Older cubers discussions

[Selkie]

So bored you all to death with Megaminx. More PBs today for single, ao5 and a012 but havent posted any 3x3 for a long while so here is a sub 15 Ao12 to ease the megaminx overload

Megaminx Single PB: 2:09.53
Megaminx Ao5 PB: 2:21.29
Megaminx Ao12 PB: 2:28.04
Megaminx Ao50 Session PB: 2:31.85

 

[JanW]

Don't you have to locate the headlights also ? I always rercognize A perms by the headlights and the two 2x1 blocks which form a solved corner. With that corner in the FLU position, if the headlights are on the right I know it's an Ab and if they're on the back I know it's an Aa.

Here are both A perms, looking at L and F faces from the direction you are likely to solve it:

One of them has opposite colors (red&orange) on the left, the other has opposite colors on the front. This determines the direction. No need to check for headlights.

 

[teacher77]

With that block facing you, look at the adjacent corner stickers. One will be an opposite colour, the other will be an adjacent colour. The headlights are on the side opposite the opposite coloured corners. You don't have to look.

ahhhh very nice. But anyway you usually have to AUF to start the Aa perm with the headlights on the back / the Ab with headlights on the front. That confirms that they are there, doesn't it ?

 

[mark49152]

ahhhh very nice. But anyway you usually have to AUF to start the Aa perm with the headlights on the back / the Ab with headlights on the front. That confirms that they are there, doesn't it ?

If you see them anyway, great, but if checking would cost you a pause, there's no need for it.

 

[h2f]

So bored you all to death with Megaminx. More PBs today for single, ao5 and a012 but havent posted any 3x3 for a long while so here is a sub 15 Ao12 to ease the megaminx overload

Megaminx Single PB: 2:09.53
Megaminx Ao5 PB: 2:21.29
Megaminx Ao12 PB: 2:28.04
Megaminx Ao50 Session PB: 2:31.85

I'm also practicing megaminx. After 100 measured times I'm 4:xx solver but today I've broken sub4 barrier with ao5 and ao12.

 

[teacher77]

Here are both A perms, looking at L and F faces from the direction you are likely to solve it:

Is there actually an alg allowing to solve the Aa perm when the headlights are not in front ?

 

[JanW]

Is there actually an alg allowing to solve the Aa perm when the headlights are not in front ?

For both A perms I use the first alg listed on algdb.net:

http://algdb.net/Set/PLL

Both done with the solved 2x2 block in front left.

 

[JanW]

Some hardcore cube-nerd might have noticed in my picture above that I brought out a blast from the past, my good old stickerless Zhanchi. Cleaned it and lubed it, then I liked it so much that I did the first Ao100 in over a month, and also my first ever Ao100 with basic CFOP (2-look OLL, 1-look PLL). Got a bunch of new pbs:

Ao12: 25.17
Ao50: 26.64
Ao100: 27.51

Ao12 improved by about 0.3 seconds, Ao50 and Ao100 by over 1 second each. Didn't quite reach my pb Ao5 and didn't get close to pb single. Only one sub-20 solve. The bigger averages improved mainly because times were a lot more consistent than they ever were with ZZ. With ZZ I had lots of really bad solves if I messed up the EOLine, no such problem with a standard cross.

Funny that most of my pbs now are done with the Zhanchi, the very first speedcube I purchased. One could ask what was the point with the 20 cubes I've bought since then... One thing I know for sure, I should have bought some Traxxas lube a long time ago. It has really made a massive difference to every cube I've applied it to so far.

 

[Chree]

So bored you all to death with Megaminx....

Impossible!

Nice average tho

 

[newtonbase]

My 7 year old has decided that she's going to learn to solve. Stage 1 of her plan is to get used to the cube by drinking hot chocolate out of my Rubik's Cube mug. There doesn't appear to be a stage 2.

 

[Selkie]

If it is the usual square rubiks cube mug then learning how to 'solve' drinking from it without dribbling is a commendable trait. Master that and I am sure the cross will be childsplay mate

 

[newtonbase]

If it is the usual square rubiks cube mug then learning how to 'solve' drinking from it without dribbling is a commendable trait. Master that and I am sure the cross will be childsplay mate

It's a nightmare isn't it. You can never drain it all either and drinks go cold too quickly but it does look good.

 

[JanW]

If it is the usual square rubiks cube mug then learning how to 'solve' drinking from it without dribbling is a commendable trait. Master that and I am sure the cross will be childsplay mate

The solution is very easy. You just have to think outside the box.

Spoiler

Use a straw.

 

[muchacho]

3x3 Mo100 PB: 21.430 (was 21.744 from 3 weeks ago)

My goal was getting a sub-20 Mo100 by the end of September... was too ambitious, but maybe a sub-21.

 

[Jason Green]

Had new PBs for all my averages except 5 today. Nice to see some quantifiable improvement.

 

[h2f]

@muchacho, @Jason Green Nice and congrats!

 

[Jason Green]

3x3 Mo100 PB: 21.430 (was 21.744 from 3 weeks ago)

My goal was getting a sub-20 Mo100 by the end of September... was too ambitious, but maybe a sub-21.

You posted this right as I was close to finishing mine. If you feel like I was trying to one up your post, feel free to go ahead and remind us of your OH, 2x2, etc averages that blow me away.

 

[muchacho]

Haha I know it wasn't the case

Spoiler

It's the other way around, today I was in fact focused to try to beat that now old 21.20 Ao100 of yours
Mo50 was like 20.70 but then the light got too dark outside.

Spoiler

Keep improving so I can chase you!

 

[teacher77]

Hey guys,

Please let me use your experience again As I said before, I'm currently learning the 21 pll algs (I have 13 down, 8 to go). But I have yet to see any increase in my averages : with 2look PLL, my session averages (any session with more than 10 solves) was between 40 and 43 sec.. and with half the PLL algs in the bank, I'm only down to 39-42 sec.

What was your experience while learning PLLs ? Did you improve your times right away or did it take time like it seems to be happening for me ?

As I side note, I learned the complicated F perm today and I'm quite proud to say that the only algs I still have to learn are the G, R, Y and V perms

 

[Jason Green]

@teacher77 The improvement from full PLL is not totally instant, partly because you are learning new skills to recognize more things and getting comfortable with the algs. Once all is equal on those fronts, you can essentially do math to know how much faster a given case is. In other words say you had two looks, you could add up the two alg execution times, plus two recognition times, and compare that to recognising and executing one alg. Of course not all cases need two looks in the first place. And your overall f2l time etc will be improving at the same time. So it's hard to know how quickly it impacts your overall average.

So that was wordy and probably incomplete. But yes for me my times even got a little worse and then started improving. In fact when I learned new algs and did timed practice, if that alg came up I would not count the time. Otherwise I would be tempted to do the 2 look version and not practice what I was learning.