[Help Thread] 3 BLD help :(

[potatoman]

So I literally created this account because I seriously needed some help; out of my entire cubing career, I've never had this much trouble on an event or puzzle.

I've just started learning blind, and it's pretty fun so far tbh. Used Noah Arthur's tutorial on corners. It wasn't as difficult as I expected it to be, and I got corner execution and memo down pretty well, to the point where I can pretty much memo and execute in around 2 minutes (which isn't too shabby for someone who just started blind imo).

The problem however, is edges. There are only 8 corners that I need to remember. For some reason, I have so much more trouble remembering the 12 edges. I tried following Noah's M2 tutorial, only to get completely and utterly confused. I attempted rewatching it around 3 times until giving up, then decided to just go the easy route and learn Old Pochmann for edges. The method is pretty easy, I got it down in around 30 minutes; just a bunch of PLLs I already know. However, I just can't seem to remember everything, and end up confusing a bunch of stuff and messing up the entire memo sequence. That's honestly the only thing keeping me away from completing my first blind solve; edge memo.

I've also got some lingering questions after watching Zane's tutorial, and was wondering if any of you guys can help me out:

-How can you tell if you'll end up with two edges flipped at the end?
-Is the only way to tell parity apart by counting the number of edge/corner swaps?
-When you end up shooting your buffer piece to its "solved" position (this applies specifically to edges; I can get corners down no problem for some reason) and need to start a new cycle, what are you supposed to do after that? This is probably the part I get tripped up on during memo the most; I get confused as to which piece I shoot to next, and then end up losing track completely. It just never seems to work out; eventually I end up going in a weird loop and everything just seems wrong.
-What's a good way to keep track of all the pieces you've completed already? That's another thing I mess up in memo; by the time I realize I'm going in loops, I've already made some stupid mistake that ends up messing everything up.

Also some miscellaneous info, although I don't think it'll be very relevant:
Normal 3x3 avg around 12-13 seconds (yes I started late), which means that I do have a relatively well understanding of how the cube works

I memo pieces using letters (learned this from Noah's video). However, due to me being stupid at the beginning and making this weird error, the way I move around the cube for corners is kinda weird and different from what most people would do.

Top face:
UBL - A
UBR - B
UFL - C
UFR - D

However for edges:

UB - A
UR - B
UF - C
UL - D

so yeah, it's weird, but it's too late to change now since I've pretty much gotten used to it at this point.

anyway, any tips at this point would help; I just can't seem to get it

 

[Daniel Lin]

-How can you tell if you'll end up with two edges flipped at the end?

during memo if you see flipped edges you need to flip them. otherwise there will be flipped edges at the end.

-Is the only way to tell parity apart by counting the number of edge/corner swaps?

yup. Not hard at all. Just count the targets and if it's odd there's parity. Just memorize in letter pairs to make it easier.

-When you end up shooting your buffer piece to its "solved" position (this applies specifically to edges; I can get corners down no problem for some reason) and need to start a new cycle, what are you supposed to do after that? This is probably the part I get tripped up on during memo the most; I get confused as to which piece I shoot to next, and then end up losing track completely. It just never seems to work out; eventually I end up going in a weird loop and everything just seems wrong.

Just shoot to any sticker that you haven't shot to yet. This will bring you into a new loop, and it ends once you get to that sticker again.

-What's a good way to keep track of all the pieces you've completed already? That's another thing I mess up in memo; by the time I realize I'm going in loops, I've already made some stupid mistake that ends up messing everything up.

I think the reason why you're going in loops is because you're shooting to pieces that you've already shot to. This problem gets bigger for 4x4 and 5x5 blindfolded, and I mess up like that too sometimes. To keep track of pieces you've memoed use your fingers and keep them on the targets. Whenever you shoot to a new cycle you need to remember the piece that you shot to, so when it comes back to it you either shoot to another cycle or you're done.

 

[h2f]

These are normal problems when you start blindfold cubing. The common answer is just "practice" and you will see how soon you will be able to memorize whole cube and to start new cycles and to know if the cube is solved or not.

 

[potatoman]

during memo if you see flipped edges you need to flip them. otherwise there will be flipped edges at the end.

So what do you exactly mean by that? So say the blue orange edge is in its correct position but oriented incorrectly, should i make that my first priority to flip that edge? Or do I remember it and just save it to the end to flip?

Also I feel as if the way I memorize the letters is really inefficient, since I assign a word to every letter and sort of make a mini story from there. Is there anyway to memorize it more efficiently/easily?

your tips were really helpful btw, I really appreciate the help

edit: i tried again and had every edge solved except for two that were flipped :|

 

[h2f]

Also I feel as if the way I memorize the letters is really inefficient, since I assign a word to every letter and sort of make a mini story from there. Is there anyway to memorize it more efficiently/easily?

More efficient way is to connect two letters in one word.

 

[JanW]

So what do you exactly mean by that? So say the blue orange edge is in its correct position but oriented incorrectly, should i make that my first priority to flip that edge? Or do I remember it and just save it to the end to flip?

Memorize it when you see it, but save it to the end to execute. Flipping one edge will flip your buffer piece as well. You cannot do that until you have solved the rest of the edges because that would change the memo.

Also I feel as if the way I memorize the letters is really inefficient, since I assign a word to every letter and sort of make a mini story from there. Is there anyway to memorize it more efficiently/easily?

Like h2f said, connect two letters in one word. This also makes it easier to see if there is parity or not.

 

[potatoman]

Okay so I've had 3 more attempts at edge memo, both taking well over 10 minutes, and every attempt ending with literally two edges in the wrong positions.

Not sure what I'm doing wrong at this point, unless it's silly mistakes. I feel like I'm using way too much brainpower to memorize too; I've seen people in videos do it effortlessly, maybe I'm going about it incorrectly :/

anyway I guess I'll keep trying (and maybe update or something if I make any progress), but thanks for the help everyone


Update: I just successfully solved all edges It was an easy scramble tho, since I was able to do everything in one cycle (probably the only reason why i was successful at all), but man that felt good.

Welp onto full blind now.

 

[h2f]

Do a lot sight solves first. It helps a lot.

 

[mark49152]

What @h2f said. One step at a time. Get comfortable with your execution method first. You can write down your memo, then execute one target at a time and watch what is happening. If you make a mistake, you'll see it.

Also I'd advise going back to M2. It's not much harder if you approach it well, and it's much more efficient. OP edges is really a waste of time.

 

[potatoman]

Holy crap I just did it! Took me around 4 hours of straight attempts, (I think I did like 15 total or something) and I'd say 70% of those attempts ended with just two edges/corners swapped/flipped (which naturally got me a bit salty after awhile).

But wow I can't believe I did it. The more I think about it, the more shocking it is; I mean, this puzzle that's confused the majority of the public for so long, and I can solve it without even looking at it. Pretty incredible.

Also I'd advise going back to M2. It's not much harder if you approach it well, and it's much more efficient. OP edges is really a waste of time.

Yeah, I think I might try out M2 now, since OP edges seem quite long and requires some serious brain power for memo. Plus, I've gotten way better at recognition and everything throughout my attempts.

anyway thanks everyone for the help, I really appreciate it

 

[h2f]

Congrats! I think the hardest part of learning of 3bld is behind you.

 

[FastCubeMaster]

I had so many problems with 3BLD and took me so long to figure them out.

Now - 3min averaging.