Umphrey’s McGee

F2L Edge Flip

Adventures in Cubing5 Comments

I just posted last week about some fancy edge insertion techniques I had learned. With those down, I realized that I was missing a good algorithm for addressing edges placed in the correct F2L slot but flipped. I finally came across this one, which works fantastically:

r (R U R’ U’) r’ U2 (R U R U’ R2)

I’ve got it down to about 2 seconds now, as shown in this quick video:

(music: Umphrey’s McGee covering Peter Gabriel’s “Sledgehammer”)

I previously had used (R U’ R’) d (R’ U2 R) U2′ (R’ U R) for edge flips. Continue reading →

first timed 2×2 (27 seconds)

Adventures in Cubing2 Comments

Having spent the last couple months consumed by 3×3 cubes, I just grabbed a 2×2 to break up the monotony. As expected, it didn’t take long to become comfortable with it. After all, a 2×2 cube is simply a 3×3 cube without the edges. After about 20 minutes for practice, I recorded this 27-second solve:

Pure Beginner’s Method adapted to a 2×2. The OLL was a little clunky, and I’m sure there are some more efficient algorithms. The PLL was a snap.

The music is Umphrey’s McGee playing, appropriately, “2×2” (from their December 30, 2010 concert). The full show can be downloaded here.

The cube is a V-Cube 2. It seems to lock up a bunch, especially when compared to the better 3×3’s I own. But it’s certainly smooth enough to serve as a fun distraction.