slateblog

As stated previously, I’m loving my new magnetic Megaminx and this morning, a quiet Saturday with a sleeping puppy by my feet, I figured I’d do a quick speedrun. It was about 1:10 before I got my first two layers done – mostly par for the course – but my middle edges/corner matching was pretty solid. This puzzle’s bright faces make it easy to identify and so for the first time, I’ve been looking ahead. A quick slip-up on my penultimate layer and some fidgeting permuting centers (my weakest step) made things a bit slow, but I’ve become much more adept at orienting corners and placing them. The end result? A staggering one-minute improvement and a mind-boggling 4:16 solve! I was blown away!

I was really impressed with my latest Megaminx record – getting my time down to 7:21 and then an even 6:00. In light of having this kick-ass new Gan 3×3, I realized just how good a magnetic speed cube can be. Next up really should be a 2×2 or a Pyraminx, but neither are really FUN puzzles. The Megaminx, however, it an entertaining solve and with that, my order was set: YJ YuHu V2M. I lubed it up and immediately noticed just how fast and precise it was. One sub-seven-minute solve (would’ve been my record just a few months ago) was followed by a slamming sub-5:30! I was impressed by just how good this puzzle was! One more sub-6 and then I got a 5:18! FORTY seconds faster than my old record!

That evening, I revisited the puzzle, getting several close times (in the 5:20 – 5:30 range). Whether a sub-five-minute solve is possible, I’m not sure, but this puzzle is simply wonderful and it’s still just so much fun revisiting things like this and breaking records. Of course, I’m probably getting close to my limits on them all, but at 46 years old, I’m still enjoying it! So psyched!

The end of the school year, covid, surgeries and home renovations delayed this post, but it’s an exciting one, if I might say so myself. Moving backwards, in late April a student in my Spanish 2 class (one with a PB of around 17 seconds) brought in her Gan 3×3. Over the past 11 years of cubing, I’ve regularly updated my main – maybe once every other year or so, but my record has stood since barely dropping a half a second from it in May of 2018. This new puzzle was unlike any other I’d tried before. The magnets were snappy, turns felt super responsive and it glided like butter. I was on a mission.

Upon purchasing a Gan 356M, their middle-of-the-line budget model, I realized it was just way too loose. I should’ve opted for the model with extra GES nuts to help with tension, but I already felt badly spending $30 on another 3×3!!! When I got the cube finally tensioned how I wanted it, I couldn’t believe just how wonderfully it turned. This is the best puzzle I’ve ever owned. To put things in perspective, I had accomplished three sub-30 second times in my prior decade of cubing. I accomplished the feat six times in a week with my Gan 356. My first, an astonishing 28.6 seconds shaved almost half a second off my time. I was elated. I saw it coming. My record broken – for the fourth time in a row in the month of May!

However, that wasn’t all. Two days later, I utterly shattered my record, trimming two full seconds off! The solve was magical. Three of the four cross whites already done so I could start planning my corners ahead, something I NEVER can do. Three middle layers were super fast and I could see ahead as I placed those pieces swiftly. On the top layer, I had an L and then had to swap two corners. This left me with a fully-solved yellow face. A quick three-cycle solved the puzzle in the fastest time EVER! 26.46 seconds! While I was at it, I broke all my average records: Averages of 3/5/12/50/100 all were decimated, with my average-of-3 being sub-30!

Unfortunately, future solves revealed that without a very lucky skip, I will never match or best that time. If I can’t get the second layer done by 15-17 seconds, it’s not even worth finishing. Once you hit that stage, a lot of the fun is sucked out of speedsolving. I’ve dabbled in F2L, but without memorizing all new algorithms, I don’t see it ever happening. With my 4×4 and 5×5 records at incredible times and with good cubes alongside of them, I genuinely wonder if my days of timing myself are over.

But then I wondered if I could give the Megaminx another swing. Upon getting a new puzzle for Christmas (which itself resulted in breaking a decade-old record), I figured why not try again? Solve #1 was close to the 7:21 record from January and solve #2 was…just remarkable! 6:00.77! I trimmed my record by 80 seconds!!! I got a lucky last layer and just missed a sub-6 by three-quarters of a second!

I’m happy these old bones still have some speed in them. Three records in one month – not bad for a 46-year-old!!!

I started cubing almost 11 years ago and in my early days, I was more focused on speed than I am now. However, while my collection is now more focused on diversity and uniqueness – I still like to dabble into speedsolving from time to time. With a new, Christmas boost to the collection – I’ve upgraded my 6×6 and Megaminx – the former, a terrible V-Cube and the latter broken in shipping. Due to these substatial updates, new efforts were made to break decade-old records and in each case, the personal bests fell swiftly.

My 6×6 record, residing at over 15 minutes, was shorn to 11:11: an improvement by over four minutes. The Megaminx took a pair of tries before it too tumbled. I only did this puzzle for speed a few times, and I don’t endeavor to break this record – a half-minute improvement – any time soon.

A pair of records brought into the current decade, now leaving but the 2×2 and Pyraminx as sole representatives of the 2010s. Oh, and the 3×3 but that’s OK. My full cubing records can be found here.

Sometime last year, my son dropped my V-Cube 7 on the floor. It shattered, that dreaded CHSSSSSSSS sound only cubers can recognize. I’ve tried to rebuild it, but I’m not so good with the tiny pieces and just gave up. I never really liked the puzzle anyway.

For Christmas, funnily enough seven years to the date since I got my original 7×7, my son got me a new one: an MF7S. This is a smaller cube (69mm vs 75mm) with bright stickers and while it doesn’t fit aesthetically into the collection, the puzzle kicks ass!!! It turns like a dream and is solid and reliable. Since I never liked the V-Cube puzzles (6×6 and 7×7), I only really tried speedsolving them a few times. With the new cube, why not try it? Last week I nailed a 19:33 time, then this morning got that down to 18 and change and then just now 16:15.72! Wow! That’s almost as fast as my 6×6 record (again though, that’s a V-Cube…urgh!)

So, while I don’t really go for times, it’s nice to get this solve done quickly. I’ll soon hit a ceiling, but I think as is, it’s an impressive time! I’ve updated my cubing records page accordingly, of course. Not bad for an almost-43-year-old! :D

I don’t cube like I used to. My collection continues to grow, recently an Eitan’s Twist and a 2x2x4 entered the fold, but I don’t go for speed like the old days. (five years ago, heh) After seeing some people using an app called Twisty Timer which tracks your times and charts them, I figured I’d just see how I stood. 100 solves later and my average was just over 41 seconds. My old Average Of 5 record has remained unbroken for over four years, mainly because I don’t really ever challenge it. I was about half a second too slow to challenge that one but…what’s this? Oh right, a new personal best!!! I missed the elusive sub-30 claim by a mere quarter-second, but I’ll take it. 30.25 is my new 3×3 record. Maybe 100 more solves will give me the opportunity to shave off that elusive chunk of a second?

It’s been a few years since I posted any real cubing milestones. I have not stopped cubing, certainly not, but my speed-cubing days are mostly behind me. With a few minutes to spare today, I figured I’d try my hand at an average of five to see where I stood. It’s been quite some time, really. So, imagine my delight when I realized I was still under 40 seconds! My best was a bit over 36 and my worst nearly 44. Still…it means I’m not really out of the game! Anyways, this is no record but it’s good enough for me!!! Visual evidence!