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Older cubers discussions

I got my first magnetic cube GTS2M recently and it's awesome, I'm seriously tempted to try a magnetic 4x4 but they're pricy.

Yesterday I got my first 5x5 (WuShuang). Haven't gotten to far with learning it yet but it seems like the centers are going to be a bit grueling. With it came my first Square-1 which is delightful and quite different. What are some other good puzzles similar to this? I'll probably get a crazy windmill in my next order but while that changes shape, there are no different steps for solving it, it gets un-bumpy just by solving it as a normal 3x3 whereas the Square-1 has totally different algorithms for shape and the normal orientation/permutation.
 
Selkie said:
My pleasure mate, you have been one of the most influential cubers for me over the years. Hope you are keeping well? Shame won't see you at London open but perhaps maybe later this year :)
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That's a smile I won't wipe off for a while :) Yeah I'm doing alright cheers, yourself? Studying again and doing my best to stay on-topic, never an easy task :P You'll definitely see me later this year, I just need some system that notifies me of local competition reg opening as I don't much browse here any more...
 
newtonbase said:
Have a look here if you get stuck but I recommend you use it to get an idea how to do it intuitively rather than learn algs. Centres are the most fun bit of 5x5.
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OK, so it wasn't so bad after all. I was able to complete all six centers intuitively with just a couple of bumps along the way. Probably it will take a few more repetitions to feel like I have the hang of it. Maybe I was just worn out last night after wrestling with the Square-1 for a couple hours :)

Anyway, edge pairing is my favorite part of 4x4 so I'm about to look at a 5x5 edge tutorial. If I can get to where I'm pretty comfortable with this then I may need to pick up a 6x6 in my next order :)

Edit: OK, so the edges turn out to be very similar to 4x4 edges and I had no trouble with them until I got to the single flipped edge parity case at the end. I tried an alg I found online to fix it but must have messed it up because it broke various stuff. Re-did my edges and there was no parity this time so I completed the rest of the solve without issues. Will keep practicing...
 
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I don't generally post PBs, but I found this one interesting. I finally magnetized a Yuxin Blue today, to complete 3-6 magnetic mains (3x3 main is somewhat fluid between the Yulong M and Yuexiao). Promptly smashed my PB Ao12 with 1:40.93 -- 1:44.62, 1:41.53, (1:59.64), 1:42.86, 1:39.90, 1:35.33, (1:29.89), 1:42.82, 1:42.47, 1:45.17, 1:37.70, 1:36.86

The interesting part is that I'm getting significantly more consistent times with the magnets. For comparison, non-magnetic PB Ao12: 1:42.69 -- 1:36.26, 1:28.10, 2:00.38, (1:24.36), 1:45.99, 1:47.87, 1:45.95, 1:47.90, (2:05.15), 1:35.60, 1:42.52, 1:36.31

My magnetic PB single is still about 9 seconds off my all time best, and Ao5 still has about a 2.5 second gap. I know those times are not competitive, and hardware shouldn't make that much difference at my level, but it really does. And most importantly, it's just fun to work with a really nice cube.
 
@One Wheel hardware always makes a difference, whatever your level you will be always a bit faster with a much better cube. That's why I hate the concept of a "beginner" cube. It's more a question of how much money you want to (or can) spend that a question of a cube being best suited to someone slower / faster. And then, of course, it's the cuber who makes the real difference. That's why Feliks with a Rubiks is still faster than me with the best cube available. :)

Today my practice time was just 3 7x7 solves. Two warm-up at around 11 minutes and then a new PB single (by more than a minute) at 9:31.xx. I wonder for how long I can keep beating my PB single every time I get my 7x7 out for a 3-4 solve session. For now it's like 1 minute faster or so every time, all the way down from my first ever recorded PB (20:35.xx) not more than 1 year ago. In total probably not more than 20-25 solves. It's the event that improves just because of the smaller cubes.
 
One Wheel said:
There we go! 1:19.69 PB single, at the end of 1:31.68 PB Ao5. PB Ao12 was a few solves earlier at 1:38.53. Rolling Ao50 and Ao100 stand at 1:45.84 and 1:46.29 respectively.
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These are 3x3 times? You and I are right about the same. How long have you been solving? It's been 3 weeks for me and other than a really lucky scramble which gave me a 54.66 (I solved the top cross and they were already lined up correctly, then flipped the corners and was also able to skip the permutation step as well) I'm averaging about 1:30 right now.

It's fun to see progression isn't it?
 
NewbieCuber said:
These are 3x3 times? You and I are right about the same. How long have you been solving? It's been 3 weeks for me and other than a really lucky scramble which gave me a 54.66 (I solved the top cross and they were already lined up correctly, then flipped the corners and was also able to skip the permutation step as well) I'm averaging about 1:30 right now.

It's fun to see progression isn't it?
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Yes, it is fun to see progression, but those are actually 4x4 times. I got my first 4x4 almost 2 years ago now, and I have a long-term goal of actually getting fast enough to set an official average. When I started working on 4x4 semi-seriously I think I was running about 50 seconds on 3x3 and 3:30-3:45 on 4x4. I now average roughly 30-35 seconds on 3x3.
 
Is the Qiyi rainbow a good 4x4 for the price? Please only answer if you have used this cube, or can recommend another one that's a good quality cube for the price.

The seller says this is the Qi Yuan model 4x4.
 
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One Wheel said:
Yes, it is fun to see progression, but those are actually 4x4 times. I got my first 4x4 almost 2 years ago now, and I have a long-term goal of actually getting fast enough to set an official average. When I started working on 4x4 semi-seriously I think I was running about 50 seconds on 3x3 and 3:30-3:45 on 4x4. I now average roughly 30-35 seconds on 3x3.
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Wow, so your 4x4 times are as fast as my 3x3!? Great job. Someday I'll hit 30-35 on a 3x3. But shaving an entire minute off my current time is a big task . ;)
 
Hello oldies! Haven't posted in a while as my cubing time again has decreased significantly. I've barely touched the 3x3 the last few weeks and as a result I notice I'm already forgetting some OLL algs. Hopefully I'll have more time for cubing later in the summer.

I have been lurking the thread and last week someone mentioned something about 3-2-3 for 4x4 edges. That made me realize I've been an idiot solving them one by one, as it can be done so much faster. Inspired by this I also learned a better OLL parity alg and have been playing with the 4x4 a bit. Today I did some timed solves and cut 30+ seconds of all pbs. Single improved the most with a lucky solve to 1:19.81. Ao5 is 1:57 and Ao12 2:03. I still haven't even done 50 timed solves in my lifetime, so no bigger averages available.
 
JanW said:
I've barely touched the 3x3 the last few weeks and as a result I notice I'm already forgetting some OLL algs.
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I had the same thing happen, even had to brush-up a few PLLs to my surprise. A couple days later I was suddenly about 3 seconds faster than before the hiatus... when your lookahead is so slow that you improve by not solving :D.

I'm about back to my pre-hiatus OLL status now. I was up to 26 but then ditched practicing several when I came back, with a looming comp at the time. I've brushed up on those again and have added the 4 COLL H cases as well (yeah, I'm cherry picking some COLLs before I"m even half done with OLL). I'm about to enter another busy several weeks; this time I'll still carve out enough time to practice my weakest algs with the limited practice time.
 
Jason Green said:
I'm more nervous in front of friends, because I may be the best or only person they have seen do it. At comp I'm nothing compared to most of them so the crowd doesn't bother me, just nerves from wanting to do well.
Click to expand...

For me it's quite the opposite : I'm never that nervous in front of people who can't even solve a cube. At comp though, I'm surrounded by experts so it's intimidating.
 
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