So, I just recorded two 1:09 solves in a row using a GoPro HelmetCam that I borrowed from my company. These are among my fastest solves (I got a 1:03 the other day), and definitely my fastest recorded ones.
Peruse YouTube for a couple minutes, and you’ll find hundreds of videos showcasing sub-20-second speedsolving. You may even stumble onto Feliks setting his 5.66 second world record. Crazy impressive on all sorts of differents levels. Good for him. Not the least bit of enmity or jealousy on my end.
But dig a little deeper and you’ll find, as I did, something more sinister: a clip of Justin Bieber on Spanish TV solving a cube in 1:26. While I find his music beyond abhorrent, I can at least appreciate that the kid has some singing and dancing talent. Good for you, Justin. But I simply could not allow myself to be out-cubed by the pretty-boy. Not competitive by nature, I succumbed to an unusual, embarrasing, almost preternatural drive to beat him. Then, after two weeks of further practice, I did:
Having never solved a cube before, I was STOKED to get an on-camera, cheat-sheet-free solve last week [link]. While I remain convinced that, on a percentage basis, only a small sliver of the population can even solve a cube — and an even smaller population learned well after their brain atrophied and petrified post-adolescence — the competitive part of me can’t help but want to improve my solve time. There are more advanced and more efficient techniques out there, and I hope to tackle them at some point. And certainly my mechanics can use some work.
The number one tip on every speed-solving site and tutorial is…PRACTICE! And so I have practiced. A lot. Lo and behold, I’ve made remarkable progress. Indeed, today’s 1:46 (my personal best) means that I’ve shaved 71% off that 6-minute first timed solve!
Here are videos capturing my progress:
2:30 (Dec 1)
1:58 (Dec 3)
1:46 (Dec 4)
While I take credit for most of the progress, I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that migrating from a Rubik’s-branded cube to a more advanced speed cube made a difference. These solves are on a white Dayan Zhanchi, which moves effortlessly, corners well, and does not lock-up. No wonder it was Feliks’ cube of choice for that fateful, world record setting 5.66 second solve.
REVISIONIST HISTORY: Although I posted this after my inaugural post, I’ve pre-dated it to keep things chronological.
So, I’ve been at this cubing thing for about a couple days now, having started Thanksgiving morning. What compelled me to give it a go is a bit of a mystery. But, if I had to, I suppose I’d blame the confluence of (1) the sudden surfacing of a cube from the back of a drawer, (2) an extra couple days off work, and (3) a fair bit of escapism (from the craziness that becomes Thanksgiving get-togethers). I’ve always enjoyed intellectual challenges, and this struck me as the challenge par excellence. No longer the owner of one of those spongy pre-adolescent brains that absorbs languages in the blink of an eye, I figured my hardened post-college, post-law school, post-kids brain could benefit from some unusual exercise.
I assumed there would be dozens of good tutorials on the internet. Dozens the net does indeed boast, but most aren’t that great. Frustrated, I finally stumbled onto a fantastic set of youtube videos by RobH0629. It took a couple hours of viewing and practicing to get down the basics and to scribble the algorithms into a cheat sheet that “made them my own.” Then, after a detour to help cook the bird, I managed this first on-camera solve — in a mere six-minutes! (Don’t worry: I sped up the video).
adventures in cubing 