Older cubers discussions

[muchacho]

I cut down (just a bit) the springs of the Moyu, but I'm not sure if it made any difference.

 

[h2f]

I like clicking sound when you turn skewb. Intresting idea of cuttins springs.

 

[muchacho]

A video from cubeologist with the spring mod (starts at 7:42):

 

[h2f]

Thank you, David.

 

[Logiqx]

There were 57 signed up. I did not count today but that's about right. Kinder to 4th grade. The biggest number of them are second grade so 7 or 8 years old.

Perhaps you should give them each a different badge / pin with an OLL printed on it.

@Logiqx my latest comp is finally on the WCA site, if you get a chance to run the old timer script sometime.

I might wait until next week so the updates also includes the London competition. I presume you can wait a few days.

 

[Jason Green]

Perhaps you should give them each a different badge / pin with an OLL printed on it.



I might wait until next week so the updates also includes the London competition. I presume you can wait a few days.

That's an awesome idea, I can't believe I overlooked the number! Of course I don't think we'll be doing full OLL anytime too soon. That reminds me another shirt idea I had was some play on Heinz 57 varieties.

I can wait a few days. I remember how anxious I was to first be included in that list! Just a little improvement now though so no biggie.

 

[Shaky Hands]

New 3x3 PB for me today of 18.48 (previous was 19.08... I haven't had a sub-20 in over a month.) No idea how this happened; nothing skipped and it seemed a fairly standard solve finishing in a J-perm during a crappy average. Gives me some (false?) hope for the London comp though.

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

Solution:

Spoiler

x2 y2 // inspection
R B2 R U B L F' L2 // cross
U2 F B' U2 B F' // F2L pair 1
d' L U2 L2 U' L // F2L pair 2
d2 R U2 R' U2 F' U F // F2L pair 3
y2 R U R' d2 L U' L' U L U L' // F2L pair 4
y2 R2 D R' U2 R D' R' U2 R' // OLL headlights
U2 R' U L' U2 R U' R' U2 R L U' // Ja-Perm

https://alg.cubing.net/?setup=L_R-_...2_R-_U_L-_U2_R_U-_R-_U2_R_L_U-_//_Ja-Perm

I also got PB's in 6x6 and 7x7 in the WC although I'm sure I can smash those further with a bit more practice and better hardware.

 

[muchacho]

Congrats, and no skips, nice tps!


New 4x4 ao5 PB: 2:19.681 (was 2:29.852)

 

[MarcelP]

New 3x3 PB for me today of 18.48 (previous was 19.08... I haven't had a sub-20 in over a month.) No idea how this happened; nothing skipped and it seemed a fairly standard solve finishing in a J-perm during a crappy average. Gives me some (false?) hope for the London comp though.

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

Solution:

Spoiler

x2 y2 // inspection
R B2 R U B L F' L2 // cross
U2 F B' U2 B F' // F2L pair 1
d' L U2 L2 U' L // F2L pair 2
d2 R U2 R' U2 F' U F // F2L pair 3
y2 R U R' d2 L U' L' U L U L' // F2L pair 4
y2 R2 D R' U2 R D' R' U2 R' // OLL headlights
U2 R' U L' U2 R U' R' U2 R L U' // Ja-Perm

https://alg.cubing.net/?setup=L_R-_U-_R-_U2_L_B_L2_F2_B_D2_L_D_R_B_U_R_F-_R-_F-_R2_D-_R2_D-_R2&alg=x2_y2_//_inspection R_B2_R_U_B_L_F-_L2_//_cross U2_F_B-_U2_B_F-_//_F2L_pair_1 d-_L_U2_L2_U-_L_//_F2L_pair_2 d2_R_U2_R-_U2_F-_U_F_//_F2L_pair_3 y2_R_U_R-_d2_L_U-_L-_U_L_U_L-_//_F2L_pair_4 y2_R2_D_R-_U2_R_D-_R-_U2_R-_//_OLL_headlights U2_R-_U_L-_U2_R_U-_R-_U2_R_L_U-_//_Ja-Perm

I also got PB's in 6x6 and 7x7 in the WC although I'm sure I can smash those further with a bit more practice and better hardware.

Nice!! I figured you did go for the free pair in inspection because you did x2 y2. But you did not.. You broke the pair.. Ouuuch. LOL, But I have to admit, a fast and short cross beats any complicated x-cross. Also, the d2 in the 3rd and 4th pair are wicket! Nice skills there. But since you did an y2 at the beginning of 4th F2L you could just have taken the pair out, brake them apart and slot them in less moves. I think you could be way faster if you where a tad bit more efficient. (My problem too). Good job none the less!

 

[MarcelP]

. With full cmll i wasnt sub 25 in ao 50. I just try to enjoy solving right nów hoping it will help my cfop.

I have decided once I am officially sub 19 I will start doing Roux again. I think I will never become faster than CFOP but I enjoy it a lot. I think you are doing right by practicing Roux besides CFOP.

 

[muchacho]

Nice!

Does practicing Roux helps with your CFOP skills or is it only for the change/fun?

 

[MarcelP]

Nice!

Does practicing Roux helps with your CFOP skills or is it only for the change/fun?

When I was averaging 20 - 23 secs CFOP I took a 3 months break doing only Roux. I became sub 30 with Roux. Then being dissapointed I was not even close to my CFOP times I went back to CFOP and was almost immediately sub 20 then. I would say it helped me a lot.

 

[DeeDubb]

When I was averaging 20 - 23 secs CFOP I took a 3 months break doing only Roux. I became sub 30 with Roux. Then being dissapointed I was not even close to my CFOP times I went back to CFOP and was almost immediately sub 20 then. I would say it helped me a lot.

I think focusing on BLD has actually helped my Roux times somehow. I think it's good to just practice with the cube, and a new method can spice things up to keep you motivated and focused. My PBs at last comp were really out of no where.

 

[h2f]

I think you are doing right by practicing Roux besides CFOP.

I think the same way. After doing only roux in last week I did ao5 for last WC without warmup and it was 20.7 which is quite decent for me. And vice versa - after 9 months break from Roux I've found doing fb and being x2/y neutral quite easy though earlier it was much harder for me.

 

[mark49152]

I think you could be way faster if you where a tad bit more efficient.

Move efficiency looked OK, but I think reducing y2 rotations would be an easy improvement, including those d2s, which are kind of like rotations in that you still need a sort of regrip.

Example: on fourth pair you do a y2 to take the stuck pair out of FR, then a d2 before inserting it - but you could just take the pair out of BL and insert it with no rotations at all.

A good aim for F2L is to have no more than one or two y/y' rotations in total, and never any y2s.

For first pair I would have done U2 L' U L2 U' L' and avoid the more awkward F/B moves.

For LL there's no need to rotate at all because you can just use U moves to align the top layer.

 

[mafergut]

A good aim for F2L is to have no more than one or two y/y' rotations in total, and never any y2s.
For LL there's no need to rotate at all because you can just use U moves to align the top layer.

Completely agree. I'm myself trying to improve on that as well. The few reconstructions I have posted here have been good examples of my need to improve and you guys have pointed out very nice improvements in F2L to avoid rotations that I'm trying to incorporate in my solving. Yesterday in my 1h train commute I had some cases that reminded me of your good advice but in timed solves I still tend to revert to old, bad habits so slow solving is what I need now.

Regarding LL I agree... to a point. If I have a PLL that ends in an AUF (like my J perm which is a T perm conjugate) or both my R perms then, definitely a pre-AUF + PLL is better because you can cancel the post-AUF with the PLL. Also, in most cases, if you are going to need an AUF anyway it's probably better to not rotate but in cases where you have an already correctly AUFed PLL with does not end in U/U' or, even worse, that has some rotation that makes post-AUF awkward, then a y/y' or even a y2 rotation + PLL is better than pre-AUF + PLL + post-AUF.

 

[Logiqx]

Whilst talking about saving rotations, I found a nice way to solve a stripy pair from FR to BR:

U (R' F R F') (R' U' R)

It feels much quicker than double-[inverse] sexy, rotate, insert. It's my alg of the week.

 

[Selkie]

@Jason Green, Great news about the cube club, seems to have been a great success from the start!

@Shaky Hands , great single there mate

Great to see so many people ordering stickerless. I have to confess I love them.

@ London Open - Still trying to arrange transport for the weekend with my VW bus still off the road and a possibility I will only be there for the Sunday but will keep you posted.

 

[mark49152]

@mafergut: Yes I agree it's about developing good habits, which is easier to do without the time pressure. I think it's important to learn to solve at all four slots without favour. That really helps avoid rotations. Also, where you have a case that requires extracting one or more pieces from a slot, learn to adapt the case to extract from one slot and solve to another, for any two slots. That to me is the biggest argument for learning F2L intuitively. If you treat F2L solutions as algs and memorise by muscle memory rather than understanding, it's so much harder to mirror and adapt them.

Also, as @Logiqx illustrates with his alg of the week, it's useful to know different solutions for different open or target slots, especially where that gives you alternatives that do and don't flip the edge. For example let's look again at the first pair from @Shaky Hands reconstruction above. Forming the pair with U2 L' U L leaves it ready to insert to BL, or with an extra U2, to FR. But what if that pair is destined for FL or BR? Do we rotate? Well we could, but I would prefer to just form the pair with U' L F' L' F instead of U2 L' U L.

 

[SenorJuan]

I agree, learning 'intutive F2L' properly is well worth doing. I started by learning the algorithms, just for the one slot, but came to the conclusion they were most inadequate, and needed supplementing with some more basic moves. So I gave up on algorithmic, and worked out all the sub-algorithms I would likely need in order to solve 'intuitively' (a bit of a misnomer, I think). There's a surprisingly large number of them, something like 160. I don't use all of them, particulary the 'sledgehammer' based ones, as they're not too good for OH solving. The only sledgehammer moves I normally use are for the cases like the one Mike Logiqx mentioned a few posts earlier, where they are the only simple way of making the pair.
Understanding 'intuitive' solving also helps make use of empty slots properly, either for move-saving, or eliminating cube-rotations.
Then there's quite a few other techniques, like keyhole (for corners or edges), and some trick algorithms.