Older cubers discussions

[Jason Green]

Time for a summary of Paris!

The competition in London was really cool a couple of weeks ago and Paris was an amazing experience. It was great to meet so many cubers and spend time in the company of like-minded people who share the same hobby.

It was fun to work as staff alongside the likes of Ron Van Bruchem (@Ron) and Chris Hardwick (@cmhardw) on Thursday and Sunday. I also enjoyed meeting up and talking with @Brest, Jeremy Fleischman and Lucas Garron who are all cool guys.

Hanging out with the UK guys was great and it was awesome to have the likes of Alex Lau, Jayden McNeil, Sebastian + Philipp Weyer, Feliks and Mats hanging out and solving at our practice table. I witnessed Feliks getting a 2:03 PB whilst practicing 7x7x7 so maybe we'll see a sub-2 in competition some time soon!

I got to judge a bunch of people who I've only seen on YouTube - Antoine Cantin, Anthony Brooks, Chris Olson and Dana Yi to name just a few. Judging on the main stage for the 3BLD final was also a really memorable experience. I've almost lost count of the number of records that I've watched over the past week and Paris provided yet more WRs; 5x5x5 single, 6x6x6 single + average, 7x7x7 single + average, pyraminx average and nearly a new 4x4x4 average. Charlie Stark also produced an impressive ER average on Square-1.

Another cool moment was when I was judging for someone who had just got a PB single on 3x3 - 10.3 / 10.4 iirc. He told me that it was a new PB and my response was "nice... sub-10 this time?". He then banged out a 9.6s full-step solve so we did the obligatory photos of him with the cube and the comp display.

It was great to meet Raul @moralsh for the first time and it was a stroke of luck that Erno was passing at the time we were doing our oldies photo. Apologies to @David Zemdegs for rushing off before introducing you to the rest of the guys on this thread. I had to dash for the Eurostar back to the UK.

I don't think I would have gone to Paris had it not been for Billy Jeffs (@BillyRain) arranging the group travel so many thanks for your efforts! The staffing, spectating and socialising were all worth making the trip but it was also nice to compete and get PB averages in comp resembling my global averages for 3x3x3 and Pyra - 16.32 and 8.07 respectively. It was a small relief to get an average in 2x2x2 as the 6s soft cut made me a bit jittery and I locked up on the last 2 solves to produce a mediocre but acceptable 6.20 average.

Congratulations to everyone who got the times / performances that they were after in Paris and respect to @mark49152 for his 14/14 MBLD - amazing!

Chris Brooks and Dana Yi will be in my Nats video... When I get it done some day.

lol @bubbagrub... I even know how it ends and I was still holding my breath saying "nooooo, no no no!"

@bubbagrub I guess I had not seen your photo, I did not realize that was you! I commented on YouTube that your reaction cracked me up.

 

[Selkie]

@mark49152 , @bubbagrub - Awesome first attempt Mark and loved Ben's face when you picked up a solved cube at the end to review!

Bit of an update on blindfold cross training. When I started my averages of 50 I was getting a success rate of about 40/50, just got a 49/50. Practice is paying off and I can move onto my next cross training stage soon. Most of my early mistakes were not aligning the centres correctly with D/D'/D2 and particularly difficult crosses. Beginning to nail the awkward ones now. Wish I'd done this years ago.

 

[bubbagrub]

Heh! I had no idea I made such crazy facial expressions while judging... but it's certainly nice rewatching that moment and seeing Mark's great result.

Great to see so many of the regulars from this thread at the comp, including one or two I'd not met before. I also met one or two older cubers who aren't on here. I'm hoping to add Daniel Rose Levine's mum to Mike's over 40's github list.

 

[newtonbase]

More supporting evidence that over 40s speedsolvers are unicorns.

View attachment 8215

First time I saw this post I didn't even realise is was me. I think the highlight of the photo is Erno's hand gesture.

 

[Shaky Hands]

First time I saw this post I didn't even realise is was me. I think the highlight of the photo is Erno's hand gesture.

The "hand gesture" was just in the pic that Mike posted in the other place. The one here on speedsolving is better I think.

 

[Fyzzna]

Got my first sub-15 ao5 today

Spoiler

Average of 5: 14.99
1. 14.61 D2 R2 U' L2 U B2 R2 D L2 R2 U' L' B2 D L' D' L R B' L'
2. 15.89 R2 D R2 U2 B2 U L2 D F2 R U R2 U R D' F U B' U2
3. (16.54) B D B2 D2 L' B' L U2 L F' B L2 B' L2 U2 F L2 U2 B'
4. 14.46 U2 R2 U' B2 U F2 U' R2 B2 D2 F2 R F' U F' R B F L' B' U'
5. (13.67) B L2 B R2 F D2 R2 D2 R2 B D2 L F' D U' L2 B U R' D2

 

[oneshot]

Cute little story. I just got a text from my mom saying my 72 year old dad went out and bought a cube because he sees me doing it all the time and he's always wanted to learn

 

[JanW]

Interesting. Something in my brain seems to have clicked. About a month ago when I first tried experimenting with other than white crosses, I found yellow to be somewhat manageable, but the other were utterly impossible. Trying to work out how to align the pieces of the F2L pairs, or even work out which pieces were part of the F2L pairs, was a crazy brain twister. So I left it at that and didn't do any further solves with those nasty crosses.

Today I tried again and it just worked. It all made sense and I did not have to overload my brain to figure out how to form the F2L pairs. It's obviously not quite as fast as white or yellow cross, but not a total disaster either. I did an Ao50 on orange at 25.08. The 50 solves included five sub-20 singles and a couple of 17s. Overall, this is quite close to were I was with the white cross at the beginning of this year. This gives me hope that learning full color neutrality might not be that bad after all.

I already started the race to sub-20 with yellow cross today. First attempt I got a 21.4 Ao12, including a 15.xx full-step solve. A promising start!

 

[JanW]

CN adventures, vol. 2

I figure there are 3 main obstacles to overcome when aiming for CN.

-Learning to solve the cube using with any cross.
-Learning to switch between cross colors from one solve to the next without becoming all confused.
-Learning to pick the best cross, and plan it, during inspection.

The most common advice I've seen is to work on all the cross colors separately until they are fluent, then start combining colors. I'm thinking about trying something different and combining the first two steps above right from the start. Looking at all possible crosses during inspection seems a bit too hard still, at least with a 15 second limit, I'll get to that later.

The plan is to pick the cross based on the first move in the scramble. Whichever face is turned first will be my cross face. My first attempts with this technique resulted in a 23.92 Ao100. The white crosses are in there to drag the average down a bit, but there was good solves with the other crosses as well. Seems like it includes sub-20s on all crosses but blue. Sample size is too small to draw any conclusions yet, but overall I felt blue and green were the weakest.

As I pick the cross based on the first move in the scramble, it is easy to sort the times by cross color later. I'm gonna work on this until I have 1000 solves, then I can look at how well I'm performing the different crosses.

 

[JohnnyReggae]

CN adventures, vol. 2

I figure there are 3 main obstacles to overcome when aiming for CN.

-Learning to solve the cube using with any cross.
-Learning to switch between cross colors from one solve to the next without becoming all confused.
-Learning to pick the best cross, and plan it, during inspection.

The most common advice I've seen is to work on all the cross colors separately until they are fluent, then start combining colors. I'm thinking about trying something different and combining the first two steps above right from the start. Looking at all possible crosses during inspection seems a bit too hard still, at least with a 15 second limit, I'll get to that later.

The plan is to pick the cross based on the first move in the scramble. Whichever face is turned first will be my cross face. My first attempts with this technique resulted in a 23.92 Ao100. The white crosses are in there to drag the average down a bit, but there was good solves with the other crosses as well. Seems like it includes sub-20s on all crosses but blue. Sample size is too small to draw any conclusions yet, but overall I felt blue and green were the weakest.

As I pick the cross based on the first move in the scramble, it is easy to sort the times by cross color later. I'm gonna work on this until I have 1000 solves, then I can look at how well I'm performing the different crosses.

I quite like this approach. I've really been wanting to move to CN, but am afraid at the loss of time and the perceived step backwards. I've been putting in a lot of time and work lately on look-ahead and don't want to lose the momentum that I've managed over the last couple months. But in the same breath I really want to be CN ... ... I guess I'm afraid ...

 

[JohnnyReggae]

Got an new ao12 PB which happened in an ao100 I did today, first sub-15 ao12

Generated By csTimer on 2017-7-21
avg of 12: 14.86

Time List:
1. 12.94 L2 U' L2 B2 D' U2 F2 D L2 D2 B' R2 D2 R B' L2 B' F2 D L2 B
2. 13.80 R B U B' L' D F2 B2 L' F B2 U B2 R2 U' F2 R2 U2 R2 U
3. 14.41 D2 B' R' B2 D' F2 D L2 F2 L U2 F2 R' U2 B2 L' F2 L2 F
4. 14.17 F U' L B2 U L U' F2 R L F' U2 B2 D2 B R2 U2 L2 F'
5. 16.95 L2 D B' L' B2 R' F U D2 F2 D2 F D2 F2 R2 B' R2 D'
6. 16.27 U F2 U' R2 F' B D2 R' D R' U F2 D F2 L2 U2 B2 R2 F2 U'
7. (19.86) D2 U2 R2 F D2 U2 F L2 B2 R2 B' U B D L' U R' B L F L'
8. 13.92 D B' D' B' U2 D B U' R' F' D2 L2 B U2 B U2 R2 B2 U2 B'
9. 15.39 B2 R' F2 L' B2 F2 R U2 R U L B' L2 D2 L' F D' B' L2
10. (10.95) R U2 B2 D F2 U' R2 F2 L2 B2 U2 L B U2 F' L D B' F2 D2 F
11. 15.77 D2 L B' L' D2 L' B2 U B2 U2 F' D2 F R2 L2 F D'
12. 14.94 F D2 B2 L2 F L2 F2 D2 R2 B' L2 D' F' L D' B2 R B2 U' B' R'

edit: Using a new DIY magnetic stickerless Moyu GTS2

 

[Rubix Cubix]

CN adventures, vol. 2

I figure there are 3 main obstacles to overcome when aiming for CN.

-Learning to solve the cube using with any cross.
-Learning to switch between cross colors from one solve to the next without becoming all confused.
-Learning to pick the best cross, and plan it, during inspection.

The most common advice I've seen is to work on all the cross colors separately until they are fluent, then start combining colors. I'm thinking about trying something different and combining the first two steps above right from the start. Looking at all possible crosses during inspection seems a bit too hard still, at least with a 15 second limit, I'll get to that later.

The plan is to pick the cross based on the first move in the scramble. Whichever face is turned first will be my cross face. My first attempts with this technique resulted in a 23.92 Ao100. The white crosses are in there to drag the average down a bit, but there was good solves with the other crosses as well. Seems like it includes sub-20s on all crosses but blue. Sample size is too small to draw any conclusions yet, but overall I felt blue and green were the weakest.

As I pick the cross based on the first move in the scramble, it is easy to sort the times by cross color later. I'm gonna work on this until I have 1000 solves, then I can look at how well I'm performing the different crosses.

I've been colour neutral for a while now and I still sometimes spend too long looking at what cross to go for. I think the best thing is just to look at a few sides and then choose which ever one is alright instead of looking for the best cross every time

 

[Selkie]

@Johnny - Heh Brent, sub 15 Ao15 is a huge landmark, you have made some great progression recently.

@JanW - I remember saying in this thread not 2 weeks ago I was far too old to even consider changing to colour neutral. However when doing my blindfold cross practice last couple of days I have seen some very easy other crosses so I have done a bit of practice and today did an Ao12 with each colour:-

White     23.83
Yellow    23.32
Orange    23.36
Red       20.10
Green     18.98
Blue      14.73

I have to say I find white and yellow cross extremely difficult solves. I think because I solve on blue cross I am used to a strong cross colour and white and yellow just do not stand out for me. Blue obviously went well and green was closest being opposite but I was really surprised by red. I think I could become quite fast with red quite quickly and with very slow solving was almost able to pick up lookahead straight away.

I did try some CN a couple of years ago with very disappointing results. I guess a lot of concentration on megaminx has helped with recognising other F2L pairs since then.

One thing I have found it I can execute most crosses at the same speed and can always plan them whatever cross colour but have to remind myself of order of edges at the start of inspection. Though I have been using umlimted inspection time.

I might persevere with CN as part of my practice as I find that doing CN solves really concentrates look ahead and tracking as failure to do do leaves you staring blanking at a non moving cube. Whether I switch or not in the future its another task that concentrates other ways of thinking

@Logiqx - I think Gilles Roux's 3x3 average time is wrong on the rankings buddy. Seems to be 13.03 on WCA.

 

[mark49152]

My 3BLD highlights from Worlds. I still haven't made progress in breaking that table tapping habit

 

[chtiger]

My 3BLD highlights from Worlds. I still haven't made progress in breaking that table tapping habit

I don't think the judge cared that you weren't using a blindfold. You should've kept going

- I think Gilles Roux's 3x3 average time is wrong on the rankings buddy. Seems to be 13.03 on WCA.

The 13.03 was before he was 40.

 

[newtonbase]

I don't think the judge cared that you weren't using a blindfold. You should've kept going

He didn't seem to understand the problem.
I had a fear of doing exactly this going into the comp as I tend not to use a blindfold either. Luckily I didn't waste any of my DNFs.

 

[mark49152]

I don't think the judge cared that you weren't using a blindfold. You should've kept going

Yeah he noticed but not until after I'd stopped, as he was still focused on placing the sight blocker and I stopped very quickly. He certainly would have noticed if I'd kept going - he's an experienced delegate and organiser .

 

[JanW]

I have to say I find white and yellow cross extremely difficult solves. I think because I solve on blue cross I am used to a strong cross colour and white and yellow just do not stand out for me.

Interesting that being used to white cross, I find blue/green the most difficult, and being used to the blue cross, you find white/yellow most difficult. I suppose something about those colors is not quite compatible. I think colors standing out very much depends on what you're used to looking for. White stands out very well for me, yellow almost as well.

One problem with other crosses is that I don't react automatically to cross pieces being in the wrong place. A white cross piece in the U layer immediately screams at me that I messed up the cross. But with blue/green, I've sometimes completed F2L (and even OLL) before I realize I have messed up the cross. I wonder how long it will take to get over things like that..

When I first started experimenting with other crosses, PLL recognition was very slow. Seeing white and yellow colors had me confused. That's already improving quite a bit.

 

[Logiqx]

The 13.03 was before he was 40.

@Selkie - The SQL rankings calculate the competitor's age for individual results and if the age is <40 the result is excluded.

 

[Selkie]

@Selkie - The SQL rankings calculate the competitor's age for individual results and if the age is <40 the result is excluded.

Yeah thanks mate @chtiger , I'm being a numpty. Saw he had attended World's last weekend and was interested in how he did and then suddenly thought 2nd place was a lot further away than I had thought!