Greetings Friends, from DistinctThought

[DistinctThought]

Hello everyone,

I registered for speedsolving.com more than a year ago, but I never introduced myself in this manner. I have been cubing since I received a Rubik's cube as a gift when I was six years old (because I clearly had the mental capacity to solve it at that age...). It took me until I was twelve or thirteen to finally solve it for the first time. Now, I am sub-30 on the 3x3x3, but I don't know any official methods or algorithms or anything like that, so I feel that it wouldn't be too hard to learn to get faster. For now, I don't want to look up "the secrets" because my favorite part of cubing is discovering new techniques for myself.

Main 2x2x2: LanLan...heh (~15 sec average)
Main 3x3x3: Dayan Lunhui (~25sec average)
Main 4x4x4: Maru...eww (~2 min average)
Main 5x5x5: Maru again (~4 min average)
Only 6x6x6: V-Cube (~10 min average)
Only 7x7x7: V-Cube (~15-20 min average)
Pyraminx: Unknown (Good question... 1 min?)
Megaminx: Piece of Crap (~3 min, but puzzle is NOT speedsolve capable)
Favorite Puzzle: LanLan Face-Turning Octahedron (Because it's new and I haven't solved it yet.)

I do plan on attending WC 2013, both to get my first official time and for the experience of meeting you all, the world's finest cubers. It would be great to meet some of you there!

For those who respond to this thread, a question for fun: What is your favorite thing about cubing?

DistinctThought

 

[sneaklyfox]

Welcome! Interesting username but fits since you like to figure out your own methods (I guess?) So what does your method involve? I'm interested to know.

My favourite thing about cubing... hmm... maybe the relaxation that comes from moving my fingers quickly. Or the feeling of personal achievement from beating my personal bests...

 

[curtishousley]

Welcome DistinctThought! I am also curious to know how you solve the 3x3, do you do a layer by layer, or build blocks? You probably use an 'official' method whether you know it or not if you are averaging 25.

My favorite thing about cubing... Anytime I don't want to think, or stress, or be social, or whatever, I can cube for hours in my own world and be happy

 

[KongShou]

25 second with your own method is impressive!

Bout cubing... Probably moving my fingers that fast and lookin like a pro.

 

[DistinctThought]

Thanks for the welcome guys!

I do solve the cube layer by layer. After I get the first layer and second layer, I flip the cube over. First I make sure that all of the edge pieces are oriented properly. I figured out how to do this by a trial and error kind of experimentation, but after practicing so much it comes very naturally to me. Then, I put the edge pieces where they need to be with respect to the four side faces of the cube. Then, I orient and rearrange the corners. I do these steps in any order, sometimes mixing them if it seems faster.

I can average 25 seconds with this method, but a friend of mine who also cubes told me that to get faster I should focus on trying to solve the first two layers at the same time. I definitely see the potential in this, but right now it takes me about 45 seconds to solve the cube this way since I'm not used to it.