The Battle of Wits and Whims II (Round 3 Announcement)

[Clock_Enthusiast]

Can i add FMC? I need a reason to practice

There won't be any FMC in this competition--it doesn't really fit into the format unfortunately.

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@VortexCuber I added you to a waitlist in case someone drops before we start.

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FOR EVERYONE:

The competition will start in the near future. I will tag everyone who is competing when I make the announcement for Round 1!

 

[Jared Burkhart]

There won't be any FMC in this competition--it doesn't really fit into the format unfortunately.

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@VortexCuber I added you to a waitlist in case someone drops before we start.

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FOR EVERYONE:

The competition will start in the near future. I will tag everyone who is competing when I make the announcement for Round 1!

Unfortunately for me...I am so sorry but I might not be able to join after all. I wanted to so much...plz keep me here but I dunno how I can find time to do this. I will continue trying...but I don't know if you have to count me out eventually. Will you be able to find someone to fill my spot? Will this be an inconvenience? Again, I am so sorry. I am moving and have a crazy schedule right now.

 

[Clock_Enthusiast]

Unfortunately for me...I am so sorry but I might not be able to join after all. I wanted to so much...plz keep me here but I dunno how I can find time to do this. I will continue trying...but I don't know if you have to count me out eventually. Will you be able to find someone to fill my spot? Will this be an inconvenience? Again, I am so sorry. I am moving and have a crazy schedule right now.

That's totally understandable! No worries at all. This is why I made a waitlist for others to join if someone isn't able to compete anymore.

 

[Jared Burkhart]

That's totally understandable! No worries at all. This is why I made a waitlist for others to join if someone isn't able to compete anymore.

Please wait to see what happens, I still might be able to!
Thanks for understanding!

 

[eeeeeeeee]

Hi eeeeeeeee, if you compete, would you be able to compete in more events? This competition format is structured for doing most non-PBQ WCA events, regardless of your speed. It's mostly based around challenges and benchmarks calculated from your official results, so you don't need to be fast in every event you compete in.

clock squan 3x3 skewb pyra 2x2 oh

 

[Clock_Enthusiast]

@AJT17 @Jteddy @BVCuber13 @Jared Burkhart @Idkcuber @eeeeeeeee @cubenerd74 @acrystal @pi=3.14 @Abram Grimsley @mdcuber9 @ILCubing

I'm just confirming your event lists before the competition begins. In this spreadsheet, green represents events you've confirmed participation in, red is for events which you've confirmed non-participation (or were unspecified, and you have no official or speedsolving forum competition results for), and yellow are events which were unspecified, but you have official or speedsolving forum competition results for them. This competition format runs most effectively with more events, and your skill level in these events doesn't matter for most challenges. If you have yellow events in this spreadsheet, it means I just want to confirm if you're able to compete in them; but if you don't currently have access to these puzzles or are extremely against participating in them, I won't require you to compete in these events by any means.


UPDATED EVENT SHEET 07/27/2026

Please let me know if you spot any mistakes or want to make changes!

Have a delightful Tuesday night, or Wednesday day if your geographical coordinates have positioned you accordingly!

 

[mdcuber9]

@AJT17 @Jteddy @BVCuber13 @Jared Burkhart @Idkcuber @eeeeeeeee @cubenerd74 @acrystal @pi=3.14 @Abram Grimsley @mdcuber9 @ILCubing

I'm just confirming your event lists before the competition begins. In this spreadsheet, green represents events you've confirmed participation in, red is for events which you've confirmed non-participation (or were unspecified, and you have no official or speedsolving forum competition results for), and yellow are events which were unspecified, but you have official or speedsolving forum competition results for them. This competition format runs most effectively with more events, and your skill level in these events doesn't matter for most challenges. If you have yellow events in this spreadsheet, it means I just want to confirm if you're able to compete in them; but if you don't currently have access to these puzzles or are extremely against participating in them, I won't require you to compete in these events by any means.

View attachment 50384

Please let me know if you spot any mistakes or want to make changes!

Have a delightful Tuesday night, or Wednesday day if your geographical coordinates have positioned you accordingly!

I can do everything, including clock, I just haven’t stumbled upon a comp with it yet lolll

 

[Jared Burkhart]

@AJT17 @Jteddy @BVCuber13 @Jared Burkhart @Idkcuber @eeeeeeeee @cubenerd74 @acrystal @pi=3.14 @Abram Grimsley @mdcuber9 @ILCubing

I'm just confirming your event lists before the competition begins. In this spreadsheet, green represents events you've confirmed participation in, red is for events which you've confirmed non-participation (or were unspecified, and you have no official or speedsolving forum competition results for), and yellow are events which were unspecified, but you have official or speedsolving forum competition results for them. This competition format runs most effectively with more events, and your skill level in these events doesn't matter for most challenges. If you have yellow events in this spreadsheet, it means I just want to confirm if you're able to compete in them; but if you don't currently have access to these puzzles or are extremely against participating in them, I won't require you to compete in these events by any means.

View attachment 50384

Please let me know if you spot any mistakes or want to make changes!

Have a delightful Tuesday night, or Wednesday day if your geographical coordinates have positioned you accordingly!

If I can, and I surely would love to, you can add 2x2, scewb and pyraminx please!
This is tentative for me, but I so hope I can! Thank you!!!!!

 

[acrystal]

@eeeeeeeee i dont have a clock

 

[Clock_Enthusiast]

Me: Hello, recruits!

You: Hello, Clock_Enthusiast!

Me: Thank you.

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@AJT17 @Jteddy @BVCuber13 @Jared Burkhart @Idkcuber @eeeeeeeee @cubenerd74 @acrystal @pi=3.14 @Abram Grimsley @mdcuber9 @ILCubing

The time has come for round 1 of The Battle of Wits and Whims II! I’m excited to begin the second competition of this riveting and wacky format. I’ll be introducing exciting new challenges and likely recycling some challenges from the single other competition of this series (with slight modifications, for enrichment and surprise).

We have 12 lucky competitors who will battle for a champion title, including 3 former competitors, one of whom being our reigning champion, AJT17! Think of this stage like the Fortnite Battle Bus©, except there are 12 of you. There will be rounds where one competitor, two, or possibly even three competitors will be eliminated; and in the end, there can only be one Victory Royale©.

This competition’s timeline will be more spread out to provide ample time for deadlines, because I am a busy beaver, as are many of you. Deadlines for challenges will be approximately one week, at a clearly specified date and time using the Eastern Standard Time (EST) time zone.


Before I reveal the details for round 1, I’d like to review the fundamental guidelines and advice for this competition. PLEASE READ THESE.


1. Follow WCA rules to the best of your ability, and use a Stackmat timer if you own one. If you don’t have access to a Stackmat timer, timing yourself with a keyboard will suffice.

2. As this competition is rooted in honesty and trust, please be honest with your results. All of your results will be sent to me through direct message to maintain confidentiality throughout the round. This minimizes pressure for other competitors and reinforces honest reporting. I will compile and reveal all results at the end of each round for transparency.

3. Please read challenge guidelines carefully, because I strive to prevent misinterpretation when announcing a given round. If you need any additional clarification or have questions, don’t be afraid to ask! I’m happy to provide any information you may need, and there are no dumb questions (except for “Are there any dumb questions?”).

4. Have fun, and don’t put too much pressure on yourself! This competition is meant for you to enjoy, and if you get eliminated early on, that doesn’t mean you’re a bad speedsolver. These challenges are unique and involve a lot of randomization, and excellent cubers were eliminated early on in the previous Battle of Wits and Whims.

5. If you want some context on how this competition runs, please review the past thread for the OG Battle of Wits and Whims. This competition will be an extremely similar format, and that will give you an idea of what to generally expect.

6. Try not to use a 10x10 in place of another event. You will NOT perform swimmingly.


This is also the time to drop out if you can no longer compete. There are no worries if you can’t compete, if you don’t have time right now, or if you simply don’t want to compete anymore. I have a small waitlist for this exact scenario; but please let me know soon so I can swap anyone out. If you let me know during round 1, I will swap you out and provide the waitlisted competitor with a small deadline extension to account for this.

Additionally, like the previous competition, there will be one or more competitors each round who will receive a unique advantage in the subsequent round based on performance or other miscellaneous challenges.

And with that, here are the guidelines for Round 1!

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Round 1: Know Your Place​

This will be a familiar challenge for some of you, because it is very similar to round 1 in the previous Battle of Wits and Whims (but with a few modifications this time around). I have randomly generated three events from your list of events, and you must select one of these events to perform an average of 5 on (WCA-style, where the fastest and slowest times (or DNF) are removed, then a mean is calculated from the remaining three times). For 6x6 and 7x7, you will do a mean of 3 solves.

Two competitors will be eliminated based on their placement, but rather than the slowest two averages, elimination will be based on two randomly generated positions from 1-12—so selecting sprint events versus longer events is a factor to consider here. In the case of a perfect tie, multiple competitors would have the same outcome (depending on their placement), and the number of total places would change.

The two placements which will result in elimination are: 5th and 8th place

Unlike the previous round 1 challenge from the original competition, the advantage will not go to the top 5 uneliminated competitors, but instead to competitors who earn the following randomly generated placements: 1st and 12th place (this is a crazy randomized combination)

Below is a table showing the three events each of you can select from:

Please either post your event selection in this thread or direct message it to me—that’s up to you! I will post scrambles once everyone decides their event, and the round will officially begin once scrambles are released. I’m delaying scramble generation to prevent event selection based on scramble difficulty, and in case there are events which nobody chooses to participate in.

 

[acrystal]

I have 3 questions.
1. How are we ranked?
2. (related to 1.) I am the only competitor in 5x5, and BVCuber is the only competitor in SQ-1, odes that change anything?
3. Is 7x7 a mo3 or ao5?

Anways, I'll do 5x5.

 

[pi=3.14]

I'll do 2x2

 

[BVCuber13]

I have 3 questions.
1. How are we ranked?
2. (related to 1.) I am the only competitor in 5x5, and BVCuber is the only competitor in SQ-1, odes that change anything?
3. Is 7x7 a mo3 or ao5?

Anways, I'll do 5x5.

1. I'd assume we are ranked based on our times, not based on which event we choose.
2. Relating to 1., no, I don't think that changes anything other than the times we get (which I'm sure will be different).
3. 7x7 should be a mo3, as that complies with WCA rules and regulations.

anyway, @Clock_Enthusiast I'll do 7x7 and (hopefully) get somewhere close to last place.

 

[Clock_Enthusiast]

1. I'd assume we are ranked based on our times, not based on which event we choose.
2. Relating to 1., no, I don't think that changes anything other than the times we get (which I'm sure will be different).
3. 7x7 should be a mo3, as that complies with WCA rules and regulations.

anyway, @Clock_Enthusiast I'll do 7x7 and (hopefully) get somewhere close to last place.

BVCuber13, I am so impressed with your insight and initiative that you get three gold stars!

Yes, these are all true. You are ranked on your times, so your event selection process should take that into consideration.

And you caught the 6x6/7x7 format difference that I forgot to clarify. Yes, those two events will be a Mo3 instead of Ao5.

 

[acrystal]

And you caught the 6x6/7x7 format difference that I forgot to clarify. Yes, those two events will be a Mo3 instead of Ao5.

Wasn't I the one who asked that...... oh whatever, like I have good times or something

 

[Clock_Enthusiast]

Wasn't I the one who asked that...... oh whatever, like I have good times or something

Yes, you get the credit for that one, haha. Here are three gold stars.

 

[acrystal]

Yes, you get the credit for that one, haha. Here are three gold stars.

wait, i have another question
where do you check our times? if its from the wca then i am going to a comp and results will change from then, just to let you know.

 

[Clock_Enthusiast]

wait, i have another question
where do you check our times? if its from the wca then i am going to a comp and results will change from then, just to let you know.

If the challenge is related to your current times in any fashion, I just check WCA. If you have results that aren't uploaded WHILE one of those challenges is happening, we can figure it out then.

 

[Jteddy]

I'll do 3x3 OH.

 

[Idkcuber]

ill do some pyra