[Help Thread] FMC Discussion

[lerenard]

Jay once did this with a 27 in 20-25 minutes or so (?), gave up for 5 minutes, then found a 24 before the hour expired.

Did another solve and took the whole hour to find a 35-move solutions. I would have had an extra 10-15 minutes but doing the inverse scramble is weird and tricky.

How many solutions/methods do you try on a usual scramble? Is it normal for many (skilled) competitors to get the same solution for a given scramble?

 

[porkynator]

A 27 HTM corners first solve (scramble taken from here, the first one)

Scramble: L2 F' D2 L2 B' U2 R2 D2 F R2 F2 R' U' R' U2 B' D' L R2 U'
Solution: U B2 F2 R F R D2 B' F R L' U' F' R B2 F2 L' F L' R B U' F R' L D' B' (27)

U B2 F2 R F R //All corners and 2 edges (6/6)
U D + R' * B F' U R' //4 more edges (7/13)
D B' F L' U' //All but 4 edges and 6 centres (5/18)

+ = E' M' E M
* = D' F E2 F' D

It's the second time the best solution I find in one hour is a CF one

 

[Kit Clement]

Did another solve and took the whole hour to find a 35-move solutions. I would have had an extra 10-15 minutes but doing the inverse scramble is weird and tricky.

How many solutions/methods do you try on a usual scramble? Is it normal for many (skilled) competitors to get the same solution for a given scramble?

I'm not that good, but I typically stick to basic Petrus-style block building until I get an F2L-1, and then solving the edges. I do try to find as many good starts (2x2x2s or 2x2x3s) as possible to make sure I can get a F2L-1 as short as possible that gives a good continuation.

 

[porkynator]

My Mean of 3 PB (UWR?) from this week:

Spoiler: 21 (2nd scramble from German forum)

Scramble: D F2 R2 D2 B2 L2 F2 R2 D R2 B2 F' R B' L' F' L2 B2 R D L2

2x2x2: R' * U F' L' + B
2x2x3: R' D2 F # R2
3E4C: D2

* = R L' B2 R' L U2
# = F' L2 F R2 F' L2 F R2
+ = L2 B R2 B' L2 B R2 B'

Solution: L' B2 R' L U' F' L B R2 B' L2 B R D2 L2 F R2 F' L2 F D2

I've found exactly the same solution for that scramble (two of the insertions were slightly different, but they result in the same solution after the cancellations).
Your PBs are totally insane though. Are you going to make us all look stupid at FMC Euro?

BTW this is the fourth time I "submit" the same solution as someone else in an FMC attempt. Do I get an FMCopycat award or something?

 

[mDiPalma]

A 27 HTM corners first solve (scramble taken from here, the first one)

Scramble: L2 F' D2 L2 B' U2 R2 D2 F R2 F2 R' U' R' U2 B' D' L R2 U'
Solution: U B2 F2 R F R D2 B' F R L' U' F' R B2 F2 L' F L' R B U' F R' L D' B' (27)

U B2 F2 R F R //All corners and 2 edges (6/6)
U D + R' * B F' U R' //4 more edges (7/13)
D B' F L' U' //All but 4 edges and 6 centres (5/18)

+ = E' M' E M
* = D' F E2 F' D

It's the second time the best solution I find in one hour is a CF one

did u try:
R' U L' D' B2 U' B' ?

Spoiler

R' U L' D' B2 U' * B'
U' F' U2 R F U2 R' U2 R F' U2 R'
*=[U2, R' D' R]
26 htm, but you could probably find a better continuation than me

 

[Sebastien]

Your PBs are totally insane though. Are you going to make us all look stupid at FMC Euro?

Haha. I hope so, but I don't think so. I still average around 27 and especially during competitions I have to deal with concentration issues, most of all getting lost in some nice looking stuff instead of simply finishing another promising skeleton. Last competition this sort of confusion made me get 27, 27 instead of 26, 24.

BTW this is the fourth time I "submit" the same solution as someone else in an FMC attempt. Do I get an FMCopycat award or something?

Well, good FMCers see similar stuff, so that happens. That you found that same 21 is really extraordinary though.

 

[porkynator]

Haha. I hope so, but I don't think so. I still average around 27 and especially during competitions I have to deal with concentration issues, most of all getting lost in some nice looking stuff instead of simply finishing another promising skeleton. Last competition this sort of confusion made me get 27, 27 instead of 26, 24.

I thought your average was like low 25, or sub-26 at least, judging from your recent results on the German forum and berkley competitions... but 27 is still really good

did u try:
R' U L' D' B2 U' B' ?

Spoiler

R' U L' D' B2 U' * B'
U' F' U2 R F U2 R' U2 R F' U2 R'
*=[U2, R' D' R]
26 htm, but you could probably find a better continuation than me

Yeah, but I couldn't find a good continuation at first. Working on CF solves is really time consuming, but I thought this once it was worth a try, so I've started working on it early during the hour.
I've watched your solution on alg.cubing.net and I have to admit I don't understand how you've found it... I'll probably get it once I reproduce it on a physical cube, but I think a short explanation / steps breakdown can be useful for everyone
EDIT: ok now I get it.

In case you've missed it, here's Sébastien's solution for that scramble:

Spoiler: 22 (1st scramble from German forum)

Scramble: L2 F' D2 L2 B' U2 R2 D2 F R2 F2 R' U' R' U2 B' D' L R2 U'

2x2x3+EO+blocks: R' U L' D' B2 U2 F U B' *
3E4C: U' F2

* = R L' (F' U2 F U F' U F) L R'

Solution: R' U L' D' B2 U2 F U B' R L' F' U2 F U F' U F L R' U' F2

 

[Sebastien]

I thought your average was like low 25, or sub-26 at least, judging from your recent results on the German forum and berkley competitions... but 27 is still really good

Well, how do you define "average"? If I take all my solves from 2015, the mean would probably be around 26.00. Maybe I should start to keep better track of my FMC attempts.

Edit: Ok, my estimation was indeed really good. You made me collect all results from Competitions, German forum and Berkeley from 2015 (27 attempts). Mean: 26.03

 

[Attila]

A 27 HTM corners first solve (scramble taken from here, the first one)

Scramble: L2 F' D2 L2 B' U2 R2 D2 F R2 F2 R' U' R' U2 B' D' L R2 U'
Solution: U B2 F2 R F R D2 B' F R L' U' F' R B2 F2 L' F L' R B U' F R' L D' B' (27)

U B2 F2 R F R //All corners and 2 edges (6/6)
U D + R' * B F' U R' //4 more edges (7/13)
D B' F L' U' //All but 4 edges and 6 centres (5/18)

+ = E' M' E M
* = D' F E2 F' D

It's the second time the best solution I find in one hour is a CF one

Congratz, nice solution!
I found 28:

Spoiler

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

U B2 F2 L D similar to your start,
B2 D B F' R' 5 edges(UL-UR swapped),
switch to inverse:
D R2 U2 R D U' B' swap, more 1 edge,
D R2 B D U' L' B2 D' L2 D' U' LSE.

 

[Memphis3000]

My personal best 31 move solution.

Spoiler: Solution

Scramble-B U2 B' R2 F2 D2 U2 R2 U R B2 L U F U2 B U' B' R2

F U2 L D'//2x2x2
B U2 R U' R'//2x2x3
U2 B//F2l-1
B U' B' U' R' U2 R U R' U2 R//F2L+OLL
F2 U' R' L F2 L' R U' F2 U'//L3E

Final solution-F U2 L D' B U2 R U' R' U2 B2 U' B' U' R' U2 R U R' U2 R F2 U' R' L F2 L' R U' F2 U'

 

[lerenard]

How do you get a low movecount after the 2x2x3 block? I got that and EO done in 10 moves but still had a 37-move solution because I couldn't find a good continuation, even with NISS. The solution I ended up with was 26 move F2L with COLL and EPLL skip. I found shorter F2L's, but I couldn't get a better LL. I tried edges only, but I had 5 corners left.
If it helps:
Scramble: F R2 B' L2 R2 D2 B R2 U2 F2 L D' U R' D' L2 R' D'
R' B2 R' U2 L' D L2 D B2 D // 2x3 (10)
Switch to inverse and do:
L2 B L2 B2 L U B U' L' D L' D' L2 U B' U' //F2L (16)
COLL (11)

Edit: I found a way to do that scramble in 27 moves!
U R' F2 R' // 2x2
Switch to inverse:
U2 B' U2 L2 B2// F2L (almost)
Back to normal:
U2 F U F' U' L' U L U' L' B' // F2L & EO
COLL & skip

Final: U R' F2 R' U2 F U F' U' L' U L U' L' F' U B' U' F U2 B U2 B L2 U2 B U2 (27)

So do you basically just keep trying stuff until you get lucky?

 

[Ollie]

F2 L2 U2 R2 U2 L F2 L F2 D2 R2 B L F2 R B' D2 R' U F' U

R' F U R' D' U' R' D' // make some good edges and 1x2x3 block on left
r' U r U' R' M' U' r' // make 2x2x1 block and pair
F' U F R // (lucky) OLLCP to cancel 2 moves
U2 M U2 M' U M U2 M' // 2*3-cycles to cancel AUF and finish

Final solution: R' F U R' D' U' R' D' r' U r U' R' M' U' r' F' U F R U2 M U2 M' U M U2 M' (33) with Roux

If I was good enough to find the optimal solution for those last 5 edges then it would've been 29 = not even sub-5BLD FMC. But meh, one of my favorite solutions

Edit: In fact, I KNEW how to do the optimal 5-cycle - (R2 F2 R2 U)* - it just didn't occur to me during the hour. ****.

Hour limit DNF solution: R' F U R' D' U' R' D' r' U r U' R' M' U' r' F' U F R U2 L2 B2 L2 U' L2 B2 L2 (29)

Edit 2: Confirmed by Cube Explorer. :'(

 

[Memphis3000]

pretty good solution, I've never seen one (seriously) been done with roux before.

 

[Bubtore]

Take a look at that one :
http://www.speedcubers.de/showthread.php?tid=4572&pid=177255#pid177255

 

[Memphis3000]

interesting...

 

[penguinz7]

Ok, I just got an 11 moves F2L-1 in 20 minutes, spent the remainder trying to get a continuation, the best I could find was like 30 moves.. I was mostly trying to get a corner commutator, but I couldn't find any..
Can you guys find any good continuations?

D' B2 D F2 L2 U L2 U' L2 U F R F2 R' F2 L2 D' R U B' U'
Premove (R')
L' F B2 D2 R'
L' U L U' B U'
z2 x'

 

[kinch2002]

Ok, I just got an 11 moves F2L-1 in 20 minutes, spent the remainder trying to get a continuation, the best I could find was like 30 moves.. I was mostly trying to get a corner commutator, but I couldn't find any..
Can you guys find any good continuations?

D' B2 D F2 L2 U L2 U' L2 U F R F2 R' F2 L2 D' R U B' U'
Premove (R')
L' F B2 D2 R'
L' U L U' B U'
z2 x'

Couldn't find anything particularly good...only things that will lead to solutions around 30.
Also, you should say this is 12 move F2L-1, because of the premove

 

[Memphis3000]

Yeah, it's pretty hard with a not so easy EO.

 

[Attila]

Weekly FMC scramble: (week 60)
R2 D’ U2 R2 B R2 L’ F2 R B2 R’ L2 F U D L B R2 D L2
My solution was not accepted (as unhandled exception)

Spoiler

Solution:
U’ F’ B’ R’ F B’ R’ D’ L2 U B2 U2 L’ B F’ D R D2 U’ L R’ F B2 R
Explanation:
U’ F’ B’ R’ F B’ R’ orient corners and 5 edges,
D’ L2 U B2 all corners,
U2 L’ B F’ D
R D2 U’ L R’ F B2 R L7E.

I wrote something wrong?

 

[Memphis3000]

I couldn't find anything you wrote wrong, but the site has been having some problems lately, so maybe it's a problem with the site.