Older cubers discussions

[pglewis]

Well, hi there.

 

[h2f]

I'd also say it's mostly preference, and as far as getting a good single goes it's clear the buffer is not that important. However some experienced BLDers argue that having a buffer in the U layer helps setting up to an OLL or PLL parity fix. Not that any of us is at that level.. yet

How does that work?

With two corners swap, doing corners first, you just do OLL or PLL shoting last two edges and correcting corners. However with DF buffer and corners first I can mostly finish parity with Ja or Jb perm or modified version of Ja with wide moves.

 

[h2f]

Give the scramble a go, it's loverly! And I missed an even easier 2nd pair - there may well have been easier F2Ls.

D2 R2 D B2 F2 U B2 U’ L2 F2 D’ F U’ L2 D2 L’ F’ U’ L D’

Inspection (X2 Y)

D’U R’ F D2 F (x-cross)
R’ U2 R d’ R U R’ (2nd pair)
Y L’ U’ L U2 R U’ R’ (3rd pair)
U L’ U L (4th pair)
f R U R’ U’ R U R’ U’ (OLL
U M2 U M U2 M’ U M2 (PLL)
U’ (AUF)

50 STM
11.180
4.472 TPS

You are almost correct. Rotations should be lowercase. I've found that instead of d' theres d in a second pair. But I cant figure out how you did 3rd pair.

 

[mark49152]

With two corners swap, doing corners first, you just do OLL or PLL shoting last two edges and correcting corners. However with DF buffer and corners first I can mostly finish parity with Ja or Jb perm or modified version of Ja with wide moves.

But it only works if the last edge target is in the U layer? If you have to set it up to the U layer there's no advantage over setting up DF to the U layer.

 

[NewbieCuber]

Oh My Gosh! A new Personal Best yesterday with the Beginner Method.

54.66

I got really lucky. When I solved the top cross the edges were already oriented and then when I rotated the corners they ended up in the proper location without having to do a permutation.

So I'm starting to work on my F2L more and more. That way I'll replace the 2 steps of "solve the first layer corners then solve the 2nd layer edges" with a single process. I've also started learning top layer permutation algs so I can orient the entire last layer before doing any permutations rather than the beginners method of "Orient the top cross, permute the top cross, orient the corners, permute the corners."

 

[h2f]

But it only works if the last edge target is in the U layer? If you have to set it up to the U layer there's no advantage over setting up DF to the U layer.

I agree with that.

 

[pglewis]

SO glad I never got sucked in to BLD! I barely have time for 3x3 and 4x4...

You sure about that? It's an incredibly small sample size but every time I practice blind for a couple weeks my sighted solves get faster

I got really lucky. When I solved the top cross the edges were already oriented and then when I rotated the corners they ended up in the proper location without having to do a permutation.

You're well on your way, probably took me months to get to a 1:20 average. In case you're not familiar with one of the important mantras yet: "luck is not a crime". It's not uncommon to see the occasional outlier single around .6x your general average, nearly twice as fast as normal.

If you stick with CFOP then F2L practice is definitely both your best short and long game. My biggest gains are still from improving F2L and the one thing my best singles always have in common is fewer F2L pauses than normal. Cross and fingertricks will continue improve on their own as a byproduct of your practice. That's not to say cross practice isn't important but if you time the stages of your solve you'll quickly see that the first two layers (whether beginners' or F2L) is where the lion's share of the time goes.

 

[chtiger]

With the official WR 7x7 mean now faster than my best unofficial 4x4 single, it's time to practice 4x4 again. What's the best method for someone who is terrible at finding and pairing up the edges? My current PB was set using r2 for edges. There should be a faster method than that. Any simple tips and tricks that I probably don't know?

Nobody? I'll take that as confirmation that 4x4 sucks and I shouldn't practice it. Movin' on.

 

[pglewis]

Nobody? I'll take that as confirmation that 4x4 sucks and I shouldn't practice it. Movin' on.

You can see from my sig that I'm the last person to be giving any 4x4 tips . Are you using straight reduction? Hoya? Yau? I personally like Yau because I don't have to go looking for edges on the bottom, but Hoya's edge pairing is interesting in its own right from what little I played with it.

[Edit: actually, iirc, you don't have to go looking on the bottom during edge pairing in Hoya either. Most of the difference is solving the centers, though Hoya has a specific way to pair the cross edges where Yau is more free form there]

 

[chtiger]

You can see from my sig that I'm the last person to be giving any 4x4 tips . Are you using straight reduction? Hoya? Yau? I personally like Yau because I don't have to go looking for edges on the bottom, but Hoya's edge pairing is interesting in its own right from what little I played with it.

That's still faster than me. I was using straight reduction (I guess that's what it's called), but was so bad with it I tried r2 on the edges just for fun and got a PB after a little practice. I can never keep Yau and Hoya (I'm always wanting to call it Moyu) straight. I've tried one of them briefly, but don't remember which.

 

[pglewis]

There's a name for how I do edges but I always forget it. I have the cross solved when I go into edge pairing and I align 3, slice, align 3 the other way, slice back, and if no complications arise I'm either done or just have the final 2 pairs to fix up. Its reportedly a good method for lucky singles but some edge situations can make it fall on its face here and there.

 

[mark49152]

Nobody? I'll take that as confirmation that 4x4 sucks and I shouldn't practice it. Movin' on.

I use Hoya so will recommend Hoya.

There's a name for how I do edges but I always forget it. I have the cross solved when I go into edge pairing and I align 3, slice, align 3 the other way, slice back, and if no complications arise I'm either done or just have the final 2 pairs to fix up. Its reportedly a good method for lucky singles but some edge situations can make it fall on its face here and there.

That is 6-2. I use 3-2-3 so will recommend 3-2-3. You don't get the same nasty cases as with 6-2.

 

[One Wheel]

I use Hoya so will recommend Hoya.


That is 6-2. I use 3-2-3 so will recommend 3-2-3. You don't get the same nasty cases as with 6-2.

Color neutral Yau with 3-2-3 edge pairing is definitively optimal. After only a year and a half of practice I average under 2:00. ;-)

In other news I finally ordered magnets for my Yuxin Blue M and a strictly experimental partially magnetized Yufu. Also I've never been able to wrap my head around M2, but after a few minutes messing around with it today I wouldn't be surprised if I could attempt an actual blind solve in the next couple of weeks. Once I can do a blind solve in under 5 or 6 minutes I'm sure I'll practice more.

 

[newtonbase]

at your level is less about speed and more about being brave

I was thinking about this today. I'd reviewed an audio memo just in my head 4 or 5 times before starting execution which is a completed waste of time. Blind is almost always about quick singles. I'll stick to 1 review at most.
I also got a DNF as I forgot to execute corners so feel free to disregard everything I say.

 

[xyzzy]

That's still faster than me. I was using straight reduction (I guess that's what it's called), but was so bad with it I tried r2 on the edges just for fun and got a PB after a little practice. I can never keep Yau and Hoya (I'm always wanting to call it Moyu) straight. I've tried one of them briefly, but don't remember which.

r2 as in the 4bld method? (Sort of tangentially related, but it looks like Gianfranco also solves 4×4×4 with 3-cycles on the wings, rather than using a conventional sighted method.)

 

[h2f]

I must announce that last Sunday I've became member of the board of Polish Speedcubing Association. I think the new stage in my speedcuber life has just begun.

 

[newtonbase]

r2 as in the 4bld method? (Sort of tangentially related, but it looks like Gianfranco also solves 4×4×4 with 3-cycles on the wings, rather than using a conventional sighted method.)

That's not surprising. He solves 3x3 blind as he doesn't practice a regular method so I can't imagine he'd practice 4x4 either.

 

[newtonbase]

I must announce that last Sunday I've became member of the board of Polish Speedcubing Association. I think the new stage in my speedcuber life has just begun.

Congratulations!

 

[Logiqx]

Hey guys. Has anything interesting happened in the past few weeks?

Big milestone for me this morning... sub-15 Ao12!

Title: 3x3x3 Cube
Scrambler: 3x3x3 Simple
# of solving: 28
Std Dev: 1.711
Best of all: 13.291
Worst of all: 19.994
Average of all: 16.196
Best Avg of 5: 14.014
Best Avg of 12: 14.872
Best Avg of 25: 16.114
---- Generated by KingEn Timer v3.3

Solving times: 17.942 16.829 15.024 15.620 13.291 16.724 15.219 14.215 14.039 15.424 13.790 13.511 18.437 15.157 16.634 17.006 18.284 17.847 18.819 19.650 14.746 14.803 14.885 17.806 18.230 19.994 14.773 15.693

 

[newtonbase]

3BLD Mo3 PB 1:52.40
First 3 solves of the day on my break.