Update

Well, it's been quite a while, and I haven't been cubing much at all until recently (when the relatives showed up and I needed to get away). The past 3 weeks I haven't even had my cube at school, but the progress I've made has been substantial.

My first average of 100 back I set a personal best at 19.46 (previously had two 19.90s). The next day I had a 19.36. Then I had an 18.85, the biggest drop in an average of 100 since I first started doing them. My standalone average of 12 went from 18.43 to 18.13 and then 17.95. Last year at this time I averaged in the high 26s, meaning my times have dropped 8 full seconds in 12 months, despite my lack of motivation at times. My one-handed solving has also improved quite a bit, dropping my from just under 40 seconds to just over 36 seconds. My blindfolded times have also dropped significantly, going from around 7 minutes to a consistent 3:20-4:40 range, even enough for me to try averages of 12 (they take too much work, though, so I stop at 3 or 4 usually).

It's really fascinating how much I've improved even after forgetting sooooo many ZBLLs. I think I've decided that I will work solely on the 2GLL cases so I can get my confidence up, as working with the really stupid H cases didn't work out that well in the end. I won't be releasing a new version for the new year, but I will continue to learn cases as quickly as I can. If I can learn all the 2GLL cases, I have a very solid shot at getting a ZBLL case I can use. There is a 1/27 chance for a PLL and a 1/6 chance at having all the corners permuted correctly in an LL case, giving me a 16/81 chance (or 19.75% chance) of a planned 1LLL and a 1515/5882 (or 25.76%) chance of a 1LLL (factoring in COLL chances). That means that in an average of 5 I could expect at least 1 1LLL, which would be amazing. I still remember most of the H set I learned before, now I think I'll move to U (because I already know 4 of them) and then T.

Happy holidays, everyone!

Update

It has been quite a while. I finally got my first BLD solve, and it has really made my day. Actually, nothing else has been happening, as school is taking up too much time. All I can hope to do is keep myself sub-20 till I get more time (college, anyone?). Speaking of college, it's that time of year. I already sent off my app to University of Chicago (don't expect to be accepted) and am planning on applying to Swarthmore College, as well. I'm so stressed out about that stuff right now it is downright ridiculous.

But my BLD skills have gotten much better. My first success had no parity and 3 solved edges in place. The second one had about 6 cycles and parity and some nasty flipped corners. My memorization is based on a number-letter system, with the format [piece position][orientation]. So a corner could have position 6 (DRB) and orientation of either O (orientated, or U/D, color in buffer position), D (depth, or F/B color), or S (side, or R/L color). Edges can be O or U (unoriented). What I've found most surprising is that once I can trace the pieces with my number-letter pairs, I don't have to remember them for the solve - I just know what piece is where. It's quite extraordinary.

Update and Early BLD Attempts

Not a big update here. I've been working away with ZBLL and constitution team (which eats up 10-12 hours of my week). More importantly for me, however, is that I've been working with blindfolded solves. I thought I could share a few thoughts on that while it's fresh in my mind.

I use the Old Pochmann method: placing one piece at a time from a buffer position using "pair swap" PLLs (PLLs that swap 2 edges and 2 corners each). Basically, this entails learning 6 algorithms to shoot the buffer piece to its appropriate slot (I might decide to do a video on this). This is not that hard, and there are plenty of good YouTube videos on it, though, again, I still might make on.

There are 6 algs to know:

T permutation

Ja permutation (swap blocks to the left (1), to the back (2), and to the right (3))

Jb permutation

Y permutation

Ra permutation (corner swap to the right)

My memorization time is down to about 10 minutes on a good attempt and at about 6 if I write down piece positions. The problem is, I always remember the last few corners wrong. So how do I memorize? Every edge has a number of 1 to 12 in this order: UF, UR, UB, UL, DF, DR, DB, DL, FR, FL, BR, BL (notice though that you will never send to position 2- it's the buffer). I then mark whether the edge is oriented or not, marked with an 'o' or 'u', respectively. Basically, an edge is oriented if it can be set up with the group (basically, it isn't out of your way to solve it with a T perm). Then I get a string of number-letter pairs. So one edge sequence might be: 12u 9u 4o 10u 11u 8u 5u 7o 6u 3o 6u. This edge sequence is bad for memo for 2 reasons: (1) there is an odd number of edges to place so there will be parity and (2) the two 6 spot edge placements means I broke into a cycle. blah...

I memorize the corners in much the same was: counterclockwise around the top starting with UFR and the same around the bottom starting with DFR, numbered from 1 to 8 (so 3 never gets used). I use the letter 'h' to stand for a top/bottom sticker on the top of the buffer piece. 's' stands for a side-colored sticker (in my case that is always red/orange) and 'd' stands for the front/back-colored sticker (blue/green for me). So a corner position might be: 8s 1d 2d 4h 6d 5h 4d 7h 7s. Again, an odd number of corners to be moved means parity, and the appearance of more than 1 4 and 7 indicates that cycles have been broken.

My solution to the above cube configuration? It's complicated.

d L' [T] L d2 L' [T] L d [T] d' L [T] L' d2 L [T] L' d' D M' [J(b)] M D' M' [J(b)] M' [J(b)] M2 D' M' [J(b)] M D [J(a)1] D' M' [J(b)] M D [R(a)] F [J(a)3] F' R [J(a)2] R2 [Y] R [J(a)3] R' [J(a)2] R' [J(a)2] R2 F R [J(a)2] R' F' D2 R2 [J(a)2] R2 D R' [J(a)2] R D

Update

I finally have time to update. School has taken its toll and I am relegated to 2 hours of homework on a good night. I can't wait for baseball season...

On the plus side, I have been slacking enough to learn all of the H and U orientations of ZBLL. It feels good, I must say, though U needs a ton of work. I'm estimating that I'll be at version 10 by the time I've finished learning ZBLL. Grr...

My times haven't dropped too much but I have been practicing OH and BLD quite a bit. I'm even getting successful BLD solves!!! It just takes me an hour. As memorization time goes down (I have ideas here) I'm sure I'll improve. I'll share some thoughts on BLD some other time, but I do have comments about algorithms (well, just Y actually).

I'm in Pain

Basic reason why I can't post anything reasonable: school and no more wisdom teeth. Make sure they give you some Vicodin or something because I am in serious pain right now.

Color Scheme Research

I'm starting to play around with opponent colors for a color scheme. Using a white type FI. So far it's worked out well, as I'm only 5 seconds behind my regular scheme average.

Update

It's been quite a while but not much has happened. My times have gotten slightly better but I haven't had time for a full average. I am continuing to update my ZBLL document and will soon finish re-doing the H sets. I realized that I have forgotten roughly 1/3 of my OLLs, so I have to relearn those. I recently got some pretty nice FMC solves (26, 27, and 23) that were ruined by having to undo premoves (28, 33, and 28 in the end).

The admissions lady a Grinnell asked if I could post a video of me solving. Apparently they like stuff like that.

Update

Not much happened this week. I'm preparing for a road trip to the midwest and haven't had that much time to cube. Like many weeks I had enough time to do the weekly competition on the speedsolving.com forums. I set a pb in the fewest moves challenge this week with a 28 move solve. It was the first time I got a chance to use premoves and boy did it pay off. I'm getting pretty good at this FMC thing and am really enjoying it.

I had my first sub-2 minute solve on the 4x4x4 yesterday, right after I had a dream about going sub-2 (in my dream it was 1:43.xx, in real life it was 1:57.xx). My PyraMinx solving has gotten more consistent, as well. I'm using a Fridrich-style method that gets me times around 17 second pretty consistently. I put some serious work into revamping my H sets in my ZBLL document. Some of those algs were...bad, to say the least, and I finally got around to fixing them. Now I have to relearn them all, though. Grrr...

Update

I haven't been doing much 3x3x3 recently. I performed some surgery on my C4Y DIY but other than that I've only picked up a cube that size to do the weekly competition on the speedsolving.com forums. I have been doing a lot of PyraMinx solves and have dropped my times down to just over 15 seconds. I made a cool $500 at work the last 2 weeks and have been playing baseball pretty much every day, so I have been very busy. This next week looks pretty free, though, so I'll definitely get going on ZBLL algs again.

Update

It's been about a week or so since my last post. I have done absolutely no work on ZBLL. There has just been too much other stuff to focus on. However, I have been working on my MegaMinx and PyraMinx times, which have dropped to roughly 6 minutes and 30 seconds, respectively. I can't really get fast enough at PyraMinx recognition to do much, though. It's been rather a blah week, really. I'm putting a lot of time into driving and baseball and my lack of bus time has hurt my cubing time quite a bit.

Update

I've changed the blog layout a bit. Hope you like it. I know it's much easier on my eyes.

Not much cubing has been happening for me. I've decided that the speedsolving.com weekly competitions are great and that I should take part in them as often as possible. The FMC stuff is easily the most fun and learning ZBLL would really help there. I have gotten 42 move solutions both weeks I've participated and haven't been that far behind the rest of the competition. The weeklies also let me practice my big cube solves. I haven't solved a 4x4x4 in ages and a 5x5x5 in longer but my times weren't that terrible, coming in at around 2:20 and 4:55, respectively. My 3x3x3 times haven't been great but I'll blame my ever-degrading CII for that (the plastic feels squishy now).

Update

Well, I've gotten back into cubing a little. This lack of schoolwork sure is relaxing. I though I could let you guys know what's going on around my place.

I have found that my CII is desperately deteriorating, much like an FI (another cube I love). I hate having to take everything apart and put it back together again and clean it out so I don't know what to do. My times are pretty consistently low, though. I recently had a 20.52 average of 100 and a standalone 19.66 average of 12. Also, on weekly competition 21 on the speedsolving.com forums I got an incredible 3x3 average: 17.01, (22.03), (16.95), 20.79, 18.13 = 18.66. This was with no warmup just to see what the competition scrambles were like. I know it's only an average of 5 but it is still impressive if you ask me. I went on for some mediocre OH and 4x4 solves.

I'm steadily improving my ZBLL recognition though I haven't been learning any new algs. Before I was panicking when I came across a set I knew. If it wasn't CC, CA, CO, AA, AC, OO, or OC I had no idea what was going on. Now I look at the case more calmly and my recognition time has plummeted. My execution time leaves something to be desired quite often but I find that is mostly due to lockups and my own forgetfulness.

I'm seriously debating starting up with ZZ. It gets my edge orientation done early on and I've had success with OH ZZ. It's an interesting option though I'm not a huge bandwagon guy and ZZ is very popular right now.

Just my thoughts for the moment.

Update

Wow I am a lazy son of a bitch. I'll get my algorithm documents up today, guys. I haven't gotten a chance to cube much, but with the last baseball game of the season finally gone I''ll get back into things soon. Cheers!

Update

It's been a while. I haven't been cubing that much recently, though I did set a pb for an average of 100 at 20.90. My CII has deteriorated and I don't know how much longer it'll last. In 2 weeks, when my mom leaves again and standardized tests are out of the way, I'll be able to work on my ZBLL algs.

Speaking of ZBLL, my in-solve recognition is horrendous. If I'm just practicing algs I have sub-1 recognition, but mid-solve it just doesn't work. I guess it'll come with time.

I also have to update the alg sheets at some point. Maybe in a week. I have to fiddle with the COLL and VHF2L ones quite a bit.

Doctor Who

I have become addicted to this show. The old episodes aren't that great but they are very original. The new ones are incredible. The latest episode has me wanting the week to skip forward just so I can see the second part. It's been on my mind all day so I felt that I had to let people know.

Update

It's been a while and I haven't cubed much recently. Baseball season has become rather stressful and standardized tests are fast approaching. I also had my appendix removed on Saturday. Basically, I'm in pain. I did find that ZBLL practice can slow your F2L time down by a few seconds. I think I'll have to ignore those losses until I've completed my goal.

Update

I've gotten through 2 complete ZBLL sets to date and have started on my 3rd. I love the PLL skip but, at least right now, COLL + EPLL wins out because of recognition and habit. Still, if I get a case I should know, I'll solve with a ZBLL.

Set a PB average of 100 2 days ago: 22.57. Pretty solid. This might be due to my new hybrid: C4Y hardware, C4Y cubies, and CII centers. So fast and cuts corners pretty well. The locks are annoying and it pops a little more than I would like, but once I got used to it, nothing could stop me. My last 25 solves dropped me from .40 seconds, from 22.97 to 22.57. Good stuff.

Update

Well, it's been a while since I've picked up a cube. I don't think I'll have time until next Monday. Baseball games really take their toll when combined with school. Practice I can deal with, but games are just too long. I'm also feeling pressure from my classes. Looks like I'm gonna have to step up my game...

I have 2 full sets of ZBLL down pat. I think I notice a difference between myself and Chris Tran. I am a perfectionist. I must have everything ingrained in memory and fully executable. Slow recognition is unacceptable. Slow execution is unacceptable. But this mentality is slowing my progress. While in the long run, I may be in a better position, it eats into my practice time and prevents me from improving other parts of my solve. I did an average of 12-ish (wasn't really keeping track) and found my times were back up to 25 seconds after only 1 week of not doing full solves.

Baseball is going well. Threw a complete game opening day against Century in a 5-4 win. Only 2 of the runs were earned, and 1 of the earned runs came after an unearned run scored, so it should have been a 5-1 game. Even with these mistakes, I only threw 88 pitches. 'Atta babe!

A VHF2L document should be up in under a month.

Update

Just wanting to show off: best average of 12 ever (and that includes best of 12 inside best of 100): 21.44. Wow I was happy. And only one skip. The reason: C-II.

That cube is fucking amazing. When I first got it, it seemed overshadowed by my type F-Is and F-IIs and especially my Cube4You. But after some random fiddling, adjusting the tension, and, honestly, not using it, it has turned into a god cube. The corner cutting is incredible. It cuts at about 35 degrees like my mom cuts fabric for her quilts. At more than that, it just stops or pops, but before that it is dreamy. It can even reverse corner cut at about 1.5mm in. It can cut corners on M slices. M SLICE CORNER CUTTING!!! Wow! That is all I will say.

The C-II's speed isn't great to be quite honest, but it is incredibly consistent and has a feel that I love. You can feel every piece sliding around but you know it makes little difference on the cube. Smooth plastic but a rough feel. I think this also makes it a quieter cube, which my parents greatly enjoy.

The one thing I don't appreciate on the C-II: pops. This cube does not like to stay together very long. Compared to my other cubes it sucks, but it doesn't really pop that much. But when it pops it explodes. It wipes out the dinosaurs. And it always feels like it could pop any second, but then it doesn't. This feeling was really why I didn't make this my main cube a long time ago. Now I can't get enough of it (my tiled C4Y is still my school cube, though). I'll have to get some more, maybe in different colors. But right now C4Y is out...

The best part about this cube? My Jig-a-Loo is on loan. This cube has not yet been lubed.

Update

I've been doing more solving on the 3x3x3 recently. My averages of 100 are still struggling to get under 25, as those last 15 solves still leave something to be desired. Baseball just started up, and so my solving will go down. But with the bus time comes the motivation to learn more algs. Specifically, ZBLL algs. I memorized 1 set of H on just one bus trip. Granted, it was an easy set, but at that rate I'll have a set done every week at least. Remembering the algs isn't actually the problem but rather what case they go with. So, as of right now, I know 21 PLLs + 40 COLLs + 11 H ZBLLs. 72/501 = is roughly 14%. I'm using the last version of the ZBLL document before version 2.00, which means I only have one alg written down. I don't wanna have to print a new 40 pages, so I think I'll just stick with my originals. I've modified the VHF2L document but haven't made it readable. I've given up on my OLL sheet. I don't think I'll change the COLL sheet. I learned it with letter recognition, and so can you.

Anyway, I'll check in around a week from now. Cheers!

Update

It's been quite a while. I've been cubing a fair bit here, but I just don't have the time to do anything serious. I know one set of ZBLL (still missing 2 COLLs from my memory bank, however) and am trying to learn more. I'm just really, really tired. Baseball has kicked in, AP classes are taking their toll, and I'm looking into colleges.

I'm actually enjoying the pressure. I got a 13.86 solve yesterday. Almost shit my pants. It was a really strange scramble. I got an OLL skip (thank you, VHF2L), but nothing else went by quickly. When I hit the timer I thought it would be sub-20 but way above 15.

Scramble (cross on D?): U B L2 B' U2 L B' D' L' U' B U2 R' L2 D L2 B L B' L F' U2 L' B' R2

I'll see what you guys make of it. I was horribly inefficient with my cross and first F2L pair, but that set up a triple multislot. Unfortunately, I cannot recreate it, mostly because of that cross.

I'm loving my C4Y DIY. With the tension just a little too tight for it to pop, it cuts corners like my guinea pig breaks wind - frequently, easily, and with pride. I love you Kaki!

Update

It has been an eventful week. Finals sucked, though with missing 5 months I guess that is to be expected. Every multiple choice test went fine. The essays and free response questions just blew me away. May have failed my first test ever (could be 4 failures!).

I did an average of 12-50-100 Sunday. 24.98 of 12, 24.99 of 50, and 25.08 of 100. I just really hit a stride. My best rolling average was 22.35. What was most surprising was the fact that I got 2 PLL skips from my COLLs yet 13 OLL skips, which are far less convenient (mostly the shock of a skipped step). I had only 4 solves under 20 seconds, though they were all 17.xx.

Jig-a-Loo helped a lot. I tried out a before and after for my cube and the difference was incredible. Still, I have switched to the Cube4You brand DIY for my main speed cube. I love the core, mostly. Being able to set the tension was also a plus, as some of the faces on my storebought were clearly faster than others.

I also picked up some Dianshengs (lightest and fastest cube ever but locks like crazy), a ton of type F's (hate the feel, love the cube), and a CII (godly cube but same feel as type F). I also tiled my C4Y cube and love it. I'm still working on getting the alg sheets up. I may have to add a back slot part for VHF2L...

Update

I decided to take the time to write something today. I've got one more week of school here in Slovenia and I really have to buckle down for my American curriculum. I'm screwed.

As far as cubing is concerned, I finally figured out how to use Google Docs properly, so I'll be getting all my algorithm sheets up on a better server soon. I'll wait until I have a decent internet connection before doing anything, however.

I've updated my ZBLL algs once and I really want to get optimal algorithms up, but I just don't have the time. I'm also looking at my COLL algs and wondering what I was thinking. My PLL sheet doesn't reflect my current algs so I'll have to update that as well. The OLL document is in the middle of being updated and has been that way for about a month. After much testing of the VH system, I've determined that another few subsets are needed for the F2L step. I am referring to the case with the corner and edge correctly placed but not flipped correctly. I waste far too much time on those cases.

So much work, so little time...