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.

Modifications and Custom Puzzles

One thing I love seeing so much is a brand new idea being put into reality. Things like hand mods and custom puzzles are just so cool to me, because they take an idea of something someone thought would be cool, and put it into action. And I’m constantly amazed because these mods and puzzles just keep coming, with no stop. But right now, I want to look at a few of my favorites.

                The first big one I love is the Mix-up Cube. For those of you unaware, this puzzle moves like a regular 3x3, except it includes the ability to move a middle slice 45 degrees, and then the corners switch with the center pieces. Now while I don’t have this puzzle, it amazes me because it turns on a level that increases the difficulty of the already super hard 3x3. In addition, it just amazes me that a mechanism can support this. I would love to look at a Mix-up cube just for the insides, as I’m sure it would be complicated but easy enough to be economical.

                The next awesome puzzle I love is actually a series of puzzles. Basic cuboids. While not so super amazing all by themselves, it’s so cool to watch designers like Traiphum put together massive cuboids that shouldn’t exist. Things like the 10x10x8 are so awesome, and I just marvel at the collassalness. But the real amazing thing for me is the small but wide cuboids. Things like the 2x5x5, which seem to be a physical impossibility. Imagine how close someone would have to work to be able to construct something like that. Pieces would have to reach to the edge of their long, fragile, sticks just to be attached. And yet somehow, these puzzles are made with relative ease and they work just as well as many other custom mods.

                Finally on this list, are simple mods that I enjoy for just that, their simplicity. For instance, Crazy Bad Cuber showed a 248 mod, where he basically just glued parts of an 8x8 together. While the building of the mod may not be overly difficult, the solving definitely is. The puzzle bandages on so many different levels it’s hard to believe you can still turn it. It appears to be impossible at first glance, but you could never tell while making it, as it is as simple as gluing pieces together.

                This is just a small list of puzzles; I will be out with another soon. Pictures for each puzzle are below, in respective order.

The Journey On Up?

Today I want to self-reflect a little bit as I begin to examine my future in cubing. If you have read any previous posts, you know that I will soon be going to a competition, and that a reasonable goal for me is to know all the PLLs by the time I get there. But this raises a very large question in my mind, what do I do after that? The obvious and simple answer is to learn OLL and other advanced bits to add to my CFOP abilities, but that is a commitment of a large amount of time to learn it all. 50 Algorithms for basic OLL, plus probably a few tricks of the trade here and there, just to master the CFOP basics. I look at it, and wonder how I will ever get done with it all. Truth be told, my practice has stalled now that school and its never ending commitments have begun. I want to keep going, but I can’t seem to find a solid chunk of time in which to do so. Which leaves the question, do I stay a mediocre cuber by our intense standards, or do I try to hack my way through the endless stream of algorithms to come? I hope the answer will make itself clearer as I edge closer to my competition.

Moyu 6x6!

Moyu has announced their own 6x6, entitled the Aoshi!! I am super excited for Moyu doing this, because they are getting into all the WCA puzzles that they previously hadn’t been into. I hope the 6x6 holds up to the standards they previously set with the right of what I affectionately call, the “Ao” series. They have done such a great job so far, with the 3x3 and 4x4 being absolutely amazing, and the 5x5 and 7x7 holding their own in a smaller market of cubes. And I do think it will be well accepted, because 6x6 is one of the categories with the lowest number of cubes to choose from, and has quite a few issues with most cubes. I really expect and hope that Moyu has looked into these and has fixed many issues the other 6x6’s have. But overall, I just want to give Moyu a thank you. Whether they know it or not (probably not) they took my advice, and I think they will have good control of the WCA puzzles, at least for a while, until another company steps up their game.

Competition confirmed!!

Hey guys! As you might have read in the title, it is confirmed! I am going to a competition in about a month! Now for sake of privacy, I won’t be sharing which competition I am going to, but I wanted to give some pointers on competing and what you might want to do before hand to improve your spot in competition.

          To start, trust your gear. This is the same advice that Noah Arthurs gave in one of his videos on a similar topic, but I want to reiterate some key ideas. No matter the cube you use, it’s important that you make sure you feel confident that it will perform the way you need it to. Trusting your cube is a big deal, and it’s one thing I have a huge problem with. Also, make sure your cubes are well tensioned, lubed, stickered, and otherwise prepped so you can make sure you know your cube is on its game. In addition to bringing your main speedcubes, also include a backup for big events like 2x2 and 3x3, because if your main breaks or fails on some level, you need to have something to solve on for the rest of the competition.

          Another great idea is to set goals for yourself a month or two before the competition, and practice and strive to reach the goal. Of course, the goal has to be reasonable, but if you find an appropriate level of difficulty, the goal can really push you to perform. For me, the goal I have set for the competition is a 20 second average, with an 18 second single. Now this is very attainable for me at home, but I want to make sure I can nail it in a competition. If you don’t like to time yourself at home, or just don’t think you will be able to perform well under the pressure of a competition, instead, set goals about your algorithm or method process. For instance, I might choose to set a goal of knowing all the PLL’s by this competition. Considering I only have 3 more to learn (4 if you count me wanting to switch on of my G-perms) my goal seems very easily reached. If you are not a great memorizer, your goals can be a bit more conservative, but one main idea to remember is that you should set goals that will challenge you. Don’t strive for the minimum, practice and put in some effort.

          Finally, on the day of the competition, I recommend a warm up strategy. Simply start with slow turns when you wake up. Don’t do really fast, complicated, or hard stuff, especially not at first, save that for later. As you continue through the day, make sure you keep your hands warm. A good way to do this is to always have a cube in hand, and be doing basic, slow solves. You want to be ready to go when the time to compete comes, but make sure you don’t wear out your hands in the process. Also, when the time comes, you will have to hand over your main cube for scrambling. This might take a bit, and is when your backup cube will be useful. At this stage, right before you compete, it is fine to do fast solves on you backup to not only keep your hands warm, but allow you to build up some speed for our solve. However, the rule of not wearing your fingers out still applies here.

          Take or leave these tips, but I think they are quite helpful and are very useful when a competition rolls around. I will be updating you guys with blogs about my cubing progress and how my goals are going, but this is it for now.