The blindfold race!

Julian said:
Chris, I am very curious as to your strategies for the 3 new challenges.
Click to expand...

I don't want to give away too much, at least until I've tried the challenges first. I've already been doing RU BLD solving for a few years now, so I already have a complete method for that. For double turn only solving my method is about 90-95% solid. I just have one case to work out, in case it comes up. For Anti-slice solving my method is only 50%. I still have a bit to work out, but I figured by making this challenge official that it would force me to stop being lazy and finish my method.

You don't have to have a method for these challenges already. Create a method for them! The main focus of this week is accomplishment. I had to rank the times to make this a weekly challenge, but the real point is whether you can do the additional challenges at all. If you don't have a method already for one of the challenges, then think of how much fun it will be to create a method for it!
 
Chris, I'm going to Croatia tomorrow and I'm staying there for 1 week... You've just given me something to do while I'm on the road :D

Beginner level:
1:15.45, 1:14.18, 48.80, DNF, 53.09

48.80 is good for me, but the 4th solve could have been even faster... I screwed up corners memo :fp
 
I managed the Intermediate Level!

Beginner: 1:16.35
DNF(1:59.37)[2 flipped edges], 1:52.36, 1:41.79, 1:16.35, 1:30.36
Nice Single, I accually thought, that I was much slower.

Intermediate: 1:33.41
1:33.41[27.65], DNF(2:17.55)[1:13.20], 2:12.74[41.91], DNF(2:03.59)[33.12], 2:03.02[26.22]
After half an hour, I found a "nice" (?) way for dealing with corners, edges are trivial. Than I generated 1 alg with aCube (from Stachu) and practiced them (only a little bit). After two excample solves I tried Chris`s scrambles. With more practice, more solves, ... there are much better times possible, but I´m to lazy for that.
I will give you some facts about the method.
The method has 4 steps.

The first one is very simple, but in 50% of the cases, it need a lot of moves and a lot of time.
Next step is very fast.
For the 3rd step there is 1 alg to learn (+the mirrored one).
For the 4th step there are 4 cases. In case 1, the cube is already solved, in case 2-4 you have to do combinations of Us and PLLs

So that was enough information for you. Use your own brain.
I can publish the hole method, when this comp is over.
edit: Oh I forgot to post, that my solution for the first scramble has exactly 100 moves, the solution for the second scramble exactly 150 moves.
 
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I'm going to try all 4 levels, but I banged out the last missing parts of my double turns method last night, so I did the advanced category first.

Advanced:
1:31.87 2:13.34 DNF 1:09.16 1:23.59
 
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insane569 said:
DNFed the first 2 beginners and im not gonna try the others
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BLD practice is very different from regular speedsolving practice. In BLD, even a DNF is good practice. You train your brain to think harder, you work on your memorization (and also solving phases), and even though a DNF can be very disappointing, it's still good practice.

Don't give up now! You have a full week to do the other solves (just stick to the regular BLD solves for this week if you want). Yes DNFs are no fun, but you may feel differently in 3 or 4 days. Give it some time, and try the rest later this week! Good luck!
 
cmhardw said:
BLD practice is very different from regular speedsolving practice. In BLD, even a DNF is good practice. You train your brain to think harder, you work on your memorization (and also solving phases), and even though a DNF can be very disappointing, it's still good practice.

Don't give up now! You have a full week to do the other solves (just stick to the regular BLD solves for this week if you want). Yes DNFs are no fun, but you may feel differently in 3 or 4 days. Give it some time, and try the rest later this week! Good luck!
Click to expand...

yes i know but its good practice both solves were sub 5 and i was close on the second one but the first one threw me into an all caps rage cause the cycle made no sense
in the end ill try later school is gonna start soon so ill have alot of time to practice in lunch or the bus
 
Now managed the next Level!

Advanced Level: 1:54.60
2:25.03[1:06], 2:30.18[1:13], DNF(2:21.11)[1:26], DNF(2:02.80)[1:27], 1:54.60[1:00]
Bad times. I just did 2 scrambles for practice and the second was 1:12.xx[40].
It´s a really easy method, I found. RU bandaging was harder, I think. This time I only had to generate 2 algs, and the rest is freestyle.
The biggest problem is memorization, it takes so long.
But of course with practice, it will be much fast. I only had two solves before the actuall scrambles.
 
Beginner: 1:15.62
1:38.21, 2:00.94, 1:23.18, 1:21.42, 1:15.62
Comment: Frustrating - on both of the last two solves, I actually paused for about 10 seconds to recall the last image. They could have been so fast!

Intermediate: 2:41.83
DNF [2:43.64], 2:41.83, 4:39.84 [+], 2:54.78, 4:04.30
Comment: I feel like I cheated because it involves a small amount of speedBLD (hence the slow times), but it was easy to figure out and remember. Solving phase is very quick, and I only needed to learn one simple algorithm.

Advanced: 3:27.18
DNF [3:20.48, 0:48, 4 corners], 3:35.93 [1:24], 3:27.18 [1:11], 4:06.53 [1:04], DNF [3:01.60, 1:02]
Comment: No speedBLD on this one, but I have to think too much while executing. I notice my memo times were the same as Jakube's, but my execution times were much worse. My algs are really long.

Insane: 1:00.78
1:24.86 [1:10], 1:44.27 [1:16], DNF [2:01.90, 0:48], 2:20.68 [1:57], 1:00.78 [0:41]
Comment: This really is exactly the same as the Geary Cube (note the "y" on the end - this is not the same as the Gear Cube, which is a totally different, although related, puzzle - the Gear Cube is available commercially, whereas the Geary Cube is not). So I'm very happy to be able to add another puzzle to the list of different puzzles I've solved blindfolded now! This was really quite easy. My fastest solution was just 24 moves (12 antislice turns) - two fewer than the scramble! Again I'm doing a few moves of speedBLD, but unlike the Intermediate level, in this case it really feels like it's the correct way to go about solving it. I used 3 algorithms, all of which I came up with myself (without any computer help) - they're all very short. I'm looking forward to my 3,762 Internets and my cookie!
 
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Finally managed the Insane Level! :)

Insane: 2:40.81
DNF(3:02.61)[~2:00], DNF(2:36.60) [1:41], 3:17.34[2:22], 3:02.65[1:12], 2:40.81[1:40]
The last one could have been much faster. But while memo, I heard loud shots outside (They sound really close to my house), so I kinda stopped for a while (~0:20 ???) and listened. (Maybe just firecrackers.)
The last one was really easy. 36 Move Solution on a 26 Move Scramble (When you count (R L) as 2 moves.)
edit: Just went to all 5 solves again, and found out that my method need always around 30 Moves, my solution to the first scramble would only had 24 (But I messed it up).
Time are really slow, I didn´t even had a success before I tried Chris´s Scrambles.

Thanks to Mike for giving the advice, that it kinda turn similar to a Gear cube. So that helped me a bit. I had the ideas before, but with that hint and one of redkb´s videos the solution was pretty obvious. (Although it´s not the same, algs for the Gear Cube don´t work here.)

And thanks to Chris for offering this race. It was a lot of fun developing the methods, although I forgot practicing BigBLD the last days, only because of this challenge.
P.S.: I want my 3,762 Internets!
 
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Haha this went really bad.

Beginner: DNF, DNF, DNF, 48.64, DNF = 48.64
Comment: I don't have a clue what I did wrong on any of the DNFs. The first was scrambled, the other DNFs were off by edges.

I spent some time trying to think of a way to compete in intermediate and advanced. The advanced level seems harder then it first appeared, the corners of the intermediate level have me stumped. I'm not going anywhere near the insane level. :p
 
I just updated with some great times on the Insane level, which proved to be insanely easy once you figured it out. I hope we will all post our methods on here once the competition is over - I'm still quite unhappy with my Intermediate level method, and I'd like to have a better approach.

Now if I can just figure out the Advanced level...

Edit: I managed it. Really slow, but I'm still happier with this than I was with the Intermediate level approach. It's nice to have gotten them all! Thanks, Chris, this was a good break, especially for right after Nationals!
 
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I finally joined the Insane challenge club! Yay 3,762 Internets (and a cookie ;) ) !

Week 34:

Beginner:
1:46.06 DNF 1:50.31 1:11.25 1:05.50

Intermediate:
2:37.84 DNF DNF 4:43.31 4:23.75

Advanced:
1:31.87 2:13.34 DNF 1:09.16 1:23.59

Insane:
1:02.91 DNF 2:37.37 3:30.18 59.34
comment: I only noted my memo times on solve 4 and solve 5. Solve 4 I memo'd in approximately 3:15, and solve 5 I memo'd in approximately 45 seconds. The incredible inconsistency in my times makes a lot more sense when you know what my method is.

I thought the intermediate challenge was the most difficult, and the advanced challenge I thought was the most fun. I plan to post about my method for each challenge after this week is over. Coming up with a method for the insane level was actually kind of fun!
 
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Week 34 - Bandaged blindfold competition - Results

Congrats to everyone who completed a unique challenge, whether it was Intermediate, Advanced, or Insane! I will not post a challenge for week 35, so it's fair game for someone else to take over.

Beginner (No bandaging)(6)
1. 48.64 Zane_C
2. 48.80 porkynator
3. 1:05.50 cmhardw
4. 1:15.62 Mike Hughey
5. 1:16.35 Jakube
6. 38:25.91 theZcuber
7. DNF insane569

Intermediate (RU bandaging)(5)
1. 1:33.41 Jakube
2. 2:37.84 cmhardw
3. 2:41.83 Mike Hughey
4. 4:36.81 porkynator
5. DNF RyanReese09

Advanced (double turn only bandaging)(4)
1. 1:09.16 cmhardw
2. 1:22.90 porkynator
3. 1:54.60 Jakube
4. 3:27.18 Mike Hughey

The following people are awarded 3,762 Internets each, as well as a cookie! ;)

Insane (Anti-slice bandaging)(4)
1. 47.38 porkynator
2. 59.34 cmhardw
3. 1:00.78 Mike Hughey
4. 2:40.81 Jakube

I'm glad that people seemed to enjoy the more difficult challenges! I had fun doing them as well! Don't be surprised if they come up again in another weekly BLD race (hint hint ;) ).
 
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I'm sorry for being late, but I've just come back home after being a week on holiday. I Managed to do all the levels before Sunday, but I didn't have an internet connection; these are my times:

Beginner:
1:15.45, 1:14.18, 48.80, DNF, 53.09

Intermediate:
DNF(2:03.22), 6:01.27, 4:36.91, DNF(5:16.90), DNF(2:24.32)

Advanced:
3:08.79, DNF(2:55.42), DNF(2:35.17), 3:15.17, 1:22.90

Insane:
2:30.05, 1:14.07, 47.38, 1:41.24, DNF(1:41.50)

Very quick explanation of my methods:
Intermediate:
-Edges memo like in a normal 3BLD solve; if there's parity, do just an U move (speedblind) e memo again;
-Kinda speedblind corner permutation with sexy move x3 or X-perm;
-Solve edges with setup + U-perm;
-Solve corner orientation with Sune + U-perm.

Advanced:
-Speedblind corners, but instead of using moves like U2, R2 or D2 use an X-perm on the U, R or D layer, so you leave edges where they are (X-perm I found out by myself: R2 U2 x' (R2 U2)*3 (F2 R2 U2 R2)*2 x U2 R2 U2; very long but it works);
-VIsually memorize edges and solve them using one of these algs I found out: (R2 U2)*3; (M2 U2)*2; (F2 R2 U2 R2)*2; (R2 U2 R2 F2)*2 or H-perm (same as X-perm before, but without the final U2).

Insane:
This was the funniest one. My third solve (47.38) was like 2 moves + parity alg.
-Speedblind corners. I think they're at most 3 moves (+ anti-slices) to get corners solved. You may bump into a "parity" case: UBL and UFR need to be swapped, as well as DBR and DFL; to sove it I use (F B R L)*3 U2 D2, which also swaps the edges of the E slice in a "X" shape (do the alg and you'll understand).
-Trace edges and solve them; there are just a few permutation cases, so it's not hard at all; algs:
R L E2 R' L' y R L E2 R' L' y' (Double-H)
R L E2 R' L' E2 (T-X)
(T-X) z (Double-H) (TTT)
M2 E2 S2 (Double-H) (TTX)
-Orientation problem: to fix the 8 misoriented edges problem I used: R L U D F B R' L' U' D' F' B' (Double-H)
 
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