Weekly competition 2010-20

[Mike Hughey]

I couldn't resist trying the fewest moves solve this week; I felt like I was too far out of practice. It turned out to be an easy one. And I also tied ManasijV on yet another event this week!

Mike Hughey

3x3x3 Fewest Moves: 30 moves

Scramble: L R' B' L2 D R' U' R F2 R U' F' U2 L2 B' U F2 R2
Solution: B R' B2 F L' R' B R' U R' D' L2 D2 F' D' L' F2 L2 R B2 R' F' R B2 R' L' F2 U' F' U

Spoiler

1x2x3: B R' B2 F
2x2x3: L' R' B R' U R'
3x cross D' L2 D2 F' D' L' F2 L2
4th pair: F' . L' F2 U' F' U
insert at .: F R B2 R' F' R B2 R'
F' F cancel before insertion

Comment: I finished this in about 20 minutes, and quit because generally when I get a single insertion for a last layer, I never find anything better.

 

[okayama]

3x3x3: 26.32, (28.29), 22.62, (21.63), 27.84 = 25.59

3x3x3 Blindfolded: 4:14.09, DNF [5:36.73], 5:01.51 = 4:14.09

4x4x4 Blindfolded: DNF [26:25.01], DNF [24:07.60], 31:29.06 = 31:29.06
1st: 3 corners left, 2nd: 2 centers and 3 edges left

5x5x5 Blindfolded: 76:28.33, 64:15.88, DNS = 64:15.88

3x3x3 Multiple Blindfolded: 1/3 24:58.28
2nd: 4 twisted corners, 3rd: 2 twisted edges

3x3x3 Fewest Moves: 35 moves

Spoiler

Scramble: L R' B' L2 D R' U' R F2 R U' F' U2 L2 B' U F2 R2
Solution: B F2 U2 R' U' R D R2 U' R U R2 D' U' R' U' R' U F U' B U F' U' B2 R B2 U' B L F' D R2 U R'

(For inverse scramble)

Turn pre-scramble U R U2 F2 B' to understand

1x2x2 block (a): R U' R2
1x2x2 block (b): D'
2x2x3 block: F L' B2
Orient edges: B U B2 R' B *
F2L minus 1 slot: R U R U
All but 3 corners: D R2 U' R' U R2 D' R'
Correction: U R U2 F2 B'

Insert at *: B U F U' B' U F' U'

 

[Mike Hughey]

3x3x3 Blindfolded: 4:14.09, DNF [5:36.73], 5:01.51 = 4:14.09
4x4x4 Blindfolded: DNF [26:25.01], DNF [24:07.60], 31:29.06 = 31:29.06
1st: 3 corners left, 2nd: 2 centers and 3 edges left
5x5x5 Blindfolded: 76:28.33, 64:15.88, DNS = 64:15.88

Wow, it's nice to see someone else willing to work hard at these. Your times look a lot like my times at these events back when I first started competing here. Nice job getting 2 successes in a row on 5x5x5 BLD!

 

[Lumej]

Lumej

2x2: 14.70, 11.35, (14.77), (10.92), 11.17 = 12.41
3x3: 24.08, 25.51 (26.76), (23.67), 24.81 = 24.80
2x2bld: 1:51.96, DNF, DNF = 1:51.96
234: 2:46.09
2345: 6:45.83
3x3oh: (49.62), 58.98, (1:17.45), 1:01.85, 1:02.31 = 1:01.05
5x5: 3:45.30, 3:17.32, (3:10.17), 3:46.33, (3:58.83) = 3:36.32
magic: 2.22, 2.53, 2.28, (2.96), (1.86) = 2.34
sq-1: (DNF), 2:08.32, (1:18.19), 2:04.54, 2:07.75 = 2:06.87

 

[Edam]

2x2 9.77, 5.59, 10.78, (14.41), (4.19) = 8.71
3x3 16.43, 17.18, 17.78, (17.80), (16.19) = 17.13 eh
4x4 1:18.36, (1:25.25), 1:18.19, (1:16.80), 1:24.00 = 1:20.18 good
5x5 2:37.91, (2:35.81), 2:45.52, 2:38.06, (2:51.13) = 2:40.50

3x3oh 1:07.06, 55.34, 58.78, (50.66), (1:13.90) = 1:00.39
234: 1:47.65

 

[Cubenovice]

Cubenovice

2x2x2: (28.81), (14.38), 24.34, 16.39, 15.61 = 18.78
3x3x3: (1:07.98), (41.03), 44.66, 45.58, 58.05 = 49.43
4x4x4: 6:03.86, 7:32.23, (7:42.70), 6:31.70, (5:40.83) = 6:42.60

Pff... no progress whatsoever
I'll have a hard time not finishing last in my first competition coming weekend...

 

[Micael]

3x3x3 Blindfolded: 4:14.09, DNF [5:36.73], 5:01.51 = 4:14.09
4x4x4 Blindfolded: DNF [26:25.01], DNF [24:07.60], 31:29.06 = 31:29.06
1st: 3 corners left, 2nd: 2 centers and 3 edges left
5x5x5 Blindfolded: 76:28.33, 64:15.88, DNS = 64:15.88

Wow, it's nice to see someone else willing to work hard at these. Your times look a lot like my times at these events back when I first started competing here. Nice job getting 2 successes in a row on 5x5x5 BLD!

Yea, very good effort.

 

[guusrs]

fmc: R' B R F2 R B U' B' U' R2 U F' U F U2 B' R' B R U R2 B2 L F' D R2 U R' (28)

NISS solution:
start on inverse scramble: with premoves [B' F2] R U' R2 D' F L' B2
switch to regular scramble with premoves [B2 L F' D R2 U R']
F2L: R' B R F2 R B U' B' U' R2 U F' U F U' (15)
LL: U' B' R' B R U R2 (21)
pre-move correction: B2 L F' D R2 U R' (28)
not an easy scramble after all......
Gus

 

[Mike Hughey]

I was planning on using NISS (the reason I tried it was because I wanted to practice NISS before the upcoming competitions), but I found that really easy 30-move solve before I ever got around to trying it, so I didn't bother this time. I'll really use NISS next time - it's fun to use, but it's helpful to practice it occasionally so you don't get confused how to execute the premove inversions, etc. It's not hard, but I find I can sometimes get confused with it if I'm out of practice.

 

[kinch2002]

3x3x3 Blindfolded: 4:14.09, DNF [5:36.73], 5:01.51 = 4:14.09
4x4x4 Blindfolded: DNF [26:25.01], DNF [24:07.60], 31:29.06 = 31:29.06
1st: 3 corners left, 2nd: 2 centers and 3 edges left
5x5x5 Blindfolded: 76:28.33, 64:15.88, DNS = 64:15.88

Wow, it's nice to see someone else willing to work hard at these. Your times look a lot like my times at these events back when I first started competing here. Nice job getting 2 successes in a row on 5x5x5 BLD!

Yea, very good effort.

Another 5blder Your times will plummet in the next few weeks

 

[guusrs]

I was planning on using NISS (the reason I tried it was because I wanted to practice NISS before the upcoming competitions), but I found that really easy 30-move solve before I ever got around to trying it, so I didn't bother this time. I'll really use NISS next time - it's fun to use, but it's helpful to practice it occasionally so you don't get confused how to execute the premove inversions, etc. It's not hard, but I find I can sometimes get confused with it if I'm out of practice.

Hi Mike

My advice is to use NISS only if you're stuck with a nice start on the regular or inverse scramble. For me it gives me a good solution for about 25% of all scrambles. But if you're not an LL-alg hero it will probably give you a higher success rate.

Good luck on your next compeition!

Gus

 

[Tim Major]

Pyraminx: 1:40.96, 1:17.08, 40.66, 1:00.53, 1:11.83 = 1:09.81
Comment: Nice! 5/5! The third one was really fast, too.

Hey, I'd love an explanation on the method you use. Well, I guess a tutorial really, not just 20 words saying basically what you do
I usually average about 30-40 on this, but that's because I just use LBL (or Polish V sometimes) and trace the other pieces. I have about 1/7 success rate Anywhere I can learn your method?

 

[Mike Hughey]

My advice is to use NISS only if you're stuck with a nice start on the regular or inverse scramble. For me it gives me a good solution for about 25% of all scrambles. But if you're not an LL-alg hero it will probably give you a higher success rate.

Thanks so much for the advice. I generally do exactly as you say, although:
1. what I consider a nice start would probably be something you would consider a bad start;
2. I get stuck pretty often - almost all the time (this week was an exception);
3. I'm definitely not an LL-alg hero - I know all OLLs, but I only really know one of each OLL and PLL for almost all cases, and I generally don't know what they do to the other pieces, so I still have to try them to see.

I've been finding NISS helpful on about half my solves, because of these things. The only danger is that sometimes I might run out of time.

Good luck on your next compeition!

Thanks. I probably won't get to try fewest moves at Ohio, since it's running concurrently with multiBLD. But I'm definitely looking forward to the two chances at US Nationals.

 

[kinch2002]

Pyraminx: 1:40.96, 1:17.08, 40.66, 1:00.53, 1:11.83 = 1:09.81
Comment: Nice! 5/5! The third one was really fast, too.

Hey, I'd love an explanation on the method you use. Well, I guess a tutorial really, not just 20 words saying basically what you do
I usually average about 30-40 on this, but that's because I just use LBL (or Polish V sometimes) and trace the other pieces. I have about 1/7 success rate Anywhere I can learn your method?

I'm going to take a guess at optimal 3 edge cycles? And sunes for centres?

 

[Mike Hughey]

@kinch2002: Yeah, you got it.

Pyraminx: 1:40.96, 1:17.08, 40.66, 1:00.53, 1:11.83 = 1:09.81
Comment: Nice! 5/5! The third one was really fast, too.

Hey, I'd love an explanation on the method you use. Well, I guess a tutorial really, not just 20 words saying basically what you do
I usually average about 30-40 on this, but that's because I just use LBL (or Polish V sometimes) and trace the other pieces. I have about 1/7 success rate Anywhere I can learn your method?

It's pretty simple, actually. I use variants of U' R' U R' U' R' U R' to twist the corners (centers), and then I do BH for the edges. So I have "memorized" optimal algorithms for all 64 cases (I think that's right) of 3-cycles for the edges, and I just solve using those. Most cycles are 4, 5, or 6 moves; a few are 7 moves. They're pretty easy to figure out. When I put "memorized" in quotes, it's because often I have to sort of figure them out again on the spot (like you typically do when learning BH for cubes). It took just a few days to learn them all. If you play with them a while, you'll discover you can figure most of them out pretty easily, and most of them fit a few basic classes. Just like BH for cubes.

I suppose I could eventually do a thread somewhere describing the algorithms, like Chris and Daniel have done for regular BH. It's a kind of silly event, I guess, but I enjoy it.

 

[Baian Liu]

2x2: (7.21), (3.60), 6.26, 6.18+, 4.42 = 5.62
Looks like how I do at competition...
3x3: (16.68), 19.36, 18.73, 17.24, (21.61) = 18.44
OH: 52.18, (45.14), 1:01.84, 49.16, (1:19.93) = 54.39

Pyraminx: (8.60), 12.82, 10.66, (15.84), 9.94 = 11.14

 

[sutty17]

2x2x2: (5.90) 8.11 8.09 7.44 (8.12) = 7.88
3x3x3: (19.63) 17.86 19.17 17.29 (16.29) = 18.11
4x4x4: 1:09.76 (1:07.42) 1:19.23 1:20.27 (1:22.69) = 1:16.42
5x5x5: 2:25.85 2:25.64 2:31.01 (2:45.08) (2:24.93) = 2:27.50
6x6x6: 5:02.88 5:05.33 (5:27.82) 5:22.49 (4:47.24) = 5:10.23
7x7x7: (6:59.24) (7:40.26) 7:26.70 7:26.99 7:27.15 = 7:26.95
2x2x2BLD: 55.91 2:16.07 DNF(2:31.94) = 55.91
3x3x3 OH: (48.69) (27.90) 44.35 46.96 46.39 = 45.90
2x2x2 + 3x3x3 + 4x4x4: 1:42.84
2x2x2 + 3x3x3 + 4x4x4 + 5x5x5: 4:30.62
Magic: (1.19) 1.16 1.18 (1.15) 1.15 = 1.16
Megaminx: (3:38.05) 3:28.10 (2:55.03) 3:06.76 3:15.84 = 3:16.90
Pyraminx: (7.46) 10.93 11.63 9.68 (12.59) = 10.75

 

[kinch2002]

2x2x2: 5.04, (5.25), 4.29, (3.99), 4.94 = 4.76
3x3x3: (14.43), 14.56, (19.59), 17.41, 16.42 = 16.13
Got the only OLL I don't know twice
4x4x4: (1:06.99), 1:14.36, 1:13.41, (1:15.79), 1:12.63 = 1:13.47
Yuck
5x5x5: 2:29.80, 2:30.57, (2:34.61), 2:24.61, (2:19.42) = 2:28.33
Yuck again
7x7x7: (8:04.51), (7:43.61), 7:45.13, 7:48.32, 7:51.31 = 7:48.25
2x2x2BLD: 51.06, DNF, 19.54 = 19.54
Speedbld on 3rd
3x3x3BLD: 2:35.58, DNS, DNS = 2:35.58
4x4x4BLD: 6:53.98 [2:43.32] , 7:55.21 [2:53.64], 7:24.86 [3:14.87] = 6:53.98
I can properly restart 4bld again now that I have a half decent 4x4
5x5x5BLD: 14:28.11 [6:37.42], 12:41.23 [5:40.58], 14:24.68 [5:47.25] = 12:41.23
Really didn't expect to get 3 nice solves. Can't remember how lucky they were because I did these some time ago but the times look good
MultiBLD: 7/7 44:21.42 [30:15.32]
This was my first attempt over 5 cubes (and 3rd attempt of more than 3 cubes). I did a 31 min 7/7 last night - just getting used to my lettering system and the new journey probably accouted for the improvement in time.
OH: (28.35), 25.23, (24.94), 26.24, 27.97 = 26.48
Feet: (1:56.13), 1:46.54, 1:48.09, (1:35.63), 1:38.64 = 1:44.42
MTS: (54.79), 53.30, 50.75, (47.98), 54.42 = 52.82
2x2x2+3x3x3+4x4x4: 1:37.90
2x2x2+3x3x3+4x4x4+5x5x5: 4:03.12
Megaminx: 3:03.54, 3:06.76, 3:01.34, (2:54.31), 3:06.94 = 3:03.88
Pyraminx: (9.65), 9.35, (6.67), 8.23, 6.87 = 8.15
Did the same pyra scrambles BLD just now and got [(DNF), 1:33.62, (1:09.13+), 2:08.83, 1:37.60 = 1:46.68].
Square-1: 52.52, 52.16, 42.87, (1:12.29), (37.66) = 49.18
1 parity obviously
Clock: 8.53, (8.76), 8.32, 8.24, (7.90) = 8.36
FMC: DNF Didn't find much. Wasn't really in the mood anyway

So happy about the bigcubebld results. Nice confidence booster just before Belgium
I've also decided that one week I'm going to 'do a Mike' and bld everything that I think is feasible (i.e. I won't be doing a 7BLD Avg5!). I'll need A LOT of time on my hands so it will have to be sometime during the summer

 

[InternetTom]

I haven't done one of these in a long time, and my cube was feeling sluggish today, but
3x3x3 : 24.40, 24.70, (19.99), 21.78, (25.27) = 23.63

Not my fastest but not horrible.

 

[pierrotlenageur]

2x2x2: 13.80 , 12.61 , (7.09) , (15.06) , 10.65 =
3x3x3: 21.97 , 19.28 , (14.52) , 15.00 , (22.22) =
4x4x4: 1:06.88 , 1:42.23 , 1:07.43 , 1:03.56 , 1:10.81 =
5x5x5: 2:21.94 , (2:42.27) , 2:18.06 , 2:25.33 , (2:16.97) =
6x6x6: 6:14.31 , 5:30.33 , (5:11.88) , 5:28.38 , (DNS) =
3x3x3 One Handed: 52.80 , 49.21 , (53.68) , 46.61 , (44.55) =
2x2x2 + 3x3x3 + 4x4x4 Relay : 1:36.68
2x2x2 + 3x3x3 + 4x4x4 + 5x5x5 Relay : 4:02.30
Magic: (2.05) , 8.81 , 17.66 , (DNF) , 2.91 =
PyraMinx: 15.63 , 12.75 , 16.97 , (12.08) , (18.33) =