My Last Post (For A While)

So for you who don’t know, this blog is an assignment for the AP Lang class I am taking at my school. I have done it now for about month and a half and I have really enjoyed it, but as finals draw near for my classes, I am starting to become loaded with work and the blogging is not required for the rest of the term, I am going to take a brief hiatus from posting things. So I wanted to make my last post for a while pretty special and talk about my entire timeline when it comes to cubing.

It started when I was in 7^th grade, long ago, and a Rubik’s cube was just a little key chain sitting in my house, unsolved for years. Some of the more “popular” kids came to school with Rubik’s cubes, teaching kids how to solve them and going for the best times. When I saw this, I instantly wanted to try it, so I took the little keychain cube I had and brought it to school. I tried to solve it for what must have been only 2 days, but is was hooked. I broke out what little money I had stored up and bought myself a fresh new Rubik’s cube, and using the instructions, had it solved within an hour. But this wasn’t enough for me, I wanted to be the best I could be, so I memorized the beginner’s method over about a 2 day span. Soon I was racing against one of my friends, struggling to get that extra second over him. We went back and forth for a while, and then it just fell away. I’m not sure who ever had the fastest time, but soon it didn’t matter. We went on to different things. However, I didn’t stop loving the idea of solving puzzles. Soon I had bought myself a 4 dollars Lanlan 2x2 from the internet, and was spending all my cubing time on that. I watched YouTube videos on how to get better and tried very hard. It interested me so much I put down my Rubik’s cube for 2 years, because a 3x3 just took too long to solve when I could do a 2x2 in 15 seconds.

Fast forward to my Sophomore year in high school. I have been watching YouTube videos on cubing for a year now, and have a 4 second best on my 2x2 Zanchi. Then, I decide to pick up my old Rubik’s cube again, which is now beat up and scratched all over, from months of use and years of inactivity. My first solve I do in 2 years rounds out to a minute and 30 seconds. Not bad, but I try and do better, and soon have a one minute and 10 second solve, which on a regular Rubik’s cube is not half bad at all. But I  know I need to move on up, so I buy my first speedcube, the infamous stickerless Zanchi. I worked hard, and got down to 41 seconds on the beginner method, but I was just beginning on my path. Soon I had mastered basic F2L and lost another 8 seconds. Then the fateful day you all know of if you have read my blog. I went on vacation to New York, then spent the next two weeks learning at least 10 algs and dropping 10 seconds and having my first sub 20 on the flight home.

         

          Finally I end here, averaging about 19 seconds and hopefully getting better. I hope my little story inspires you like it does for me, to keep going along my journey. So until the next post, enjoy Thanksgiving and practice hard!

More Mods and Custom Puzzles

Hello everyone! Today I wanted to share just a few more of the amazing mods and custom puzzles that have graced my presence in the brief time I have been a cuber.

To start, I really have to talk about the classic Ghost cube series. This awesome 3x3 shape mod just enthralls me, and even though I do not own one, it is such an amazing Idea I couldn’t prevent it from making the list. In addition to the 3x3, many other sized versions have been made, many of which seem so difficult I get frustrated just looking at them. One of my favorite bits about this series of cubes is the fact no colors are involved to make it easier, hence the term, Ghost cube. I love the idea of giving such a challenge and it makes me wonder where inventors of these cubes could take it. For instance, a crazy modification of the Ghost cube itself is the wacky Virust cube. I first saw this cube on Crazy Bad Cuber’s channel, and it instantly amused me. It is an OCD nightmare wrapped into a nice cube shape. The Ghost cubes were hard enough to solve, but then you add distracting sticker combinations to the mix? I might almost consider the creator an evil genius, because it looks like an intense and difficult piece of work.

Next on my continuing list of mods and custom puzzles is the Gear cube series. I have talked about this series of puzzles numerous times throughout my blog, but this is because I absolutely love how simple but amazing it is. The inventor took a normal 3x3 mechanism, made some slight adjustments, then added gears. It was probably difficult at first, but it worked out so well and the gear series now consists of so many puzzles I’m not bothering to research the number. But beyond just their simplicity, the cubes are some of the best turning puzzles I have ever seen, which includes some 3x3’s. I can’t be sure for the exact reason as to why this is, but, especially with the gear ball, the turning is extraordinary! And I haven’t even mentioned the crazy way the gears look as they turn. They are almost mesmerizing the way they twist as you solve. It makes for a very cool experience, and I just love the series.

And finally on my continued list of custom puzzles and modifications is one of my favorite puzzles of all time, the amazing Rex cube! I love this cube, because it was the first corner axis turning cube I had ever seen. It was so novel and unique I just fell in love and have loved it ever since. But I do want to give a special mention to a lot of other corner turning cubes. Even after being seasoned as a cuber I still love the unique idea of corner turners and I think they will always hold a special place in my heart.

My Terrible Megaminx

I have had this terrible Megaminx in my collection since almost the beginning of my cubing life. And in that time, I have never hated of despised anything more. It is clearly an off brand puzzle, and whatever brand it came from clearly spent no time trying to improve their work to make a better product. To start, it has tiles which frankly, don’t bother me, except for the fact that they are held onto by about one cubic millimeter of glue each which means Trying to put a tile back on without glue is actually impossible, and as for gluing it, there are no contact areas. Looking at the bottom of the tile you can see two faint lines of glue that connect the top edge of it to the corresponding piece. This is absolutely awful, because the only contact point the tile makes with pieces are on the edge, and so regluing will be messy.

Another frustrating piece of this terrible Megaminx is the clicking system. There are MASSIVE notches in the pieces that create a very awful turning, very slow puzzle, with absolutely no finger tricking of any kind. In addition to this, the mechanism is not very well mad, so pieces can wiggle upon turning. This coupled with the abysmal corner cutting, as the puzzle has no corners previously cut as 3x3’s do, makes for the worst moving and solving experience I have ever had with a puzzle.

So now the simple question, what brand is this puzzle? I actually have no idea, to tell the truth. I have looked at videos comparing brands, with no avail. No, it isn’t a QJ, although I hear that one is a close second. I know it is too disgusting to be a Dayan, and so I am stuck. What can I brand this Megaminx that has wronged me so badly? I can’t honestly say.