As usual I'll add my usual post-comp notes here too:
Clock - Small pin problem in the first solve meant I had to re-solve the first side, bit of a botch from me. Then I was off by one corner in the 5th solve for a DNF. Without the DNF I'd have got a PB average as the other solves were decent for me, with the 4th solve only 0.2s off my PB single.
2x2 - As usual, I've put no practice into this. Somehow walked away with a PB single by 0.66s and a PB average by 0.59s.
4x4 - Learning Hoya has paid off for me, improving my PB single by 21.42s to 1:37.41. That solve was actually a +2 as well. I think I can make the cutoff for this with some further practice. Hoya has somewhat reactivated my interest in this cube.
6x6 - Shaved nearly a minute off my previous PB single, now down to 6:39.34. I can occasionally get sub-6m at home and really enjoy this puzzle. When we saw the results, it turned out that Mike, Mark, Ben and myself all finished next to each other in this event... good to see the gang from this thread sticking together.
3x3 BLD - I got a DNF as I expected. Spent a long time on memo and then lost all my corners memo during the solve. A success will come eventually but I'll need more practice. My main aim was just to get a competition attempt done.
3x3 round 1 - Terrible first 2 solves were somehow followed by a
15.63 PB single! I jumped up and yelped in disbelief at having got my 2nd best time ever during a competition and reducing my official PB single by 8.28s. I think everyone in the comp heard me and it did leave to a few high-fives. To be honest, I'm still in that state of disbelief. Later in my 5th solve, the timer disconnected from the mat and flipped over as I started the solve and the subsequent re-flipping of the timer led to a weak average, putting me under the impression I wouldn't make round 2 and I consigned myself to that, still a bit high on the 15.63 single regardless. Second time I've had a timer flip over on me in comp. PB single scramble was L2 F' R2 F L2 B2 L2 D2 R2 D U B L D F D2 R B' D' but I haven't tried reconstructing yet.
5x5 - This has been about 50% of my practice time since the previous comp I'd gone to and I improved by PB single by 29.57s to 2:47.24. Like with 4x4 I think I can make the cutoff for this at some point soon. I haven't moved over to Hoya on anything but 4x4 yet, but may do with other cubes in the future.
3x3 OH - Like 2x2 I don't really practice this, so it came as a surprise to beat my PB single by 28.41s to 52.20. This also meant I made the cutoff for the first time and was able to record an unexpected average, although with no other sub-1m times.
3x3 round 2 - Somehow I made round 2 despite the bad average in round 1 (turned out it had a deviation of 7.48s!) Slowed down my solving a bit for this with no intention of outdoing the single in round 1 and walked away with a PB average by 0.54s, although still considerably above what I can get at home.
Great comp as always. Good to see
@mark49152,
@newtonbase,
@bubbagrub and
@Logiqx yet again. Bring on the UK Championships.
. If you're convinced you're going to do poorly at your first then best to get that out of the way as soon as possible. You can add distractions to your practice routine in preparation, that's one thing on my agenda. I obviously need to be able to rebound from the unexpected and keep my focus on the task at hand, a highly applicable general skill that'll help me beyond cubes and comps. Who says this is a useless hobby?
