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makssl6911

Member
Joined
Apr 19, 2013
Messages
87
Location
Oslo, Norway
Depends on how fast you are. If you are somewhere over 25 sec on a 3x3 i'd recommend finding fast+easy ways to insert akward pairs, and learning to solve&insert pairs without looking. If you are 25-30 seconds or less, i'd recommend trying to solve pairs slowly&looking for the next pair. Also, not necessary to post a thread about this, as there is many already.
 

dancran

Member
Joined
Aug 17, 2011
Messages
15
Hi everyone, been a while since I have posted on here. Coming to ask a question about a specific F2L case and hope to learn a more efficient way of solving it. As background, I am roughly a 30 sec solver. Most averages are in the range of 28-31. Using full PLL, mainly 2 step OLL (know a couple dot algorithms), and F2L obviously.

For simplicity lets say I am solving for the white face and have already completed the cross. Again for simplicity lets say I am solving for the red - green pairing.

The case I am looking to improve is the following: The Red-Green-White corner is in the top face (yellow) with the White facing up ----- The Red-Green edge piece is in the middle layer - let's say in the Red-Blue edge location --- But the Red-Green-White corner piece is NOT directly above the Red-Green edge piece.

The problem I have is that I always have to do an U, U2, U' depending on the corner location to move the corner it over top of the edge piece in order to determine whether or not the edge piece needs to be flipped to pair with the corner or if the corner pairs with the edge piece. I always feel like I waste time testing this each time rather than being able to recognize it initially.

Is there a shortcut/tip you use to figure out if the pieces will match or need to be flipped without lining the two together initially? For instance in the case when the pieces don't match AFTER I rotate the U face to place them overtop of eachother for evaluation, my move to place the piece is (assuming I'm holding the cube such that two pieces are in the bottom right): U R U R' (U or U2 or U') then insertion.

the U seperates the stacked piece
the R brings the edge piece to top
the U moves the edge piece out of the "work area"
the R' resets the white layer
the (U or U2 or U') is to line up the edge piece color
then a normal insertion by pairing the edge and corner properly followed by inserting the edge.

I know there is significant room for improvement here, but try to keep it somewhat basic for me :D

Hopefully this is readable and makes sense...
 

MadFurai

Member
Joined
May 2, 2013
Messages
13
@dancran - Your description made sense to me. I'm also interested in any tips related to this.... Thanks.
 

MWilson

Member
Joined
Mar 19, 2011
Messages
288
So the case is when the edge is in a slot and the corner in on U with the D sticker facing up. I guess that's many cases because the edge can be oriented in different ways and be in any of the four slots. It's a scenario more than a case really. Personally I just see what "case" it is from experience and don't think about it. I never used any tricks, just kept practicing. When you encounter that scenario don't resort to placing the corner above the edge right away, just look at them and try to predict and visualize the corner above the edge, then check. You'll get better.
 

Username

Member
Joined
Dec 15, 2012
Messages
3,418
Location
Finland
WCA
2013JOKI01
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I'll do a few F2L written examples, could someone give me tips?

1) R D2 F2 L' B2 L' B2 R' F2 L' F2 U' L2 D' F L' R B' R2 D' F

x2 y' U' R B' F R2 L u' L u //X-CROSS
U' R' U R L' U L //PAIR 2
y U R' U2 R U R' U2 R //PAIR 3
U' R U' R' U R U' R' // PAIR 4
LL however you wish


2) R2 D L2 R2 D' B2 U B2 U L2 D L U B' L B' F L2 D F U2

z2
D M' U2 x' D2 //CROSS
L' U' L R' U' R //PAIR 1
y L' U2 L y R' U' R //PAIR 2
U' L U' L' U' L U2 L' //PAIR 3
y' R' U R U y R U R' //PAIR 4
LL however you want


3) U' L2 D F' L2 D B2 L' B' R2 B2 D F2 L2 U' F2 U2 L2 B2 U'

x2 y
D R' D L' D //CROSS
U y R U' R2 U R // PAIR 1
y L' U' L U2 y' L' U' L //PAIR 2
L U' L' U2 y R' U' R //PAIR 3
U2 L' U2 L U L' U' L //PAIR 4


4) F' B2 L B' U D' F2 L D2 F' U2 B2 U B2 L2 U' B2 D' F2 R2 U'

y'
U L F' U y r U' R' U' R2 //CROSS
U' L' U2 L U L' U' L //PAIR 1
R U2 R' U R U' R' //PAIR 2
y U R' U' R2 U R' U R U' R' //PAIR 3
R2 U2 R U R U R2 //PAIR 4



5) D2 F2 R2 D' F2 L2 D2 U' L2 B2 U2 F' D' F2 L R' B' D' U2 L R2


x2 R2 D F L' U L' B2 D2 //CROSS
U' R U2 R' U2 R U' R' //PAIR 1
U2 L' U' L2 U2 L' // PAIR 2
U2 L' U2 L U L' U2 L //PAIR 3
y U' R U2 R' U R U R' // PAIR 4

Tips?
 
Last edited:

sixttynine

Member
Joined
Jun 24, 2013
Messages
1
How can I make my f2l solves faster?

My average for speed solving is about sub 30. I want to get faster but my f2l solving is really slowing me down.
Solving steps:
- cross ( 2 seconds)
- f2l (almost 20 seconds)
- oll & pll (about 7 seconds)
I've been practicing a lot but my times get slower :fp
I use intuitive f2l btw
 

crazycubes

Member
Joined
May 19, 2013
Messages
58
I have been using f2l dor around 2-3 weeks and it has helped me a lot to inmprove my timings. Anyway, many people advise turning slowly with lookahead than turning fast with pauses. look ahead means looking for other pieces while solving/ inserting another peice, am i right? So how do i view pieces at the back of the piece while solving it? i rotate the cube around for lookahead. Am i doing right or is there other way for an efficient lookahead?
 

sneaklyfox

Member
Joined
Apr 10, 2012
Messages
2,846
Location
Ottawa, Canada
WCA
2013HUNG01
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I have been using f2l dor around 2-3 weeks and it has helped me a lot to inmprove my timings. Anyway, many people advise turning slowly with lookahead than turning fast with pauses. look ahead means looking for other pieces while solving/ inserting another peice, am i right? So how do i view pieces at the back of the piece while solving it? i rotate the cube around for lookahead. Am i doing right or is there other way for an efficient lookahead?

Start tracking the pieces for the next pair while you are starting the moves for the current pair. If this is too hard, just try to track either the corner or the edge piece while doing the current pair.
 

crazycubes

Member
Joined
May 19, 2013
Messages
58
Yeah I can track a single piece but then there is still a brief pause as i search for the orther piece. So i will try to track both .
Thanks anyway:)
 

Nilsibert

Member
Joined
May 25, 2013
Messages
422
Location
Switzerland
WCA
2014FREY01
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F2L cases/lookahead problem

I have a problem with F2L which keeps me from getting better:

I started practicing look ahead some time ago, going slow and with a steady pace to be able to look ahead into my next F2L pair.
My problem now is that I'm still not able to blindly solve every F2L case from any angle. Most, but not all. The biggest problem is that there are so many cases, and not always is a pair on top or in an easy place to pair up. Sometimes it's even impossible for me to find an edge because it's stuck in the back somewhere. Of course, being able to look ahead would reduce that issue. There have been times in which I gave up on a solve because I just couldn't find anything in like 8 seconds!
Or sometimes an easy 3move insert is on the top, but I won't recognize it because I never expect that to happen.

I've heard people say to master F2L before starting to learn look ahead, which makes sense when I hear it. In practice though, I have no idea how I should go about learning all the F2L cases. It's not like OLL/PLL which are a set of algorithms and the cases can be easily set up, or will be set up after doing the alg enough times. Most of the cases I learned intuitively, with a few shortcut exceptions.

Another thing is that when I turn slow, my lookahead is actually worse than when I turn faster, however when I turn faster, I don't have time to recognize the case I'll have with the pieces I was tracking. So naturally I'll still pause. Going slow makes my lookahead worse which doesn't help either.

I also can't get consistent solving times. In about 100 solves I'll get 2-4 17-19s solves, most of the time though, it ranges from 21 up to over 30(!) It's not like I'm timing all the time either, I often do slow solves with or without look ahead.


So I guess if you're still reading, my question would be; what in the world should I practice and how? Should I leave lookahead be and focus on F2L cases and efficiency, and working on avoiding cube rotations(another bad habit of me)? If so, how? How did you do it? Just do millions of casual solves? Or should I still work on lookahead, including avoiding rotations, and I'll master the F2L cases eventually this way?
I've been stuck on these times for quite a while now, and I just won't get better, so I hope you have some tips for me, maybe from your own experience, and how you did it?

Thanks and cheers

Nils
 

aceofspades98

Member
Joined
Mar 17, 2013
Messages
228
Location
Lakewood, Colorado
WCA
2013REYN01
You can turn every single face, which can allow for more optimal solutions. For that case, I would rotate the cube and do R U R'. Also, try posting similar questions in the one answer question thread next time.
 

aceofspades98

Member
Joined
Mar 17, 2013
Messages
228
Location
Lakewood, Colorado
WCA
2013REYN01
Hi aceofspades98, how do you practice to get that speed in a very short time? I cubing since February 2013 but now I'm just on 20s.
Could you give me some tips of you?
I did a ton of slow solves during school and throughout the day. I also have been doing averages of 100 almost everyday since around May. I also have no social life and I learned full CFOP very early on.
 

Anilt

Member
Joined
Jul 30, 2013
Messages
3
Practice not helping F2L

I want to achieve sub 20 in cfop, before competition I have in one month, and I know i have to work on my f2l so i have been practicing it for 6-8 hours a day for the last 5 days straight but no matter how much I practice, my cross + f2l time is STILL at around 16 seconds :fp, making it almost impossible to achieve sub 20. And everywhere I look on how to get faster at f2l, people say to slow down and look ahead, which I have been doing but it doesn't help me still! I use a metronome and can achieve around 150 bpm without missing a beat, and if I go much higher I start missing beats, but if I stay the same my f2l is still around 16 seconds! Any Tips?
 
Joined
Jul 31, 2013
Messages
52
Location
USA
F2L Help

How many cube rotations should you do in order to complete F2L? How long should the cross and F2L take? How long does it usually take to get use to "look ahead" and get use to F2L? Whats a quick way to memorize all the cases and algorithms? Thanks! Hope to see some answers!
 
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