Following up on my V Perm post, I thought I’d give another go at doing a multi-cam of a couple other long PLLs — the two Rs:
It’s not weird to have a favorite algorithm, right? I mean, look at unboxing or review videos, and each cuber seems to have a go-to move. For a while now, mine’s been the V Perm — the PLL that (a) swaps opposite corners and (b) swaps the adjacent edges next to them. I hated the V Perm, as I first learned it: R’ U R’ d’ R’ F’ R2 U’ R’ U R’ F R F. That algorithm was clunky, without a good flow.
Enter jskyler91, who posted this “non-standard” V Perm execution, which flows smoothly with no re-grips:
z D’ R2′ D (R2 U R’) D’ (R U’) (R U R’) D (R U’) z’
Since it’s one of the more complicated executions in my repertoire, I thought it would lend itself to a multi-angle video. I did something similar, when I was still learning the algorithm, and I wanted to update it:
It’s been a little while since my last post — that monster parity article that still has my head hurting. I’ve got a couple things in the works, but I put them aside when I got a Maru CX3 the other day. I’m really impressed with the cube, and I found my turn style and speed improving with it. On a whim, I thought I’d give a sub-60 PLL Time Attack another go with the CX3. I came awfully close, at 60.65 seconds. Here’s the video (with apologies for some of the out-of-frameness):
I discovered a couple months ago on the speedsolving.com forum that Dayan made a small run of Zhanchis in clear plastic around April 2011. They were prototypes, and only about 100 were made. A few vending sites, such as 51morefun.com and lightake.com list them, but as sold-out at this point. Given the rarity, they’ve been hawked on Ebay for over $800!?!
I’ve always dug clear products. Getting to see the inner-workings of intricate machines is fascinating. So, the chance of getting my favorite puzzle in a translucent model was intriguing. The rarity of it made it that much more so. But I wasn’t going to drop 8 Franklins for what is otherwise a $12 puzzle!?!
I eventually found someone on the speedsolving.com forum who was willing to part with a new DIY kit at a reasonable price. I received it a couple weeks ago and finally got a chance to assemble it. Here’s a video:
I’m a big fan of Dayan cubes, and, for 3×3, use them exclusively. For a while, I thought the Zhanchi (Dayan 5) was the bee’s knees — in all incarnations (white, black, stickerless, 42mm, 50mm, 55mm, or 57mm). Recently, I’ve revisited my Guhong v2 — Zhanchi’s older brother, which has a somewhat blockier/thicker/clickier feeling. Cubing forums are riddled with hyperbolic, vitriolic debate on which is better. Personal preference, I’d say. Both are damn good.
There’s long been talk about a Dayan 6 model that would combine the best traits of the Guhong and Zhanchi (and even their older brothers, DaYan’s Lingyun and Lunhui). Based on this speedsolving.com thread, which gathers pics and quotes that DaYan’s designer (Daqing Bao) posted to the MF8 forum, the rumors now appear true. In fact, pre-orders are now being accepted at 51morefun.com.
Here are some pics that circulated a few days ago as part of the original threads:
And here is a video slideshow Continue reading
adventures in cubing 