Older cubers discussions

[h2f]

Noah on cubing world has a good tutorial for 4bld. And i did one but in Polish.

patataj patataj patataj

 

[APdRF]

Mafergut, don't ever try 4BLD, look at my 3rd attempt when you feel like you want to try:

 

[Logiqx]

We don't get much pyraminx talk here. Does anyone take it seriously? I find the different methods interesting but reasonable times seem very far off.

I don't take it seriously but I do quite enjoy it. When I first started, I did lots of solves in the first fortnight which got me down to a 12 second global average.

Since then I only practice sporadically and prior to the UKC 2015, I was averaging about 10 seconds but I got slightly lucky and came away with a 9 second official average.

I watched a few Pyra videos after figuring out how to solve it LBL but I still use the same algs I figured out on the day I received the puzzle.

IMHO, LBL is fine unless you want to take it "seriously" or simply want to learn some stuff. I basically have 3 algs for the first layer (3 / 4 move insertions) and 5 algs for the last layer.

By all means play with the other methods if you enjoy them but you can get pretty fast with LBL.

 

[mafergut]

Noah on cubing world has a good tutorial for 4bld. And i did one but in Polish.

Thanks, I'm watching part 1

Mafergut, don't ever try 4BLD, look at my 3rd attempt when you feel like you want to try: View attachment 6043

Why not? You almost succeeded in just your 3rd attempt!!!! That means I will just need 30 or 300

 

[Logiqx]

I'm glad people liked the post about slow turning, etc.

Nice session on the train tonight... 29 solves:

Best Avg of 5: 16.145
Best Avg of 12: 16.699
Best Avg of 25: 16.890

 

[MarcelP]

Since then I only practice sporadically and prior to the UKC 2015, I was averaging about 10 seconds but I got slightly lucky and came away with a 9 second official average.

I haven't touched my pyra since last competition. And I average 20 - 25 I think...

But I had a nice 3x3 solve few minutes ago.. first solve of the day

Spoiler

10.17 U' L2 B2 U' L2 U B2 U2 B2 R2 U' F L2 R' D' B' U2 L F D' L'

x' y' // inspection
L D R' y' R U' R' // x-CROSS
y' U R U' R' // 2nd
U2 L U L' //3rd
L' U' L U2 L' U' L // 4th
U L' U' L U' L' U2 L // LEFT SUNE
U R' U' R (y) R2 u (R' U R U' R) u' R2 U //G-perm

Click

 

[Logiqx]

I haven't touched my pyra since last competition. And I average 20 - 25 I think...

But I had a nice 3x3 solve few minutes ago.. first solve of the day

Spoiler

10.17 U' L2 B2 U' L2 U B2 U2 B2 R2 U' F L2 R' D' B' U2 L F D' L'

x' y' // inspection
L D R' y' R U' R' // x-CROSS
y' U R U' R' // 2nd
U2 L U L' //3rd
L' U' L U2 L' U' L // 4th
U L' U' L U' L' U2 L // LEFT SUNE
U R' U' R (y) R2 u (R' U R U' R) u' R2 U //G-perm

Click

Nice. I hope you stopped after that solve so you can spend a whole day saying you average just over 10 seconds.

 

[Jason Green]

Awesome job Marcel!

 

[mafergut]

Wow! Nice solve, Marcel!

I just realized midway Noah's 4BLD video tutorial that I must learn M2 before trying to solve a 4x4

 

[newtonbase]

I remember being very impressed with your pyraminx lookahead at the UKs Mike. Keyhole looks nice and still gives the option to switch to LBL depending on the case but I'll need to work on the first block when it comes up in my plan.

Today is a 4x4 day. Managed a few timed solves in the low 2 mins with a 1:54 thrown in. Hoping for some practice time over the long weekend.

I also tried 3 timed 3BLD solves and wasted nearly 12 mins rescrambling the cube. My untimed success rate is very high but I'm struggling to memo quickly.

 

[h2f]

@Marcel, very nice solve!

Wow! Nice solve, Marcel!

I just realized midway Noah's 4BLD video tutorial that I must learn M2 before trying to solve a 4x4

Yes, you have to know it. The bright side of M2 is that it's a great method and if you will get into bld you can easily make transiton to comms and I you not you will solve the cube with a very efficient method.

About slow turning - all day I did slow solves and in the late evening I've made 30 minutes practice which I've recorded. I just reviewed it and I got 8 sub 20 solves with 16.xx in it.

 

[Selkie]

By all means play with the other methods if you enjoy them but you can get pretty fast with LBL.

Up until last week I used a a LBL method with no LL algs, just brute force and have recently tried to improve on that. Only learned the 3 cycles and 2 flip and enjoying Pyra. Will learn the cycle + flip algs this weekend ready for comp next weekend but already averaging about 17s

I'm glad people liked the post about slow turning, etc.

Nice session on the train tonight... 29 solves:

Best Avg of 5: 16.145
Best Avg of 12: 16.699
Best Avg of 25: 16.890

I think its fair to say you are sub 17 sir. Only a second behind me now. Going to adopt your excellent training technique post comp in exeter :tu

But I had a nice 3x3 solve few minutes ago.. first solve of the day

Lovely solve Marcel. You seem to rotate a lot less than me. That's a habit I need to get out of

 

[mark49152]

I just realized midway Noah's 4BLD video tutorial that I must learn M2 before trying to solve a 4x4

That's a good reason to learn M2 now .

I learned from Noah's tutorial too. 4BLD is definitely a bigger challenge than 3BLD, but if you're comfortable with 3BLD and can do a 2 cube multi, give it a go. You can always learn r2 first and M2 later. Centres with U2 is a similar concept as well.

It's my favourite event right now.

 

[Logiqx]

Up until last week I used a a LBL method with no LL algs, just brute force and have recently tried to improve on that. Only learned the 3 cycles and 2 flip and enjoying Pyra. Will learn the cycle + flip algs this weekend ready for comp next weekend but already averaging about 17s

Here are my Pyra notes if they are useful...

My algs - LL

Flip FL + FR in place: (R' L R L') (U L' U' L)
Flip FL + FR and cycle edges counter-clockwise: (R' L R L') (U' L' U L) - i.e. sledge-hammer bad sticker first
Flip FL + FR and cycle edges clockwise: (L R' L' R) (U R U' R') - i.e. sledge-hammer bad sticker first

Cycle edges counter-clockwise: (R U R') U (R U R') - i.e use U
Cycle edges clockwise: (R U' R') U' (R U' R') - i.e. use U'

LL Probabilities

2-flip - 1/4
CCW cycle with 2-flip - 1/4
CW cycle with 2-flip - 1/4

CCW cycle - 1/12
CW cycle - 1/12
Solved - 1/12

I think its fair to say you are sub 17 sir. Only a second behind me now. Going to adopt your excellent training technique post comp in exeter :tu

I'm not quite there but I am knocking on the door! I'm on holiday next week but ironically, I'll get far less opportunity to practice.

I'll try to maintain my current level and start working on becoming properly sub-17 once I am commuting again the following week.

Sub-16 by end of June, sub-15 by end of December? Maybe...

 

[newtonbase]

U]My algs - LL[/U]

Flip FL + FR in place: (R' L R L') (U L' U' L)
Flip FL + FR and cycle edges counter-clockwise: (R' L R L') (U' L' U L) - i.e. sledge-hammer bad sticker first
Flip FL + FR and cycle edges clockwise: (L R' L' R) (U R U' R') - i.e. sledge-hammer bad sticker first

Cycle edges counter-clockwise: (R U R') U (R U R') - i.e use U
Cycle edges clockwise: (R U' R') U' (R U' R') - i.e. use U'

For the flip and cycle cases I put the bad edge and the edge in the colour block in front and do
L, R, U, R', U', L' or R', L', U', L, U, R always starting with the not bad edge. Fewer moves but fiddly.

 

[Selkie]

Here are my Pyra notes if they are useful...

My algs - LL

Flip FL + FR in place: (R' L R L') (U L' U' L)
Flip FL + FR and cycle edges counter-clockwise: (R' L R L') (U' L' U L) - i.e. sledge-hammer bad sticker first
Flip FL + FR and cycle edges clockwise: (L R' L' R) (U R U' R') - i.e. sledge-hammer bad sticker first

Cycle edges counter-clockwise: (R U R') U (R U R') - i.e use U
Cycle edges clockwise: (R U' R') U' (R U' R') - i.e. use U'

LL Probabilities

2-flip - 1/4
CCW cycle with 2-flip - 1/4
CW cycle with 2-flip - 1/4

CCW cycle - 1/12
CW cycle - 1/12
Solved - 1/12



I'm not quite there but I am knocking on the door! I'm on holiday next week but ironically, I'll get far less opportunity to practice.

I'll try to maintain my current level and start working on becoming properly sub-17 once I am commuting again the following week.

Sub-16 by end of June, sub-15 by end of December? Maybe...

Super stuff Michael, thanks a lot for these. The three algs I know so far are these so will learn the others from you. As a side note how do you execute the two 3 cycles. I have not found good finger tricks for them yet.

Re Sub 15 I think you are likely to make it before me at your current rate though hoping some concentration post comp and finishing learning WV will help my cause. The WV cases I know so far I just practice in isolation so once I know all cases I will be putting a month ban on timing solves to ensure I incorporate them. My 3x3 seems very inconsistent at the moment as I struggle between full pace and slow timed solving. However I am determined I will not sit on another 2 year plateau again

 

[Logiqx]

For the flip and cycle cases I put the bad edge and the edge in the colour block in front and do
L, R, U, R', U', L' or R', L', U', L, U, R always starting with the not bad edge. Fewer moves but fiddly.

I need to play with those... I can finger trick the first one nicely but I find the second one more awkward for some reason.

@Chris. I may do a finger trick video for you instead of using words.

 

[MarcelP]

Nice. I hope you stopped after that solve so you can spend a whole day saying you average just over 10 seconds.

In fact I did.. LOL. This scramble came from a facebook group I am on and I knew it had to be good for green cross. So I timed it, wrote down solution and stopped cubing to go to bed

Lovely solve Marcel. You seem to rotate a lot less than me. That's a habit I need to get out of

Although I try to solve with few rotations while practice, I think this solve was mainly lucky with few roatation.

 

[newtonbase]

I need to play with those... I can finger trick the first one nicely but I find the second one more awkward for some reason.

I'd like to see how you do it. I struggle a little with recognition on the case but nothing that practice won't fix.

 

[moralsh]

Wow, so much writing in there!

@Marcel, wow, very nice solve, I'm still in the "sometimes a 14" phase and you have a 10, wow.

@Mike My train trips are shorter (around 20 minutes), only a couple days a week, and dedicated to 4 or 5 blind but train is an awesome place to practice.

@Chris I have a similar cam and the battery is awful it discharges itself with no use and I need to charge it in advance every time i want to use it. Tell us your impressions after a couple of weeks, please

@Miguel Ángel, soon you'll have a tutorial in "Mundo cubero" by me (recorded but not edited yet) but you'll need some M2 and a little conmutators background you have this one in spanish https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cA8ia_LTwrY which uses (U2,r2,OP) mine will be (comms, r2, OP). and Noah, Corey Sakowski and Daniel Sheppard are pretty good in english

@Mark and @Grzegorz I'm lagging a bit behind in the race to sub 8 (averaging around 10 flat right now) but slowly improving. 5BLD on the other hand is giving me more joy and I'm getting around 25 with still very slow execution (around 12) so there's margin in there.

Will attempt 6BLD or 2-5BLD relay on saturday or sunday (maybe both) I will probably film it. will tell you how it goes.