My first 2x2 and 4x4 solves

[Squamashii]

I recently purchased a cheap set of Roxenda puzzles on Amazon. 2x2, 3x3, 4x4, and the pyramid. Other than the 3x3 which I already knew how to solve, I am happy to say that I solved all the rest on my own without any help outside of my previous 3x3 experience

my solve times were

2x2
My first solves was about 20 seconds. Afterward I studied some 2x2 tricks, and did a single solve in 11 seconds. But I average 20-30, haha.

the pyramid
I’ve solved it a few times now, the first time was about 10 minutes. Ive solved it a few times now, takes me about 5 minutes. But I’m not really interested in focusing on it for now.

the 4x4.
The only thing I knew about the 4x4 is that I heard someone say you should try to solve all of the centers and edges and then solve it like a 3x3.. so I probably spent about 5 hours total solving it over a 24 hour period. I didn’t end up following that advice though. I could only ever get 10 of the 12 edges to pair up together, so I had to improvise some made up algorithms that happened to work. I also started from scratch a few times in there, because my daughter and baby niece got a hold of it.. haha. So total time that it was unsolved was 24 hours. And the last time I picked it up and tried it from scratch might have been like 2 hours.

anyway.. here’s my method I came up with:
1. solved 2 opposite centers (Yellow/White)
2. Made 6 yellow or white edge pairs and placed them around their centers.
3. Fixed the remaining 4 centers while fixing 2 more edge pairs.
4. Solved the last 4 edge pairs, which solved the cube. (This took me the longest because it mostly consisted of repeating an algorithm over and over until it finally worked.. haha)

I ran into all kinds of parity issues along the way, so at this point I am pretty confident that I could do it again using the same method. I’ll actually time myself and post an update tomorrow maybe

 

[Squamashii]

I forgot the step of the corners on the 4x4. I did those after making the 6 edges in step 2. And then had to fix a couple of them again after step 3.

 

[Squamashii]

And I am mostly posting so I can look back on what I did later on after I study other techniques. I just have a personal rule that I have to solve a puzzle without looking up answers before I am allowed to “cheat”. Otherwise I will always wonder if I could have solved it on my own..

 

[Garf]

And I am mostly posting so I can look back on what I did later on after I study other techniques. I just have a personal rule that I have to solve a puzzle without looking up answers before I am allowed to “cheat”. Otherwise I will always wonder if I could have solved it on my own..

Yo, you just taught yourself Yau. Very impressive.
In case you don't know, Yau is a reduction method for big cubes. It goes as follows:
2 opposite centers (like yellow/white)
3 cross edges
last 4 centers
last cross pieces
last 8 edges
3x3 w/ potential parity

What you have come up with is very similar to that.

 

[Squamashii]

Yo, you just taught yourself Yau. Very impressive.

Oh sweet! Thanks for sharing the name of it! I will look that up now that I’ve conquered it on my own.

it is very similar to the method I am fastest at for the 3x3, which someone told me was similar to Roux. I looked that up and found some useful tricks. I still don’t get the block building, haha. But my record is 51.15 on this weird 3x3 Roux hybrid I use.

 

[Garf]

Oh sweet! Thanks for sharing the name of it! I will look that up now that I’ve conquered it on my own.

it is very similar to the method I am fastest at for the 3x3, which someone told me was similar to Roux. I looked that up and found some useful tricks. I still don’t get the block building, haha. But my record is 51.15 on this weird 3x3 Roux hybrid I use.

In blockbuilding, you kinda pair pieces together to make a block. An F2L pair is an example of this, as it is a 1x2 combo. In roux, you need to be able to make 1x2x3 pairs on both sides of the puzzle. That is where block building comes in. You make the said pair with this method, then make a matching block with a center+edge, and then put the two combos together to make a 1x2x2 block, made from 1 center, 2 edges and 1 corner. Make another pair and attach it, and then you have a 1x2x3 combo, with 1 center, 2 corners, and 3 edges. You do that on the 2nd side with more restrictions and now you can continue solving the rest of the puzzle.

 

[Garf]

In blockbuilding, you kinda pair pieces together to make a block. An F2L pair is an example of this, as it is a 1x2 combo. In roux, you need to be able to make 1x2x3 pairs on both sides of the puzzle. That is where block building comes in. You make the said pair with this method, then make a matching block with a center+edge, and then put the two combos together to make a 1x2x2 block, made from 1 center, 2 edges and 1 corner. Make another pair and attach it, and then you have a 1x2x3 combo, with 1 center, 2 corners, and 3 edges. You do that on the 2nd side with more restrictions and now you can continue solving the rest of the puzzle.

For a better in-depth explaination on roux blockbuilding.

 

[Squamashii]

Wow. Thank you @Anthony Tindal !

 

[Imsoosm]

Very cool to see you’ve been developing your own methods. For 2x2 I’d recommend you to learn a method called Ortega, which solves a face, does OLL, then permutes both layers. It should definitely get you to sub-10, and after you get familiarized with the method it can get you to sub-5.

2x2 is one of my main events, so feel free to ask me questions!