methodology is...
  12. Old Tom

    The letter scheme gets to be automatic surprisingly quickly, with not much effort. Trick: focus...

    The letter scheme gets to be automatic surprisingly quickly, with not much effort. Trick: focus on the letter which starts each face: AEIMQU. You can then quickly go around the face until you hit the desired letter. It very soon becomes a no-thought thing. Tap with your fingers at first, very...
  13. Old Tom

    Hello Guys. I am back after a terribly hard year-plus, where I was unable to pick up a cube at...

    Hello Guys. I am back after a terribly hard year-plus, where I was unable to pick up a cube at all (won’t go into details). I am now just back with my 3x3, and trying to relearn my 3BLD, just two days ago, very creaky brain! For those who don’t know me, I am 81.
  14. Old Tom

    Older cubers discussions

    Takes me almost that long to pick up a cube. Seriously, I am astounded.
  15. Old Tom

    Older cubers discussions

    G Got it!
  16. Old Tom

    Older cubers discussions

    That actually makes sense. Thx!
  17. Old Tom

    Older cubers discussions

    Ah! But how do I prevent the “sense of urgency” from giving me a bad case of the mental yips? That has been a major problem for me when trying for speed, blind or not. The only approach that is “sort of” working for me is trying to stay calm, not trying to go too fast, staying within my...
  18. Old Tom

    Older cubers discussions

    There is a utube video of a guy juggling and solving three 3x3s while riding a unicycle. A grad student out in Cal. Maybe 2-3 years ago.
  19. Old Tom

    Older cubers discussions

    The Marine Marathon was the one I ran, back in ‘78 and ‘79. Have you actually tried running and cubing at the same time? Unless it was OH, would be hard to maintain a decent pace and stride. The logistics of receiving and handing off the cubes would be difficult also. It is a very crowded race...
  20. Old Tom

    Older cubers discussions

    Running marathons (I ran two, lonnnnnng ago) and cubing may not mix. One of the symptoms of over-training is a bit of brain fog. But go for it.
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