Older cubers discussions

[megagoune]

First competition report: Montreal Open Winter 2017

This was great. I really enjoyed it.
The energy is amazing, I talked to many people. I met @kbrune, but somehow missed @teacher77! How did that happen?? I think I went around and talked to everyone that looked "old"
I went with my 2 daughters who had fun as well. They were recording me, and were super impressed (as I was) by the 5.79 of Bill Wang.

I am also super happy with my results.
3x3 (best/average): 21.17 / 24.31.
pyraminx: 12.72 / 13.91
4x4: 3:11.27

The times are really good for me, I think better than a random a05 at home.
I find that in a competition setting, it really boosts your focus. I agree with @Jason Green that using the timer is actually easier than using the space bar on the computer. And also, the format is great, the fact that you have a little pause between each solve is beneficial.

I think the only thing that could have been better is the sitting arrangement. They were really few seats and no tables. Lots of people were just sitting on the floor.

In conclusion, I would say that I will definitely go to some other competition. But I will practice 4x4 before going
When I reached 1:15 (the cut-off) in my second solve, the judge told me "You're eliminated". After I looked at him puzzled, he said "but you can continue your solve if you want". That was funny.

 

[newtonbase]

First competition report: Montreal Open Winter 2017

This was great. I really enjoyed it.
The energy is amazing, I talked to many people. I met @kbrune, but somehow missed @teacher77! How did that happen?? I think I went around and talked to everyone that looked "old"
I went with my 2 daughters who had fun as well. They were recording me, and were super impressed (as I was) by the 5.79 of Bill Wang.

I am also super happy with my results.
3x3 (best/average): 21.17 / 24.31.
pyraminx: 12.72 / 13.91
4x4: 3:11.27

The times are really good for me, I think better than a random a05 at home.
I find that in a competition setting, it really boosts your focus. I agree with @Jason Green that using the timer is actually easier than using the space bar on the computer. And also, the format is great, the fact that you have a little pause between each solve is beneficial.

I think the only thing that could have been better is the sitting arrangement. They were really few seats and no tables. Lots of people were just sitting on the floor.

In conclusion, I would say that I will definitely go to some other competition. But I will practice 4x4 before going
When I reached 1:15 (the cut-off) in my second solve, the judge told me "You're eliminated". After I looked at him puzzled, he said "but you can continue your solve if you want". That was funny.

Glad you enjoyed yourself. Your judge should not have done that.

 

[Jason Green]

Glad you enjoyed yourself. Your judge should not have done that.

If you reach the hard cut you are actually supposed to be stopped, they don't always do it though. I have an official OH single of 1:02 which was over the hard cut.

I haven't been on a while so it may be too late, but I'll say what I did before on magnets. I love them! Definitely worth the $50 for my Valk M to me. I felt like it took half second of my average just because I don't flub algs as much. I say "felt like" because who knows how much of it was just being about to make an improvement jump anyway.

 

[teacher77]

- Got to meet @megagoune and @teacher77. However briefly. Sorry I didn't have more of a chance to chat. It was quite busy all day with helping out and such.

It was nice meeting you too !

This was my first comp and I can't begin to say how bad it went. My Ao5 was 37 seconds : while I almost never get above 30 at home, all my solves were above 30 at the comp. I was very nervous but also was destabilized by a few small things. I'll know all of those the next time, leaving a lot of room for improvement.

Anyone knows when the next Mtl (or Ottawa) events are ?

 

[teacher77]

I talked to many people. I met @kbrune, but somehow missed @teacher77! How did that happen??

I can't beleive this happened. I was impossible to miss : probably the most nervous guy in town. Both my hands were shaking during each and every solve. I was in 3x3 group 6.

Let's repair that : I'll add you on facebook and we can chat if you want.

By your Ao5, I get that your name is Jérôme ? I'm Mathieu.

 

[JohnnyReggae]

Yup, you're absolutely right, my thought is as little as possible (read: none) actually UNDER the magnet, which is secured by (imagination please) the ring of Blu-Tac around the outside, then the 'dome' of each Blu-Tac capsule acts as the shock absorber.

So, in effect, where you have a ring magnet with Blu-Tac in the centre, I have slightly weaker magnets in the centre, with a ring of Blu-Tac round the outside!!!

Interested to see how it turns out, but if there's very little mess I can always scrap the Blu-Tac and grab some glue if surface area cohesion is inadequate...


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Personally I would go with the glue option. We have a similar product to Blu-tac called Prestik ... My kids love the stuff, they stick it to everything .... For a more permanent solution I think that glue would be a better option. The blu-tac will add some additional weight to the extra weight of the magnets already. The only thing with blu-tac is that it gives you the option of stripping everything and doing it again.

 

[newtonbase]

It was nice meeting you too !

This was my first comp and I can't begin to say how bad it went. My Ao5 was 37 seconds : while I almost never get above 30 at home, all my solves were above 30 at the comp. I was very nervous but also was destabilized by a few small things. I'll know all of those the next time, leaving a lot of room for improvement.

Anyone knows when the next Mtl (or Ottawa) events are ?

First comps are about the experience and setting targets for next time.

 

[pipkiksass]

Personally I would go with the glue option. We have a similar product to Blu-tac called Prestik ... My kids love the stuff, they stick it to everything .... For a more permanent solution I think that glue would be a better option. The blu-tac will add some additional weight to the extra weight of the magnets already. The only thing with blu-tac is that it gives you the option of stripping everything and doing it again.

Yeah, exactly the pros and cons I'm trying to mentally balance!!!

I'm buying some glue. What's the worst that can happen?!??!?!? Images to follow.

 

[mafergut]

Yeah, exactly the pros and cons I'm trying to mentally balance!!!

I'm buying some glue. What's the worst that can happen?!??!?!? Images to follow.

After watching DMCuber videos I also think the best must be what he recommends after so many trials. Not sure I can find that Gorilla SuperGlue, though, and the super-glue I have dries too fast. I have been also checking 4mmx2mm magnets on eBay and, hey, you can find packs of 50 or 100 for like $2, much cheaper than SCS kit but I can only seem to find either N35 or N52, not N48. Will try with N35 if I decide to experiment

By the way, I just beat one of my longest standing PBs, from more than a year ago (Dec 2015). 2x2 Ao100 down to 5.38 from 5.43. Yeah, I know, 0.05 is not much To be honest I have not been practising a lot of 2x2 during the whole last year.

 

[chtiger]

This was my first comp and I can't begin to say how bad it went. My Ao5 was 37 seconds : while I almost never get above 30 at home, all my solves were above 30 at the comp. I was very nervous but also was destabilized by a few small things. I'll know all of those the next time, leaving a lot of room for improvement.

My first comp I had a 45.46 avg when I was averaging about 26 at home, so you aren't alone. With your first comp jitters out of the way, you should be a lot less nervous next time and do much better.


I just got my first sub-20 Ao12.
avg12: 19.67 -- 17.38, 17.89, 21.82, 17.70, (35.79), 17.48, (17.19), 20.84, 19.83, 24.34, 18.34, 21.05

 

[mafergut]

My first comp I had a 45.46 avg when I was averaging about 26 at home, so you aren't alone. With your first comp jitters out of the way, you should be a lot less nervous next time and do much better.


I just got my first sub-20 Ao12.
avg12: 19.67 -- 17.38, 17.89, 21.82, 17.70, (35.79), 17.48, (17.19), 20.84, 19.83, 24.34, 18.34, 21.05

Then, if I want to get a sub-20 average in my first comp I'd better be sub-WR at home!

 

[pipkiksass]

Then, if I want to get a sub-20 average in my first comp I'd better be sub-WR at home!

Aren't we all sub-WR at home?

After watching DMCuber videos I also think the best must be what he recommends after so many trials. Not sure I can find that Gorilla SuperGlue, though, and the super-glue I have dries too fast. I have been also checking 4mmx2mm magnets on eBay and, hey, you can find packs of 50 or 100 for like $2, much cheaper than SCS kit but I can only seem to find either N35 or N52, not N48. Will try with N35 if I decide to experiment

Got my gorilla glue this afternoon. May start work tonight, if not tomorrow. Can't wait, to be honest, even if it just results in a scrap Valk! First time I've modded a cube since Florian-ing a Zhanchi about 4 years ago...

 

[teacher77]

On the positive side : new PB today, Ao10 = 26.01 sec, down from 26.17 sec.

25, here I come !

 

[pglewis]

I think the only thing that could have been better is the sitting arrangement. They were really few seats and no tables. Lots of people were just sitting on the floor.

That's very unfortunate. I've only been to two comps but both had ample practice tables. I can only imagine the amount of work and the number of checklist items that organizers have to deal with, but at the same time one oversight like this can taint the experience for competitors.

When I reached 1:15 (the cut-off) in my second solve, the judge told me "You're eliminated". After I looked at him puzzled, he said "but you can continue your solve if you want".

I assume 1:15 isn't the hard cutoff so the judge shouldn't have said anything until after the solve (unless you were still going when the hard cutoff was reached, of course).

This was my first comp and I can't begin to say how bad it went. My Ao5 was 37 seconds : while I almost never get above 30 at home, all my solves were above 30 at the comp.

Some people do well with adrenaline, note @megagoune's comment about competition boosting his focus. My first comp back in Sept: DNF, DNF, 2:20.78, 1:21.74, 1:10.82 . I was comfortably under :40 going into my 2nd comp but still landed 44/48 for single/avg. Still well off my at-home times but much better than the first go-round.

Mentally do a "postmortem"; take inventory of the things that adversely affected you. Do you need to be more comfortable solving in front of someone watching? Do you need to get accustomed to noise and distractions while solving? Are you in your zone at 4PM but your heat was at 9 or 10AM? Take what you can learn from the experience and then let it go, from a performance standpoint. I personally don't think you did poorly at all; not only do you have official times in the books, you're officially faster than me. Now to see if I can catch you at my next one .

 

[newtonbase]

After watching DMCuber videos I also think the best must be what he recommends after so many trials. Not sure I can find that Gorilla SuperGlue, though, and the super-glue I have dries too fast. I have been also checking 4mmx2mm magnets on eBay and, hey, you can find packs of 50 or 100 for like $2, much cheaper than SCS kit but I can only seem to find either N35 or N52, not N48. Will try with N35 if I decide to experiment

It's hard to find anything between N35 and N52. Other options are using different sized magnets or, as I did on my first attempt, put N52 in the corners and N35 in the edges (as suggested by our own @SenorJuan).
I use Loctite gel superglue that cost £1. I can do a set of 96 magnets with one tube.

 

[megagoune]

I assume 1:15 isn't the hard cutoff so the judge shouldn't have said anything until after the solve (unless you were still going when the hard cutoff was reached, of course).

It was a soft cut off, so he made a mistake. But it's no big deal, I think he realized it, and it had no real consequence for me. I think the judge was just trying to be helpful. He probably thought I would not want to finish my solve if I had no chance to continue in the competition.

 

[pipkiksass]

Phase 1 complete

Around 70 minutes in total to dismantle and glue the 24 magnets into the 1/2 edges, per DMCubing's tutorial. The corner stem piece required more effort than I expected, but equally it's not quite as fragile as I'd built up in my mind! You can use quite a bit of force, but be sensible...

On a couple of occasions, I knocked edges I'd previously assembled, causing the magnets to pop out and rejoin their friends elsewhere. Once my "tube" of unused magnets got too close to the working edges, and pulled the magnets out.

On one occasion, I managed to insert a magnet with the incorrect polarity somehow, but this was immediately apparent, and easily fixed.

Gorilla Glue claims 15 minutes working time, and I'd say that seems to hold true. I'd estimate I've used less than 1/100th of the 115ml pot I bought today, and could definitely do another 50 cubes (cost £7).

Once you're on a roll, I reckon you could knock these out VERY quickly, in the end I was smearing glue on 4 edges, inserting 4 magnets, then dropping extra glue on all 4 in turn, but careful you don't rush and knock things. If I'd known what I was doing from the start, this could have been done in 30-45 mins; if you have multiple cubes, perhaps 20-30 mins per cube.

Polarities are all definitely right, just remains to be seen what happens when I get to the corners tomorrow. Overall, it's been a very enjoyable and relatively low-stress experience, so far!!


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[mark49152]

He probably thought I would not want to finish my solve if I had no chance to continue in the competition.

You could have been on for a single PB. It's poor judging and if I'd been distracted by it I'd have asked for an extra attempt.

 

[newtonbase]

Phase 1 complete

Around 70 minutes in total to dismantle and glue the 24 magnets into the 1/2 edges, per DMCubing's tutorial. The corner stem piece required more effort than I expected, but equally it's not quite as fragile as I'd built up in my mind! You can use quite a bit of force, but be sensible...

On a couple of occasions, I knocked edges I'd previously assembled, causing the magnets to pop out and rejoin their friends elsewhere. Once my "tube" of unused magnets got too close to the working edges, and pulled the magnets out.

On one occasion, I managed to insert a magnet with the incorrect polarity somehow, but this was immediately apparent, and easily fixed.

Gorilla Glue claims 15 minutes working time, and I'd say that seems to hold true. I'd estimate I've used less than 1/100th of the 115ml pot I bought today, and could definitely do another 50 cubes (cost £7).

Once you're on a roll, I reckon you could knock these out VERY quickly, in the end I was smearing glue on 4 edges, inserting 4 magnets, then dropping extra glue on all 4 in turn, but careful you don't rush and knock things. If I'd known what I was doing from the start, this could have been done in 30-45 mins; if you have multiple cubes, perhaps 20-30 mins per cube.

Polarities are all definitely right, just remains to be seen what happens when I get to the corners tomorrow. Overall, it's been a very enjoyable and relatively low-stress experience, so far!!


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Good job. You definitely have to be organised. Magnets have a life if their own. Can't wait to hear about the end result. My Valk is itching for a bit of rare earth.

 

[Jason Green]

Been relearning my G perms for OH. It reminds me of learning them the first time, I get them mixed up so much worse than others. Most algs are unique enough when they are new I either forget them or not. But with these I think I know it, and then do R instead of R' or U instead of U' or whatever. It's fun to be learning algs though, I should do it more often!