Archive for the Cubing Category

New Cubing Record: 5×5 – 5:02.54! WOW!

Posted in Blog, Cubing, Cubing Records on October 11, 2012 by slateman

Wow. WOW! As I got to my last layer in under 4:50, I couldn’t believe my eyes. My record stood at over 6 minutes for almost a year. One solve last week bested it by 25 seconds; yesterday’s solve shaved another 6 seconds off. Did I just beat that record by 42 seconds?! OH YEAH! ShengShou 5×5 is a beast. My edge pairing must’ve been solid to do that much better! I wrote yesterday that a sub-5:30 solve was a lofty goal. Even that was destroyed! So psyched!

New Cubing Record: 5×5 – 5:44.76

Posted in Blog, Cubing, Cubing Records with tags on October 10, 2012 by slateman

With the bright lights at my desk at work, the quiet hum of the heater (it was 28 yesterday when I left for work) and the first real solitude in almost a month, I went at my former 5×5 record and managed to top it by 6 seconds! My ShengShou is now an awesome cube now that it’s broken in and I’d have to say it’s even better than my ShengShou 4×4. In any event, it’s another record which shows I’m improving. Centers were solved in 1:20 and the edges were done by just over 4 minutes. As I finished my cross and started F2L, I realized one set of edges was incomplete. That delayed me, meaning my record could’ve been another 10 seconds faster. I guess my new goal is 5:30. Awesome!

ShengShou 5×5 Get! New Record!

Posted in Blog, Cubing, Cubing Records with tags on October 2, 2012 by slateman

I managed to finally get myself a new 5×5, a ShengShou (I love my 4×4). Initial inspection left me underwhelmed, however, as it wasn’t that much larger than my Mini-YJ and the turning was adequate at best. Several solves later, I managed my first sub-6 minute run! It actually broke my record by 25 seconds! Not bad!! Exciting times!

Dayan Zhanchi Lubricated = MONSTER

Posted in Blog, Cubing, Cubing Records on September 21, 2012 by slateman

I tensioned my Zhanchi and it broke in rather quickly but it never felt as good as I had hoped. I’d seen reviews of this beast of a cube with outrageous corner cutting and sexy smooth turning. Mine was never quite as awesome as what I’d seen…and expected. Today, I grabbed some CRC silicon lubricant and took the thing apart.

What’s left behind is only the beastliest cube I’ve ever laid hands on. I tensioned it, as it needed some love there…but now it is a corner-cutting, slippery-smooth, soon-to-be record-breaking machine. And if that’s not enough hyphens for you, then know this…my record will be broken. Luck is partly involved…but a good run and my awesome Zhanchi together will make it happen. Just you wait!!!

Zhanchi Get! Oh, New Record Too!

Posted in Blog, Cubing, Cubing Records on September 9, 2012 by slateman

So, I’ve completed at least 50 solves with my new Dayan Zhanchi and I quite like it. It’s clearly the best cube I own but it does need lubing. It’s time to do some research because the cube is spectacular. In the process of testing it all out, I managed to break my record…by a bit. It’s actually .03 seconds faster than my record…but I will never complain! I was pretty psyched! Here’s a snap of the counter. Awesome!

3×3 Dayan Zhanchi Ordered!

Posted in Cubing, Cubing Records on September 5, 2012 by slateman

My story is simple…I always was fascinated by the Rubik’s Cube but never got around to actually solving it. That was until my 35th birthday in February 2011. After purchasing a standard Rubik’s brand cube, I went out and got myself a white Guo-Jia A1. It’s a lot better than my original cube (whose yellow corner is almost white from so much use) but it’s not the greatest. That purchase was a year and a half ago and while my cube collection has grown considerably, I haven’t purchased a new 3×3 since.

For $10 though, I couldn’t turn it down. I don’t practice as much as I used to, and my F2L never really got past the ‘decent’ stage, but I wonder if there’s a chance of breaking my 36.15 seconds mark. I should have the cube by early next week…we’ll see what I think of it when it arrives!!! So psyched!

4×4 Best Of 5 Average

Posted in Blog, Cubing with tags on July 6, 2012 by slateman

I figured I’d keep going with this 4×4 thing. I didn’t break my record…but all five runs were pretty good!

2:54.51
2:54.74
2:47.16
2:53.95
2:58.49

That’s an average of 2:53.77. Not so bad!

New Cubing Record: 4×4 – 2:41.40

Posted in Blog, Cubing, Cubing Records with tags on July 5, 2012 by slateman

It was a calm fourth of July night. The day was insane and I sat down to relax. No PS3, of course…what to do…what to do…I could read, play the 360, Vita, chill, anything! Ah…some 4×4 runs, why not? Seven runs later, my average was 3:13.92. Not too bad, really. Worst time was 3:41 (WTF?!) Best run? 2:41.40!!! Oh yeah! I broke my goal of 2:45 and beat my record by 7 seconds. Thank you no parity! Anyways…I’m happy. Now to clean the house. Urgh.

Fisher Cube Parity

Posted in Algorithms, Blog, Cubing with tags on June 24, 2012 by slateman

Fisher Parity

The first time I tried solving the Fisher Cube, I encountered an interesting problem on the last layer. This was something I never came across on the Windmill Cube and in retrospect, I have no clue how I fixed it. I think I messed up the whole lot and didn’t have it the second time through. In searching online for parity fixes, most people find themselves in a very different position. This suggests their solution is very different from mine. The good news is that I don’t get the other parity error using my method. This should be the only parity alg I need to worry about. I’ve tossed it here as I’m going to forget this. Anyways, here it is…I found it on a German YouTube video.

(R U’2 R’ U)*2 (z) L’ U’ L

New Cubes Get! Super Floppy / Fisher / Windmill

Posted in Blog, Cubing with tags , , , , , on June 23, 2012 by slateman

New Puzzles!

The wait is over! Well, mostly! Today my package arrived from China, missing my LanLan 2×2, but containing a new Super Floppy Cube (3x3x1), a black Fisher Cube and a replacement white Windmill Cube. One of my students was enamored with the Windmill Cube and asked for me to purchase her one. Of course, it took more than three weeks for these puzzles to arrive so I gave her my Windmill Cube. The new one’s green and white stickers are a bit different and I need to tension it a bit to make it flow better but otherwise it is identical to the one I purchased in March. It’s been a few weeks since I solved one and I forgot one algorithm. Tsk Tsk! I love this puzzle, it’s fun and looks crazy. Like the Megaminx, the puzzle looks more impressive than it is.

Next up is the Fisher Cube. I was always intrigued by the design but found it didn’t look nearly as cool as the Windmill Cube (WC). I sat down with this and mixed it up and it was one of the very few puzzles I could solve without any assistance at all. Of course, it functions very similarly to the WC, so a solve was not far away. I got hung up on a few sections, but all my algorithms work for each cube. Kinda nice. The cube itself is a bit sturdier than the Windmill, still much looser than a standard 3×3 or its derivatives, and its sticker quality also superior. It helps that I prefer black cubes over white, and the WC’s white stickers on white. Overall the cube is fun but virtually identical to the WC. They both make a cool addition to the ever-growing collection.

Finally, the Super Floppy Cube from QJ rounds out the new additions. Like the 3x3x2 before it, this is really just novelty. I’m so glad I waited for a Super Floppy as the shape-shifting is really the only cool draw. Had this functioned like a regular Floppy Cube, it would be pretty weak. However, making it change shapes is a pretty cool draw and quite enjoyable to tinker with. After I stopped messing around with my new puzzles, I went back later to the Super Floppy Cube and solving it was a breeze. So, the different nature of it is the coolest part and justifies my purchase. As I write this, my daughter is messing around with it, intrigued at its turning and getting a little stumped.

And that concludes my purchase. As someone stole my original LanLan 2×2, I had to get another to complete the collection. I opted to grab this in black, leaving only my Windmill Cube and my A1 3×3 in white. OK, time to update the To-Buy List!

Oh, I also posted my cube collection to the blog as well. Updated with my new purchases, of course!!!