Older cubers discussions

I figured it out myself. I used a similar approach to yours. I stuck with it until I had a reliable system that could always solve it (no matter how bad), then learned a real method after that.

I bought a megaminx and a square-1 at the same time and attempted to solve both for our weekly competition here that I now help run. In the weekly competition statistics you can find my first megaminx solve - it's some ridiculous number of hours long. That's actually how long it took me to get it the first time.

For square-1 I tried the same thing, but unfortunately it took more tham a week, so I couldn't submit an official result. By rescrambling it after parity I got through it in about 2 weeks.

I eventually even worked out a parity fix by trial and error. As I recall my parity fix was around 80 moves long.

It was fun, and I'm really glad I did it that way. Good luck to you - it's so gratifyiing when you finally beat it!
 
Logiqx said:
Some of you may remember that quite some time back I said I wanted to try to solve the Square-1 without watching a tutorial or reading a guide.

Reason: I don't want to learn a speed solving method until I've figured out a basic method by myself. I've previously figured out Clock, Pyra, Skewb and Mega but I always felt that Square-1 would be a lot harder. Well, I attempted it today and it's been driving me insane!

My approach is as follows - 1) cube shape (combination of intuition / trial and error). 2) corners into respective layers (easy). 3) edges into respective layers (creating an alg drove me absolutely potty whilst I was watching The Hateful Eight this evening). 4) corner permutation (creating algs was relatively easy). 5) edge permutation (yet to tackle), 6) E-layer (trivial). Parity is the last thing that I'll tackle so until then, I'll just be re-scrambling!

The photos show my final attempt tonight in which edge permutation just happened to be solved after corner permutation. I'll keep beating my head against the wall tomorrow and hopeful discover something that behaves like a U-Perm. I'm feeling like I made decent progress today and now I know what parity means on Square-1!

Has anyone else attempted this infuriating puzzle without a tutorial?

View attachment 9276
Click to expand...
I tried and sort of figured it out too... but measured my times in days, rather than minutes or even hours. The last time I touched it, I set it down mid-solve... and there it remains. In the cube-shape but nothing else really solved. I keep telling myself that I’ll figure it out again to get it to a solved state—or be willing to endeavour endless hours to get lucky and solve it.
 
Logiqx said:
Some of you may remember that quite some time back I said I wanted to try to solve the Square-1 without watching a tutorial or reading a guide.

Reason: I don't want to learn a speed solving method until I've figured out a basic method by myself. I've previously figured out Clock, Pyra, Skewb and Mega but I always felt that Square-1 would be a lot harder. Well, I attempted it today and it's been driving me insane!

My approach is as follows - 1) cube shape (combination of intuition / trial and error). 2) corners into respective layers (easy). 3) edges into respective layers (creating an alg drove me absolutely potty whilst I was watching The Hateful Eight this evening). 4) corner permutation (creating algs was relatively easy). 5) edge permutation (yet to tackle), 6) E-layer (trivial). Parity is the last thing that I'll tackle so until then, I'll just be re-scrambling!

The photos show my final attempt tonight in which edge permutation just happened to be solved after corner permutation. I'll keep beating my head against the wall tomorrow and hopeful discover something that behaves like a U-Perm. I'm feeling like I made decent progress today and now I know what parity means on Square-1!

Has anyone else attempted this infuriating puzzle without a tutorial?

View attachment 9276
Click to expand...

Well done and good luck @Logiqx i am astounded you are doing this. It makes me realise how I ungenius-like I really am. I have a panic attack just looking at that thing :)
 
Question: What 7x7 hardware do those of you that do 7x7 use?

I’ve realised—especially with the new Shadow 6x6–that hardware makes a real difference for me. I recently got the Shadow 6x6 and it has make the world of difference when it comes to working bigger cubes. Similar experience when I updated my 5x5. I am full proponent of magnets in bigger cubes too. My problem has always been the middle layers slide around and make turning a real challenge—always felt like I was “squaring” off my cube before making new turns. With magnets, however, I have come to enjoy the larger cubes. Not enough to get full into it for speed, but enough to solve them for enjoyment.

I have been looking for the Hays 7x7, but can’t find it anywhere or it’s listed under a different name and I just don’t know. I don’t mind spending a decent amount to get a nice magnetic 7x7, but I’m only doing it once, so want to be sure I get a good cube and don’t waste my money.
 
SpartanSailor said:
Question: What 7x7 hardware do those of you that do 7x7 use?

I’ve realised—especially with the new Shadow 6x6–that hardware makes a real difference for me. I recently got the Shadow 6x6 and it has make the world of difference when it comes to working bigger cubes. Similar experience when I updated my 5x5. I am full proponent of magnets in bigger cubes too. My problem has always been the middle layers slide around and make turning a real challenge—always felt like I was “squaring” off my cube before making new turns. With magnets, however, I have come to enjoy the larger cubes. Not enough to get full into it for speed, but enough to solve them for enjoyment.

I have been looking for the Hays 7x7, but can’t find it anywhere or it’s listed under a different name and I just don’t know. I don’t mind spending a decent amount to get a nice magnetic 7x7, but I’m only doing it once, so want to be sure I get a good cube and don’t waste my money.
Click to expand...

This link might help you.

http://www.rubiksplace.com/buy-a-rubiks-cube/best-7x7-speedcubes/
 
Hi all,

MY F2L VIDEO!

I thought I’d record myself solving so I may ask for your feedback please.

(actually, talking to the camera really helped).

This isn’t for speed -that will be obvious :) but instead I recorded myself to ask you guys to gauge how well I am executing the method with the aim to give myself confidence that I am not picking up bad habits or putting anything in the way of me speeding up.

It’s 8 minutes of me sat in my garden...

Upside down cross (2:00)
F2L (5:00)
Yellow (OLL?) (40s)
Last layer (PLL?) (1:00)

Go easy on me :)

I would be ecstatic to be told “just carry on with that method”.

My own notes:
1. Insertion of the cross edges when they’re at the top is probably long-winded.
2. Do I need to be able to solve F2L pairs without rotating the cube.
3. I need to practise, practise, practise.

Thanks for your time (and patience!!).


PS: Feedback from anyone would be great, but I hope @Old Tom enjoys it because you’ve been so good to me typing out moves. So I kept to my promise of making my reply as painless as possible, and put your theory into a video! It required a Heath Robinson style use of a selfie-stick with my iPhone in, the stick wedged into my chair with a trainer (sneaker) to hold it in place! Then positioning myself awkwardly behind the stick!! I just used the iPhone camera app and then uploaded using the iPhone YouTube app).

Enjoy!
 
40yearstosolve said:
Hi all,

MY F2L VIDEO!

I thought I’d record myself solving so I may ask for your feedback please.

(actually, talking to the camera really helped).

This isn’t for speed -that will be obvious :) but instead I recorded myself to ask you guys to gauge how well I am executing the method with the aim to give myself confidence that I am not picking up bad habits or putting anything in the way of me speeding up.

It’s 8 minutes of me sat in my garden...

Upside down cross (2:00)
F2L (5:00)
Yellow (OLL?) (40s)
Last layer (PLL?) (1:00)

Go easy on me :)

I would be ecstatic to be told “just carry on with that method”.

My own notes:
1. Insertion of the cross edges when they’re at the top is probably long-winded.
2. Do I need to be able to solve F2L pairs without rotating the cube.
3. I need to practise, practise, practise.

Thanks for your time (and patience!!).


PS: Feedback from anyone would be great, but I hope @Old Tom enjoys it because you’ve been so good to me typing out moves. So I kept to my promise of making my reply as painless as possible, and put your theory into a video! It required a Heath Robinson style use of a selfie-stick with my iPhone in, the stick wedged into my chair with a trainer (sneaker) to hold it in place! Then positioning myself awkwardly behind the stick!! I just used the iPhone camera app and then uploaded using the iPhone YouTube app).

Enjoy!
Click to expand...
Will be happy to comment, however (1) I am currently at a cottage on a small island on the Chesapeake Bay. Beautiful place, beautiful company, but terrible WiFi. Too slow to play videos. (2) If there's any audio with the video, will be lost to me, I'm deaf. That won't stop me though, never has. (3) Like you, I'm new at F2L, tjough maybe more comfortable with it than you (because more forgiving of myself). Comments by others might be more helpful. But again, won't stop me.

Not planning to set foot off the island for a couple of days! Will be sure to look at the video then.

(For those familiar with the area, this is little Gwynn's Island, Mathews County, Va., USA.)
 
Old Tom said:
Will be happy to comment, however (1) I am currently at a cottage on a small island on the Chesapeake Bay. Beautiful place, beautiful company, but terrible WiFi. Too slow to play videos. (2) If there's any audio with the video, will be lost to me, I'm deaf. That won't stop me though, never has. (3) Like you, I'm new at F2L, tjough maybe more comfortable with it than you (because more forgiving of myself). Comments by others might be more helpful. But again, won't stop me.

Not planning to set foot off the island for a couple of days! Will be sure to look at the video then.

(For those familiar with the area, this is little Gwynn's Island, Mathews County, Va., USA.)
Click to expand...

Hey Tom, put your phone down and I’ll wait for your comments in a couple of days. I’ll be sure to Google Earth that place, have a fab time :)
 
SpartanSailor said:
Question: What 7x7 hardware do those of you that do 7x7 use?

I’ve realised—especially with the new Shadow 6x6–that hardware makes a real difference for me. I recently got the Shadow 6x6 and it has make the world of difference when it comes to working bigger cubes. Similar experience when I updated my 5x5. I am full proponent of magnets in bigger cubes too. My problem has always been the middle layers slide around and make turning a real challenge—always felt like I was “squaring” off my cube before making new turns. With magnets, however, I have come to enjoy the larger cubes. Not enough to get full into it for speed, but enough to solve them for enjoyment.

I have been looking for the Hays 7x7, but can’t find it anywhere or it’s listed under a different name and I just don’t know. I don’t mind spending a decent amount to get a nice magnetic 7x7, but I’m only doing it once, so want to be sure I get a good cube and don’t waste my money.
Click to expand...

I believe I've heard that the Hays 7 has been delayed, no word on a new release date. I use a Qiyi Wuji that I magnetized, and it's not perfect, but I can tell that the cube won't be my limiting factor until I drop from my current low-7:00 average to at least mid-5:00. I'm sure if I were really dedicated it could serve me well into sub-4:00.
 
40yearstosolve said:
Hi all,

MY F2L VIDEO!

I thought I’d record myself solving so I may ask for your feedback please.

(actually, talking to the camera really helped).

This isn’t for speed -that will be obvious :) but instead I recorded myself to ask you guys to gauge how well I am executing the method with the aim to give myself confidence that I am not picking up bad habits or putting anything in the way of me speeding up.

It’s 8 minutes of me sat in my garden...

Upside down cross (2:00)
F2L (5:00)
Yellow (OLL?) (40s)
Last layer (PLL?) (1:00)

Go easy on me :)

I would be ecstatic to be told “just carry on with that method”.

My own notes:
1. Insertion of the cross edges when they’re at the top is probably long-winded.
2. Do I need to be able to solve F2L pairs without rotating the cube.
3. I need to practise, practise, practise.

Thanks for your time (and patience!!).


PS: Feedback from anyone would be great, but I hope @Old Tom enjoys it because you’ve been so good to me typing out moves. So I kept to my promise of making my reply as painless as possible, and put your theory into a video! It required a Heath Robinson style use of a selfie-stick with my iPhone in, the stick wedged into my chair with a trainer (sneaker) to hold it in place! Then positioning myself awkwardly behind the stick!! I just used the iPhone camera app and then uploaded using the iPhone YouTube app).

Enjoy!
Click to expand...
I'd recommend you also post the scramble you are solving, that way it is easier to give suggestions, especially for the cross.

Solving the cross one edge at a time is very slow. Solving them into the slot where they are supposed to end up is even slower. Remember that you can move around the D layer to bring the slot to the piece, instead of always bringing the piece to the slot. For example, when you had red and orange solved, you had both green and blue badly oriented at the bottom. They are supposed to go opposite to each other. At 1:41 in the video, with green cross edge facing towards you, you could have lifted both green and blue to opposite sides with F and B, then do a D move to put bottom layer in correct position relative to blue and green, insert blue and green with R and L, then D' to align all edges correctly with the centers.

Here's how I might have solved that cross:

Yellow top, green front:
B R F L F' D' R2

Breaking it down:
B R - solves green cross edge on orange face and moves orange cross piece out of the F layer
F L - solves blue cross edge opposite to green cross piece
F' - solves red cross edge into correct slot in relation to green and blue
D' - moves green, red and blue into their correct positions
R2 - solves orange cross edge

First F2L pair, you don't need to bring the slot to the piece like that. With orange facing towards you, you can align the pieces correctly in relation to each other immediately with R' U R (like you do later), then do a U2 to move corner to the slot where it is supposed to go and insert into back left with L U L'. Inserting into the back slots should always be preferred, because that helps look ahead. The solved corner is immediately out of the way at the back and you have more unsolved pieces in front of you instead of at the back of the cube.

Second F2L pair, note that you could pair them up immediately with a U move. Then L' U L to move them together out of the L layer, rotate cube 90 degrees clockwise and again insert into back slot with L U2 L'.

3rd F2L pair, 5:30, it is no problem to hide the corner piece when taking out the edge. Any piece you hide will be brought back to the U layer when you fix the cross. R' U' R hides corner, takes out edge, then brings corner back to U layer.

5:54, you have green and orange already paired up, could be inserted immediately with L' U L. Obviously this changes the blue orange case, but that's no problem. It actually sets up another easy 2 gen case, R U2 R' U2 R U' R'. Later, at 6:00, when you have paired up orange and blue, green and orange are in correct position to immediately be solved with L' U' L, without breaking up the blue orange corner. This is basically look what look ahead is about. Once you get used to performing the moves you are doing, you should be looking for the last pair, in this case green/orange, while solving blue/orange. Then you can notice shortcuts like this. But no worries, I know it can take a while to get there. :)

Edit: I should add that you have clearly understood the instructions correctly and are doing everything right according to the introduction videos. No problem there. :) My comments were mainly about how to take it to the next level.
 
Last edited:
JanW said:
I'd recommend you also post the scramble you are solving, that way it is easier to give suggestions, especially for the cross.

Solving the cross one edge at a time is very slow. Solving them into the slot where they are supposed to end up is even slower. Remember that you can move around the D layer to bring the slot to the piece, instead of always bringing the piece to the slot. For example, when you had red and orange solved, you had both green and blue badly oriented at the bottom. They are supposed to go opposite to each other. At 1:41 in the video, with green cross edge facing towards you, you could have lifted both green and blue to opposite sides with F and B, then do a D move to put bottom layer in correct position relative to blue and green, insert blue and green with R and L, then D' to align all edges correctly with the centers.

Here's how I might have solved that cross:

Yellow top, green front:
B R F L F' D' R2

Breaking it down:
B R - solves green cross edge on orange face and moves orange cross piece out of the F layer
F L - solves blue cross edge opposite to green cross piece
F' - solves red cross edge into correct slot in relation to green and blue
D' - moves green, red and blue into their correct positions
R2 - solves orange cross edge

First F2L pair, you don't need to bring the slot to the piece like that. With orange facing towards you, you can align the pieces correctly in relation to each other immediately with R' U R (like you do later), then do a U2 to move corner to the slot where it is supposed to go and insert into back left with L U L'. Inserting into the back slots should always be preferred, because that helps look ahead. The solved corner is immediately out of the way at the back and you have more unsolved pieces in front of you instead of at the back of the cube.

Second F2L pair, note that you could pair them up immediately with a U move. Then L' U L to move them together out of the L layer, rotate cube 90 degrees clockwise and again insert into back slot with L U2 L'.

3rd F2L pair, 5:30, it is no problem to hide the corner piece when taking out the edge. Any piece you hide will be brought back to the U layer when you fix the cross. R' U' R hides corner, takes out edge, then brings corner back to U layer.

5:54, you have green and orange already paired up, could be inserted immediately with L' U L. Obviously this changes the blue orange case, but that's no problem. It actually sets up another easy 2 gen case, R U2 R' U2 R U' R'. Later, at 6:00, when you have paired up orange and blue, green and orange are in correct position to immediately be solved with L' U' L, without breaking up the blue orange corner. This is basically look what look ahead is about. Once you get used to performing the moves you are doing, you should be looking for the last pair, in this case green/orange, while solving blue/orange. Then you can notice shortcuts like this. But no worries, I know it can take a while to get there. :)

Edit: I should add that you have clearly understood the instructions correctly and are doing everything right according to the introduction videos. No problem there. :) My comments were mainly about how to take it to the next level.
Click to expand...

Ha consider my mind blown :)

Thanks Jan so much for that detailed feedback, amazing cheers.

And a realisation that the cube is 3 dimensional :-D (ie: the cross I can move white in orientation to the cube, or move the white in orientation to the edges. And also F2L I can move the U layer towards the edge if it's in a slot to immediately bring them together --I hadn't even considered doing that!!).

Oh, and thank you Jan for the last 'Edit' comment, I needed that at the end hahahaha.

Ok, so I am sat here scanning through my video and reading your comments, let's see if any stick!
 
One Wheel said:
I believe I've heard that the Hays 7 has been delayed, no word on a new release date. I use a Qiyi Wuji that I magnetized, and it's not perfect, but I can tell that the cube won't be my limiting factor until I drop from my current low-7:00 average to at least mid-5:00. I'm sure if I were really dedicated it could serve me well into sub-4:00.
Click to expand...
Definitely I’m not limited by hardware with my 20min 7x7 solves. But I like the feel of my new Shadow 6x6 and would actually solve my 7x7 more frequently than bi-annually if it wasn’t so unpleasant to turn....

My middle layers slip out of alignment all the time and results is very frustrating turns when I go from U turns to R or L turns (90degree shift of turn direction).
 
Logiqx said:
Some of you may remember that quite some time back I said I wanted to try to solve the Square-1 without watching a tutorial or reading a guide.
Click to expand...

It's been sitting in a draw unsolved since X-Mas 2016 but my Square-1 is finally back to the solved state.

I have to say that overall it was probably more frustrating than fun figuring out my own method but I'm glad that I persevered.

I've done it more than once so I think I can say that I really do have a method!

20180704_154003.jpg
20180704_154010.jpg
 
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