One-Answer Other Question Thread

[Joel2274]

http://thecubicle.us/sticker-picker-57mm-aolong-c-66_183.html
these are the stickers that I bought last time. These aren't the ones you were talking about were you? Because these are different compared to the starting sticker. If the better stickers are somewhere else, where are they? I can't find them

 

[willtri4]

They're under "Other Accessories"

 

[Joel2274]

They're under "Other Accessories"

Okay I finally found them thanks. Do you have to order the shades though? I wasn't going to change any of the other stickers but I have a white cube and I wanted to exchange the white for black. (if not thats ok. I might replace my cube sometime soon.) Speaking of replacing cubes, are stickerless cubes still illegal in competitions?

 

[newtonbase]

...are stickerless cubes still illegal in competitions?

Stickerless cubes are legal now.

 

[1w3playZ]

"You can do the Rubik's Cube" Competitions? What are these?

Hey guys.

I just found this page.

My question is, what kind of competitions are these? Are they technically "unofficial"? How are they organized?


Also, if that link doesn't work, use the link below.
http://www.youcandothecube.com/compete-now/

 

[nvpendsey]

Will the SS 7x7 (full size) stickers fit a SS 5x5 (not wind) ? If not then any other of SS puzzles

 

[Joel2274]

Hey guys.

I just found this page.

My question is, what kind of competitions are these? Are they technically "unofficial"? How are they organized?


Also, if that link doesn't work, use the link below.
http://www.youcandothecube.com/compete-now/

Ive been tracking that site for a while now waiting for a comp in my area. I think it's just comps hosted by rubiks. (which is why I wanted to attend cuz if everyone has rubik's brand cubes, I will wreck some face at that comp)

 

[Sion]

Hi!

I currently don't have any silicone lube in my home, and i'm wondering about alternatives. does anyone have suggestions?

 

[shadowslice e]

Hi!

I currently don't have any silicone lube in my home, and i'm wondering about alternatives. does anyone have suggestions?

Well, in theory anything that's vaguely like a lubricant and isn't petroleum based should do the trick. I've used diprobase (a type of moisturizer) before.

 

[unsolved]

Spoiler

Technically speaking, if you own the world's only 13x13x13 sphere in a cube, and you solve it, can you claim the title of World Champion?

 

[antech101]

So currently my only cube is my dayan zhanchi, and i'd like to (finally) lube it, i've been looking at the cubicle lubes and i think i'll go with that. Just wondering what weight types i should get (1-5) for the core and the pieces, i'm looking at 4 for the core, and 3 for the pieces, thanks!

 

[Asher315]

Spoiler

http://s12.postimg.org/hqukcpw0d/image.jpg

Technically speaking, if you own the world's only 13x13x13 sphere in a cube, and you solve it, can you claim the title of World Champion?

Yes, but it doesn't really do much for you. It's not like you competed against anybody else for it. It would be like if you won a Guiness World Record for running while humming "Sweet Caroline".

 

[kbrune]

I've been away from cubing for a couple years. I'm looking for a reconstruction thread where I can see scrambles and solutions. I see reconstruction here and there. Wasn't here a head dedicated to this before?

If not. What's the best tool or thread these days for learning new tricks that people use in solve?

 

[EvilGnome6]

Ive been tracking that site for a while now waiting for a comp in my area. I think it's just comps hosted by rubiks. (which is why I wanted to attend cuz if everyone has rubik's brand cubes, I will wreck some face at that comp)

I recently helped scramble and judge at one of these events at a local school. They're quite informal (lots of the scrambling was done by hand by volunteers who can't even solve it). Most kids were using beginner's method and only a few were sub 1:00 solvers.

The main focus was team events where groups from each school/class worked together. Some of the people on the teams couldn't do last layer but they could participate by doing the first 2 layers.

Overall, it's nice that it brings a lot of casual solvers into the activity and as a WCA competition organizer, I was able to spread the word to some of the kids.

I recommend any WCA solver to go to one of these events, either as a competitor or as a volunteer.

 

[ch_ts]

I've been away from cubing for a couple years. I'm looking for a reconstruction thread where I can see scrambles and solutions. I see reconstruction here and there. Wasn't here a head dedicated to this before?

If not. What's the best tool or thread these days for learning new tricks that people use in solve?

Maybe you're thinking of one of these:
https://www.speedsolving.com/forum/showthread.php?29123-The-reconstruction-thread
http://cubesolv.es/

 

[oneshot]

Help understanding twisted corners

I did try searching for an explanation of finding twisted corners while the cube is scrambled. All the threads say just to memorize them visually.

But I need an explanation of how you know a corner is twisted when the cube is scrambled.

And I guess eventually, I'll have the same question for edges. How can you tell an edge is flipped when the cube is scrambled.

Thanks in advance,

Brian

 

[Praetorian]

I did try searching for an explanation of finding twisted corners while the cube is scrambled. All the threads say just to memorize them visually.

But I need an explanation of how you know a corner is twisted when the cube is scrambled.

And I guess eventually, I'll have the same question for edges. How can you tell an edge is flipped when the cube is scrambled.

Thanks in advance,

Brian

For edges, you can reference Phil Yu's edge orientation detection segment on his ZZ method tutorial https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SzFNhs_ZRE, the rules are, for blue front and white bottom:

Rule 1 (top and bottom layer)

Any edge with white or yellow facing up or down is good

=======================================================

Rule 2 (top and bottom layer)

Any edge with white or yellow facing right or yellow
to the side is bad

=======================================================

Rule 3 (top and bottom layer)

-Edges that don't have white or yellow-

Any edge is bad if it has blue or green facing the sides.

Any edge is good if it has red or orange facing the sides.

=======================================================

Rule 4 (middle layer)

Any edge that has white or yellow facing front or back is good.

Any edge that has white or yellow facing right or left is bad.

=======================================================

Rule 5 (middle layer)

-Edges that don't have white or yellow-

Any edge that has blue or green facing front or back is good.

Any edge that has blue or green facing the sides is bad.

 

[AlphaSheep]

I did try searching for an explanation of finding twisted corners while the cube is scrambled. All the threads say just to memorize them visually.

But I need an explanation of how you know a corner is twisted when the cube is scrambled.

And I guess eventually, I'll have the same question for edges. How can you tell an edge is flipped when the cube is scrambled.

Thanks in advance,

Brian

For corners:
Hold the cube with the white centre on top. Start with a counter at zero. Then for each of the eight corners, look at how you need to twist the corner to bring the white or yellow sticker to the top. If you don't need to twist it, then move on. Otherwise add one to your counter if it needs a clockwise twist, or add two if it needs a counterclockwise twist.

If the result is a multiple of three, then no corners are twisted. If it's one more than a multiple of three, then a corner is twisted counterclockwise, and if it's two more than a multiple of three, then a corner is twisted clockwise.

 

[oneshot]

For edges, you can reference Phil Yu's edge orientation detection segment on his ZZ method tutorial https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SzFNhs_ZRE, the rules are, for blue front and white bottom:

Thank you! That's the kind of information I was looking for. Is there something similar for corners?

For corners:
Hold the cube with the white centre on top. Start with a counter at zero. Then for each of the eight corners, look at how you need to twist the corner to bring the white or yellow sticker to the top. If you don't need to twist it, then move on. Otherwise add one to your counter if it needs a clockwise twist, or add two if it needs a counterclockwise twist.

If the result is a multiple of three, then no corners are twisted. If it's one more than a multiple of three, then a corner is twisted counterclockwise, and if it's two more than a multiple of three, then a corner is twisted clockwise.

I guess I forgot to mention I'm only interested in blindsolving. Does this corner twisting only matter when using a blind solving method, or do all the speed cubers have to do this every time? Do you eventually just "know" which are twisted (and flipped for edges) and you don't have to count each time?

Also, I learned DeeDubb's Roux as a beginner method just to have a way to solve it, and I have encountered flipped edges, but never a twisted corner (that I remember anyway) Do they occur in the speedcubing methods like CFOP or whatever they use? And if they do, why not in beginner Roux?

 

[AlphaSheep]

I guess I forgot to mention I'm only interested in blindsolving. Does this corner twisting only matter when using a blind solving method, or do all the speed cubers have to do this every time? Do you eventually just "know" which are twisted (and flipped for edges) and you don't have to count each time?

Also, I learned DeeDubb's Roux as a beginner method just to have a way to solve it, and I have encountered flipped edges, but never a twisted corner (that I remember anyway) Do they occur in the speedcubing methods like CFOP or whatever they use? And if they do, why not in beginner Roux?

Ah. I misunderstood your question. I thought you were looking for a way to find out if someone had scrambled a cube, and then twisted a single corner in place to put the cube in an unsolvable state.

With regards to normal speed solving, whether or not edges and corners are flipped or twisted is referred to as orientation. Usually a speed cuber will identify a pattern and execute the appropriate algorithm to orient the pieces. An exception is the ZZ method mentioned above where a speedcuber actually will count the number of flipped edges.

Regarding the blindsolving, a cuber will memorize a cycle that the pieces trace stating from a given buffer position. Once they are done, they will count whether or not they have enough pieces in the cycle to solve everything. If they don't have enough pieces, they will look at one of the places that was not touched by their memorised cycle. There are three possibilities - (1) The wrong piece is in that place, in which case they will start a new cycle from that position, or (2), the correct piece will be in that location, and all of it's stickers match the adjacent centres, in which case it is solved and can be ignored, or (3) the correct piece will be there, but the stickers don't match the adjacent stickers, in which case the piece is flipped/twisted in place. You keep doing this until every edge and corner is accounted for.

Many of the older blindsolving methods involved orienting and then permuting. In this case, the orientation of the corners can be identified by checking how the corner needs to be twisted to bring the yellow or white sticker to the top or bottom face (assuming white centre on top). These methods are not very efficient and I believe are considered obsolete by most blind solvers now. Have a look for the Old Pochmann method if you want to get into blind solving.