Blindsolving Failure Thread

Sorry for the double-post, but I have one to report:

6x6x6 BLD: DNF (43:59.68, 18:55 memorization) (first scramble in this week's competition)

Off by just 2 obliques. I had it memorized correctly, but I cycled FNW instead of FOW - I thought of O but used position N instead. :(

So close to a sub-45 solve.
 
grrrr. i tried my first multi BLD last night. the second cube was correct, the first cube was of by a H perm. gahh. it was so anoying. ah well. at least it is a positive sign that i could probably do it :D
 
5:41 DNF with 2 edges misoriented!
Never done a 3x3 BLD before.
4:49 DNF with 2 edges misoriented!!!!!

Hang in there - you're about to get one!

How many tries until your first solve?

cos im at about 10 or 15.:mad:

ZOMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

4:15 DNF with 2 edges flipped, yet to have a successful bld.
 
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How many tries until your first solve?

cos im at about 10 or 15.:mad:

ZOMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

4:15 DNF with 2 edges flipped, yet to have a successful bld.

I admit I got lucky and got one fairly early - probably my third or fourth solve. But if you've come down to just 2 edges flipped as many times as you have, you have already completely proven you can do it. It's probably just the pressure of trying to get one keeping you from it. Just relax and don't worry about it - you should get your next solve!

I wonder the same thing Tim wonders - is it possible you're making some procedural mistake? Do you understand where you went wrong? Figure out where you went wrong on each solve; it seems like you might be making one simple mistake that, when corrected, will cause you to start getting 50% of your solves with no problem.

You ARE close!
 
6x6x6 BLD: DNF (43:59.68, 18:55 memorization) (first scramble in this week's competition)

Off by just 2 obliques. I had it memorized correctly, but I cycled FNW instead of FOW - I thought of O but used position N instead. :(

Hey Mike,

First off congrats on the close solve, and fast time! I have to ask though, because I am fascinated with this phenomenon in my own solving. When you replaced the cycle FOW with FNW, is FNW an easier cycle than FOW? Meaning, is it either easier for you to visualize or faster/easier to perform than FOW? This is usually how I replace cycles, I replace harder cycles with easier ones subconsciously. Was just curious to ask, congrats again on the close solve!

Chris
 
6x6x6 BLD: DNF (43:59.68, 18:55 memorization) (first scramble in this week's competition)

Off by just 2 obliques. I had it memorized correctly, but I cycled FNW instead of FOW - I thought of O but used position N instead. :(

Hey Mike,

First off congrats on the close solve, and fast time! I have to ask though, because I am fascinated with this phenomenon in my own solving. When you replaced the cycle FOW with FNW, is FNW an easier cycle than FOW? Meaning, is it either easier for you to visualize or faster/easier to perform than FOW? This is usually how I replace cycles, I replace harder cycles with easier ones subconsciously. Was just curious to ask, congrats again on the close solve!

Chris

Yes, actually - I noticed this because I remembered you and Daniel discussing it earlier. And I made the exact same kind of mistake this morning on a 5x5x5 BLD, doing AHW instead of AHX (I was off by just 2 + centers). In both cases, the one I executed worked without a setup move, and the one I should have done required a single setup move.

It looks like I'm really starting to have your same problem. It's funny how it happens to me too!

Thanks for the congratulations - hopefully I'm sub-40 soon! I'm still taking a lot longer for the obliques than I should, both for memorization and execution, basically just because they're still somewhat unfamiliar.
 
How many tries until your first solve?

cos im at about 10 or 15.:mad:

ZOMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

4:15 DNF with 2 edges flipped, yet to have a successful bld.

I admit I got lucky and got one fairly early - probably my third or fourth solve. But if you've come down to just 2 edges flipped as many times as you have, you have already completely proven you can do it. It's probably just the pressure of trying to get one keeping you from it. Just relax and don't worry about it - you should get your next solve!

I wonder the same thing Tim wonders - is it possible you're making some procedural mistake? Do you understand where you went wrong? Figure out where you went wrong on each solve; it seems like you might be making one simple mistake that, when corrected, will cause you to start getting 50% of your solves with no problem.

You ARE close!

i think its just wrong memo.
 
3x3 BLD: 2:15.14 DNF!
Wow, I had a 57 second memo, but during the solving part, I realised that I forgot to memorise 3 more edges. I did the solve anyway and it was OK, except for those edges. It would have been my PB!
Getting better though... (My PB is 3:22.xx)
 
7x7x7 BLD: DNF (1:04:14.83, 30:39 memorization) (first scramble for this week's competition)
Off by just 2 obliques again, but this time it was because I recalled the wrong person (indicating my buffer position) - just stupid, because there were clues in there that could have told me I made that mistake. It was a recall error.

When I was finishing memorization, I realized I was faster memorizing (very slightly) than Mátyás did on his solve. So I got excited and went as fast as I could. Still a 10 minute slower solving time, but a dramatic improvement in speed from my previous attempts. I should be able to get under an hour with a few more attempts.
 
7x7x7 BLD: DNF (1:04:14.83, 30:39 memorization) (first scramble for this week's competition)
Off by just 2 obliques again, but this time it was because I recalled the wrong person (indicating my buffer position) - just stupid, because there were clues in there that could have told me I made that mistake. It was a recall error.

When I was finishing memorization, I realized I was faster memorizing (very slightly) than Mátyás did on his solve. So I got excited and went as fast as I could. Still a 10 minute slower solving time, but a dramatic improvement in speed from my previous attempts. I should be able to get under an hour with a few more attempts.

Go Mike! You'll get it soon! I want big cubes...

Anyway, I'm having a long streak of DNF's in 4x4x4BLD. About 15 or so. But it's mainly because I'm going as fast as I can on most of them. Still only one of them has been sub-5. I have to practice more and STOP USING VISUAL! :P
 
Anyway, I'm having a long streak of DNF's in 4x4x4BLD. About 15 or so. But it's mainly because I'm going as fast as I can on most of them. Still only one of them has been sub-5. I have to practice more and STOP USING VISUAL! :P

I'm sure that's really good practice! One comment - if you're currently using visual, I have my doubts whether you can really be as fast if you switch to a more secure memory system. Visual is how Rowe gets his amazingly fast times. But then, Rowe has yet to get a big cube BLD solve in competition, so it is true that more sophisticated systems seem to be better for competition security.

I think it might be possible to use a more sophisticated memory system and get sub-5, but I have a feeling it will require a lot more work; it takes a lot of practice to get fast with a sophisticated memory system.

And yeah, you NEED big cubes - I'd love to see how you'd do with the big ones. You're another one who could probably manage sub-hour right away with 7x7x7, assuming your memory held out.
 
I use images half the time, and when I do, I use some visual when there's an easy shape. So I don't think I will totally get rid of visual. Oh btw, I'm only talking about edges - for centers I always use letters and corners is sort of visual. Corners are so fast that I don't need a really good system for centers (I memo edges first and solve them last).

And the 4:42 DNF in weekly comp was done with images+visual. I guess that's a good/fast system.

I don't think I would get a successful 7x7x7 BLD anytime soon since my accuracy on 5x5x5 is so terrible. I should just make more images and get a new 5x5 (old one is broken :P)
 
I finally got a second chance to try my favorite event!

7x7x7 multiBLD: 0/2 = DNF, 2:59:49.04 (1:33:25 memorization)

The first cube was off by just 4 pieces - 2 central edges flipped and 2 inner + centers. The centrals were wrong because I just missed seeing a flipped piece when memorizing! I don't know what caused the 2 + centers to be wrong - must have been a bad commutator.

The second cube was off by 28 pieces (4 corners, 4 centrals, 17 wings, and 3 obliques), but I'm pretty positive that all of them were due to me forgetting to undo a B' setup move. So I think it was just a single mistake!

Disappointing, but it feels like I was close. And I managed to break the 3 hour barrier! My retention of memory was perfect.

I will get this someday! I have to, so I can justify buying a third 7x7x7. :) (If I'm lucky, I'll own the world's largest collection of 7x7x7's someday.)
 
I finally got a second chance to try my favorite event!

7x7x7 multiBLD: 0/2 = DNF, 2:59:49.04 (1:33:25 memorization)

Mike you're a huge source of motivation for any blindfold solver! Absolutely crazy, and congrats on the close attempt! I was especially impressed that you could memorize so quickly and recall all of it! 1:33 to memorize two cube is just insane!

Chris
 
I finally got a second chance to try my favorite event!

7x7x7 multiBLD: 0/2 = DNF, 2:59:49.04 (1:33:25 memorization)

Mike you're a huge source of motivation for any blindfold solver! Absolutely crazy, and congrats on the close attempt! I was especially impressed that you could memorize so quickly and recall all of it! 1:33 to memorize two cube is just insane!

Chris

Thanks very much, Chris!

Actually, I finished the initial memorize of the second cube at about 55 minutes. I then spent over half an hour going over the memorization and fixing the parts I had forgotten. (There were several sets of pieces that just didn't stick the first time around, and in a couple of cases, I had to retrace the entire set of pieces a second time.) So there should be room for doing substantially better, if I can get where my first pass is a little more solid than it currently is.
 
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