Random Blindfold Cubing Discussion

[lucarubik]

I don't know what isomorphic means but there is no doubt 27 is not the number I'm looking for thanks anyway

 

[Zane_C]

How do you visualise weapon for WP? I already have AK-47, excalibur and another weapon. How do you keep them from being too similar?

Good question, I was going to include the answer in my original post. - NINJA weapons!

How do you visualise IE, kick and 'kill vehicle'? Do you just visualise a kick coming from nowhere? [for kick]

IE: I usually imagine IE as someone sitting at a desk and computer.
KV: Emphasising the "kill" part is effective, so give the vehicle a violent entrance into the location. I imaging KV as a large armoured off road car with metal spikes at the front.
KX: A kick can come out of nowhere, but it doesn't have to. eg. VH + KX could be imagined as Van Helsing aggressively kicking.

Does anyone have anything else for PW?

Power (imagined as lightning).

edit: Just realised I don't have GW either..

I use Chris' image for GW - ghost wagon (the car off ghost busters).

 

[luke1984]

I recently learned Old Pochmann for 3x3x3 BLD and I was thinking about modifying the method to do 2x3x3 BLD.
I think I would be pretty easy to do. You could shoot edges with R2 U2 R2 U2 R2 U2 from UB to UF, and shoot corners from ULB to URF with R2 D' R2 U R2 U' R2 D R2 U' R2 U R2 U R2 (Y-perm). Of course in some cases a parity fix is necessary, either an opposite edge switch or adjacent edge switch.
Memo would be pretty easy too, since you'll only have to memo permutation.
And, naturally, the same idea could be applied to other cuboids.

But I'm sure this has done before, hasn't it?

 

[Sakarie]

I recently learned Old Pochmann for 3x3x3 BLD and I was thinking about modifying the method to do 2x3x3 BLD.
I think I would be pretty easy to do. You could shoot edges with R2 U2 R2 U2 R2 U2 from UB to UF, and shoot corners from ULB to URF with R2 D' R2 U R2 U' R2 D R2 U' R2 U R2 U R2 (Y-perm). Of course in some cases a parity fix is necessary, either an opposite edge switch or adjacent edge switch.
Memo would be pretty easy too, since you'll only have to memo permutation.
And, naturally, the same idea could be applied to other cuboids.

But I'm sure this has done before, hasn't it?

Most people that starts to do other puzzles than 2x2 and 3x3 have already learnt a method better than Old Pochmann, like M2 for example.

But yes, you're perfectly right, that's a working method. But there are a lot of possible variants, like using R2 U2 R2 U2 R2 U2 + T-perm ( R2 u R2 u' R2 F2 u' F2 u F2), or always do setup to R2 U' L2 U R2 U' L2 U or something. If speed isn't important, you can use your normal memo method.

If you or anyone is going to learn it fast, it's not that hard tolearn optimal commutators for every possible three-cycle.

 

[luke1984]

Most people that starts to do other puzzles than 2x2 and 3x3 have already learnt a method better than Old Pochmann, like M2 for example.

But yes, you're perfectly right, that's a working method. But there are a lot of possible variants, like using R2 U2 R2 U2 R2 U2 + T-perm ( R2 u R2 u' R2 F2 u' F2 u F2), or always do setup to R2 U' L2 U R2 U' L2 U or something. If speed isn't important, you can use your normal memo method.

If you or anyone is going to learn it fast, it's not that hard tolearn optimal commutators for every possible three-cycle.

Thanks for your reply.

I guess I should get more comfortable with 3x3x3 BLD before trying other puzzles. And, I'm also going to look into M2 like you suggested, though I will stick to Old Pochmann for corners for now. Old Pochmann is really easy, but far from optimal.

 

[Erdos]

I don't know what isomorphic means but there is no doubt 27 is not the number I'm looking for thanks anyway

An isomorphism, in cubing terminology, is just a fancy way of saying "up to rotations, mirrors, and inverses." In other words, one case is isomorphic to another if you can solve it with the same algorithm (with rotations, mirrors, or inverses).

EDIT: For example, A9 has 4 non-isomorphic cases. This means you only need to truly remember 4 different algorithms to solve all A9 cases. However, the 4 algorithms also need to be applied in all different circumstances (rotations, inverses, mirrors).

 

[lucarubik]

thanks, anyway I dont like the rotations part, the number I was looking for is 120 (I think so)

 

[Cubenovice]

I now have 29 left. I really need some other help. Does anyone have any ideas for these:?

DQ - DQ as in Disqualified
ED - mr Ed
GW - GW Bush
HC - Hercules
KV - Kiev
KX - Kix (a Riot kayak model)
NG - nougat
QD - Quad
QK - Quark either food or the DS-9 alien
QM - cumene
QT - Quatar
QW- Kuwait
QX - Q10 pills
UQ - urquhart castle in scotland
VH - Vandenberg-Harris
VJ - vj video jockey
WU - wu shu

Some alternatives for the below

MQ = molotov cocktail - maquette
TJ = trojan horse - Taj (Burrows or Mahal)
UK = UK flag - UK (but as a location)
VA = vaporise - vanadium
VC = vacuum - vietcong

some tricks:
using one and two syllable words as much as possible and stick to some rules
one syl; always first and last letter
two syl: always using first letters of the syllables
So for me venom would be VN
more than two syllables: always the first two letters of the word AM - amsterdam
Q could also be cu or ku as in QW - kuwait or QM -cumene

 

[iEnjoyCubing]

Wow, I now realize how hard BLD really is (to get it right - not necessarily to learn it) - I've been learning Old Pochmann, I now know how it works and just tried to solve JUST the edges for the first time without looking. It took me 20 minutes and I still missed 4 of them... but I guess I'm happy with it. I only glanced over the method and worked with it for an hour or so - so with practice I should be able to get the edges completely solved soon... but then that leaves corners o.o Are there any good videos on Youtube that explain memo tips? Thanks in advance, I'll accept other general tips as well

 

[pi.cubed]

some tricks:
using one and two syllable words as much as possible and stick to some rules
one syl; always first and last letter
two syl: always using first letters of the syllables
So for me venom would be VN
more than two syllables: always the first two letters of the word AM - amsterdam
Q could also be cu or ku as in QW - kuwait or QM -cumene

That's a good idea! It would allow memorisation of the list to be much easier. It seems like it would make making the list quite hard though, because of all the limitations? Either way, I've been making this current list for a long time, and I can't be bothered to redo it. .
Oh yeah, how does 'Q10 pills' relate to QX? I guess it is the name of the brand or something like that I don't know. Because QTen could go for QT.
How do you visualise the countries you use (Qatar, Kuwait, United Kingdom)? Thanks.
Thanks for your other suggestions too! I got quite a few from your post.

Thanks Zane for all your suggestions!

I didn't want to make this a repetetive thing with me continually updating and asking for new ones, but that is what is has/will turn out to be.
I also just realised I don't have EH. All I had written down was 'eh?' from Chris' list. I have absolutely no idea how to visualise that effectively lol.
I now have 18 left (not including X, which I haven't started yet)

Spoiler

DQ
ED
EH
FU
GQ
NQ
NX
QA
QM
QO
QR
QT
QW
QX
UJ
UT
VH
VJ

Thanks.

 

[riffz]

Oh yeah, how does 'Q10 pills' relate to QX? I guess it is the name of the brand or something like that I don't know. Because QTen could go for QT.

X = 10 in Roman numerals

I also just realised I don't have EH. All I had written down was 'eh?' from Chris' list. I have absolutely no idea how to visualise that effectively lol.

Not sure what Chris uses, but I just picture a crazy Canadian adorned with red and white clothing, a Canada hat, and a souvenir style flag in his hands. He also has big glasses and buck teeth and acts like a dweeb.

You could also use the Canadians from South Park.

 

[Escher]

EH = (J) Edgar Hoover?

 

[Cubenovice]

That's a good idea! It would allow memorisation of the list to be much easier. It seems like it would make making the list quite hard though, because of all the limitations? Either way, I've been making this current list for a long time, and I can't be bothered to redo it. .
Oh yeah, how does 'Q10 pills' relate to QX? I guess it is the name of the brand or something like that I don't know. Because QTen could go for QT.
How do you visualise the countries you use (Qatar, Kuwait, United Kingdom)? Thanks.

Some more info on my memo system:

Using a set of rules did not really make it harder for me to set up my list, I tried to focus on the 1 and 2 syllable words and filled in the blanks with longer words.
Over time I found (and keep finding) shorter/better words and update my list accordingly.
For an existing list rules will be much harder to implement and it will depend on how comfortable you are with your list if adjusting is worth the effort.

QX = Q is Q and X = 10 in the roman number system
This are a brand of food supplements that I saw a lot of advertising for when I was younger.

In my memo I do not really visualize, I make sentences / stories and therefore I can use things like countries, cities and even nationalities.
This gives me some flexibility: ES is the county code for Spain and in my stories this can be incorporated either as the location Spain or as a Spanish person.
Whichever fits best into the developing story.

Yep Spain = ES goes against my rules above but every rule has exeptions; country codes and chemical elements are exempt.

My craziest rule: one syllable words with U in them do are not encoding the first and last letter but the first +U.
Some examples of my actual list (In Dutch)
muur = MU while MR = meer (wall – lake)
rus = RU while RS = roos (Russian – rose)
fuut = FU while FT = foto (Podiceps cristatus – foto)

This was the only solution (for me) to come up with good words for letter pairs ending on U

Apart from the locations all my words are objects/people so I still can go the “visualization” route in the future without major changes to my list.
Most locations do have some distinct features anyway so changes will be very limited.
UK: Big Ben
US: Statue of liberty
Amsterdam: too many to list, I can just “see” the city as if I’m stepping out of Amsterdam Central Station

Note: I am not saying you should do this, this is just one of many systems.

Question to all: Are there other people that have a rule sets for their word list?

 

[Zane_C]

I use Anne of Little Britain for EH.

 

[Robert-Y]

I know I never post on here, but I was just talking to Riffz and Ryan about how I memo for 3BLD which I think might be worth posting about. I got this idea whilst failing to come up with actual images for letter pairs whilst doing some 3BLD solves. (Yeah I should complete my personal letter pair list asap )

I'll just give an example memo:

Corners: TFKO EGWM
Edges: AFLC VMRF JEWD

I break it down into groups of 4 or less. After each group of four letter, I say to yourself what it sounds like.

So for "TFKO" I say something like "TiFKO" to myself, and then in my head I can now "see" the letter TFKO in my head which I can use to aid me in execution.

(The sounds I say to myself for the other letter groups are like "EGWuM" "AFLiC" "VerMRuF" and "JEWD")

After saying the sounds once or twice, I should be able to picture "TFKO EGWM" and "AFLC VMRF JEWD" in my head in big capitals whilst doing execution.


Is there a name for this already? If not, they've suggested "image letters", "letter images" or "pure letters". But I guess it doesn't really fit.
Does anyone do exactly this, or perhaps something similar?

Finally, I've only gotten some good times (good for me I mean) with this method, because right now, it's highly dependent on the number of letters I need to see, and the ease of the sounds I say to myself. However, I've only done about 10 solves upon switching and I'm not that fast anyway, so I can't really say if it's bad or not.

 

[Julian]

Does anyone do exactly this, or perhaps something similar?

I usually combine this (I've called it visualized letters) with audio for corners. I also use it in combination with random other stuff at random other times to enhance my memo (sometimes during 4x4 wings).

 

[Erdos]

^^ That's a somewhat raw version of the 1-syll letter pairs. The audio processing is quite variable since it ranges from 1SPS to 3-4 SPS (stickers [encoded] per syllable). Since we use the term "1-syllable letter pair" for 2SPS, I'd just use the term "1-syllable audio chunking" or something similar for the variable xSPS where 0<x<4. The most efficient would be a consistent chunking method with a high SPS and a fast decoding process. The two seem to have quite the inverse relationship and so 1 syll letter pairs is a strong compromise.

 

[pi.cubed]

I had a great long reply that took me a long time written out here, but then Firefox crashed and I lost it. I am really frustrated and can't be bothered to rewrite it. I 'll just write the basics.

Thanks for all your help and suggestions. I am now down to 8 (excluding X which I haven't done much on yet):

DQ
GQ
NQ
NX
QO
UJ
VH
VJ

There is a couple of suggestions that keep popping up but I don't know how to visualise. Any ideas?:
Van Helsing (VH)
Disqualified (DQ)
I also have the possibility of GQ (magazine) for GQ. I posted it up here hoping for other ideas, but there isn't any lol. How could I visualise this effectively?

Obviously now I'm looking for ideas on the ones I don't have, or suggestions for visualisation on previously suggested ones. Thanks.

 

[RyanReese09]

DQ could be Dairy Queen, which I just imagine the big lips for. Perhaps you could do that?

I use GQ magazine as well, so can't help you there.

 

[bobthegiraffemonkey]

@Rob: I used to use this combined with journeys (placing the images of the letters at each location), and managed 5/5 multi with it. I've since switched to more conventional images and find it far better. As a temporary method until your letter pair list is done, it will probably work, but I would switch as soon as you can. While it does have benefits, in practice I feel it just doesn't work as well as other methods, although everyone is different and it might be better for you .

On the subject, here's my letter pair list idea I posted before in OABLDQT, which went ignored and to which I have more to add:

My current memo method isn't quite as good as I hoped, so I'm going to move onto images. I had an idea a couple of days ago (inspired in part by the recent condensed sentences discussion), and was wondering if anyone has used/can give me advice on it, though I don't see any issues and will almost certainly use it. It's basically the lazy man's letter pairs: I'm planning to make a list of adjectives and nouns, one of each per letter (not letter pair), which I can then combine into images by taking the adjective of the first letter in the pair, then applying it to the noun of the second letter to make an image. What do you experienced memory people think? Is this actually common knowledge and I just haven't heard of it?

I've now been using this for a while, and it seems to work well. It has several benefits, not least of which is that is easy to add more letters to the letter pair list easily. I have it prepared for the English and Greek alphabets. It helps to separate edge and corner memo since I use different alphabets for each. This extends to big cubes, and can make it easier to tell when to switch piece type. When I try 6BLD or bigger, I might use it to separate the different obliques too. Also, I have a rough outline for digits 0-9 as well (not finalised yet), since 26 English letters + 24 Greek letters + 10 digits = 60 sticker positions for megaminx.

I should add that I have additional descriptions for PBD pieces, for example for a flipped edge I would take the object for one of the stickers of the edge and visualise it upside down. Since all my objects are Pokemon, it amounts to a handstand . I'm also adding a means of memoing floating buffers for centers, for which I will add in a third image to the location (I usually have 2 images per location). For floating buffers I AUF to move an unsolved center to my buffer, and since that's the 'ewe' face I use sheep Pokemon. Oh how memo is fun ...