Junk Cuber

A place for casual puzzle solving discussion and other things

[junkcuber]

[junkcuber]

I feel pretty stupid but I notice if I did my E-Perm with an R first instead of an R’... it worked a lot nicer... and I also noticed it gave me two new OLLs that are A LOT easier to do...

[junkcuber]

alg.cubing.net

I recently been thinking a little about 7x7 parity and never really thought anything about wasting time doing the parity alg to fix what would be a double parity case... until I started solving bigger cubes when you can have Triple Parity on 9x9 and Quadruple Parity on 11x11... This is what I came up with on my own to get all the parity done with one alg... It might not be very good for speedcubing, but I don’t think a lot of people speed cube 11x11...

[junkcuber]

Someone has to say it...

The cubing shops and people who are making reviews on the "New Budget Cubes" are being overly nice about them.  I get it, I had a cube back in the 90's that someone gave me as a gag gift... and I get it... the budget cubes today are really good!  They might be just as good as cubes from 3 years ago or better...

But how are there people out there that are going to sit there and be critical of puzzles like Valk 3 Elite M, all GAN puzzles... while saying the 10 dollar budget 3x3 from the same company is the best thing ever...

I get it, maybe the Qiyi MS 3 is a really good cube, but don't sit there and be criticial of a puzzle like the Valk 3 Elite M.  The Valk 3 Elite M is CLEARLY a better puzzle than the MS 3.

Don't sit there and says the new MeiLong 3 M is amazing when you were critical of the WeiLong WRM or GTS3M....

Here is my theory, get your tinfoil hats on so big brother doesn't hear you.  There is a cubing documentary coming out on Netflix soon, and it could be a big post to the cubing community.

It is coming at the perfect time as well... We are in the middle of a pandemic that is on the rising again... The summer is here, so kids are stuck at home... Schools might not open up in September, sports might not start up again...

None of this is good news, but imagine if a family or some kid wants to get into cubing... and they ask their parents to buy them a 60 dollar cube after watching this documentary....

Just a thought...

[junkcuber]

It appears that Netflix is having a documentary about speed cubing.  I am interested, hopefully it brings some positive attention to the hobby.

[junkcuber]

The last competitive cube that YuXin came out with was the Hays 7x7... I really like 6x6 and the top 6x6 cubes really don’t have impressive hardware.  I would love to see YuXin come out with a Hay 6x6 that dominates that corner of the cubing market. I doubt it will ever happen, but until then I am gonna stick with my Qiyi/X-Man Shadow M.

[junkcuber]

I have this “Daily Sudoku” app on my iPad and my 4 year old is really interested in the puzzles.  We do the 4x4 puzzles with him on paper, because all the 4x4 apps don’t allow you to take notes in the squares... He really likes doing the notes, which is great since he is only 4, but I can’t find any non-web based that do the job... and he really likes doing it on the tablet.  Hope I can find something.

[junkcuber]

I have had the YJ budget line marketed as “YJ V2 M” cubes for some time now... and after seeing how the MeiLong M 3x3 and 4x4 works... and how the QiYi MS 3x3 and 5x5 worked... I can definitely say that YJ has a better budget line up. Now I might just need to break these QiYi MS and MeiLong M puzzles in, so i don’t want to judge them too harshly... but these puzzles do not impress me so far.

[junkcuber]

I started off as a MoYu fan boy when I first started cubing because of the hype that was around the WeiLong GTS2M, but after buying the entire GTSM/GTS2M line up I saw QiYi.  I believe I made the right choice with MoYu for 3x3, but at the time 4x4 was pretty close with the AoSuGTS2M and the WuQue. The 5x5 though... it was the AoChuang GTSM was hands down the better choice.  Once you got to the 6x6 and 7x7 the Shadow M and Spark M just spanked the AoShi and AoFu.  Then the Valk 4 and Valk 5 came out... and the Valk 4 was a bit of a flop whereas the AoSu WR M was amazing; but the Valk 5 was simply amazing. I really wanted to wait to buy the AoChuang WRM but they just took too long and the bought the Valk 5... I was not disappointed...  So when I went to buy some extra cubes for my classroom I did purchase both budget 3x3, Meilong 3x3 M and QiYi MS 3x3. For the 4x4 I went with the Meilong M 4, since I really like the AoSu WR M... and surprising it is still a 59mm 4x4.  For 5x5 I went with the QiYi MS 5x5, I am hoping it has that crunchy QiYi big puzzle feel like the Valk 5, Shadow M, and Spark M. I am going to say I probably have the nicest classroom set of cubes and puzzles for my students.

3x3:  YJ YuLong V2 M, MoYu MeiLong 3x3 M, QiYi MS 3 4x4:  YJ YuSu V2 M, MoYu Meilong 4x4 M 5x5:  YJ YuChuang V2 M, QiYi MS 5 6x6:  YJ YuShi V2 M 7x7:  YJ YuFu  V2 M I also have other puzzles, but I only wanted to mention the 3x3 through 7x7.

[junkcuber]

Summer is coming...

For all your Game of Thrones fans... you know the school year is coming to the close... Summer is coming, and you might need to prepare for the “Bright Walkers”.... For parents, June being 1/2 way over means their children will be home for Summer Vacation... for more than 2 long months. This is a great opportunity to get your child involved in a new hobby and I have suggested cubing to many parents.In addition to this suggestion I always mention some items you to get your kid started off in the right direction.

The first and most important thing I can list is any tutorial for one of these puzzles can be found on YouTube. From beginner to advance... YouTube is the right place to go.

https://www.thecubicle.com/

The second thing I mention is Lube. Any puzzle will operate better with lube and I feel the best lube for a beginner is Cubicle Silk. It is a silicone based used and you just need to pull at the cube a bit, put two drops in, and start turning.

https://www.thecubicle.com/…/lube/products/cubicle-labs-silk

The next thing I would suggest is puzzles. I think every cuber should start off with cheaper budget puzzles, but they should still have some quality to them. Recently there has been a "Boom" in the budget market where companies are putting out cheap cubes that could have been the best mains 4 years ago.

***Copy and past these puzzles into the search bar when you get to the site.

Starter Pack I think every new cuber should start with the Standard 3x3, 2x2, and Pyraminx. You could also skip getting the 2x2, but it is a good starter puzzle.

2x2: YJ YUPO 2X2 V2 M, QIYI MS 2X2 3x3: MFJS MEILONG 3X3 M, YJ YULONG V2 M, QIYI MS 3X3 Pyraminx: YJ YULONG PYRAMINX V2 M, QIYI MS PYRAMINX

Expansion Pack If the kid is still interested invest in a 4x4, 5x5, and Megaminx 4x4: MFJS MEILONG 4X4 M, QIYI MS 4X4, YJ YUSU 4X4 V2 M, YUXIN LITTLE MAGIC 4X4 M 5x5: MFJS MEILONG 5X5 M, QIYI MS 5X5, YJ YUCHUANG 5X5 V2 M, YUXIN LITTLE MAGIC 5X5 M Megaminx: YJ YUHU MEGAMINX V2 M

I would also suggest getting a cubing bag for all these puzzles, but you could also just throw them in a shoe box...

MOYU CUBING BAG: https://www.thecubicle.com/…/appar…/products/moyu-cubing-bag

I hope this was helpful to everyone. Hopefully it will be enough to keep those kids out of trouble... and if it seems like they are getting bored with it, give them an insensitive to completing a puzzle or getting a specific time.Spend less than 50 dollars to keep your kids busy for 2 month or maybe even create a brand new hobby for them that is save and affordable with a good community behind it.

-Junk Cuber

[junkcuber]

The puzzles were all pretty interesting... If you are interested here is a quick rundown of how the puzzles operated..

The Duo Pyraminx solved exactly like a pyraminx, but you need to ignore the centers until the end. Then you solve the centers like you would on a Jing’s pyraminx or Master Pyraminx.

The Double Skewb was not a very fun puzzle. It solved exactly like a skewb, but the when you go to solve the centers at the end... any center swapping alg you come up with works different depending on which face you have front... I found the an alg that 3 cycled the centers connected to the same corner... 3 cycled centers like a U-Perm would cycle edges... and a 5 cycle that mimicked the hand gesture make the cross with, lol.

The Clover Cube solved just like a Curvy Copter from what I understand. It was the first puzzle I have ever done that jumbled and it was a lot of fun solving it without a guide.

Lastly the Clover Pyraminx from Qiyi... this one threw me off a lot... I was trying to solve it like the Clover Cube, but in relatity it is a 3x3 shape mod! Some of the pieces are internal though and have no color so you run into a “Fisher” like situation where you don’t know if the piece is in the right spot. If the internals were colored so you knew if it was in the right spot that would have made it a lot easier.

Overall, I enjoy figuring all my puzzles out with no guide & these were no expection. I doubt anyone will ask, but if you have questions about them shoot me a message.

[junkcuber]

I got my Father’s Day present early, the wife and kid got me something pretty cool this year. We all got themed Star Wars shirts; mine said “Dadalorian”, with a pretty cool graphic on it. I didn’t check out my wife’s, but my kid’s says “The Child” with the “Baby Yoda” floating around in the pod.

The other thing they go me was this thing called a GoCube. It is an Smart 3x3 Speed cube... with magnets, pretty solid corner cutting, and a VERY interactive app for mobile devices. I personally don’t need it to teach me anything, but I think it could get my kid into cubing... and maybe my wife? Probably not her (lol) but the kid was very interested in it!

He was able to follow the directions with my help to get a solve on it the other day, he was pretty pumped! Then he wanted to play with the other cubes. I would be really excited if he took an interest in this hobby.

https://getgocube.com/

[junkcuber]

Fisher "Parity" Explained without Alg

I have had so many people and seen a lot recently complain about what they call Fisher “Parity”, which is nonsense to me.  If you are interested in the video take a look, but this quick explanation should do.

The Fisher Cube has “edge” pieces that can be place in upside down without knowing they are upside down due to it being a one faced piece that has 180 degree symmetry.  You can actually have the cube fully solved with 0, 2, or 4 of these pieces upside down without knowing it.

[junkcuber]

Just put in a unique order at TheCubicle.com for myself.  The first puzzle on the list appears to solve as a Pyraminx, but the centers, might solve like a “Jing’s Pyraminx” or a “Master Pyraminx’s Centers”, The 2nd puzzle claims to not have jumbling but I know this one does, as well as the 3rd one.  I currently have not gotten into jumbling puzzles like the Curvy Copter, but I am looking forward to figuring them out.

The last puzzle is a Skewb with center’s that swap, I would imagine spamming Sledgehammer will swap the center’s somehow.  It looked interesting, looking forward to getting my hands on them .

Sidenote:  I made sure these were not the Father’s Day present!

[junkcuber]

Family: Hey what do you want for Father's Day?

Me: Well if you are up for it...

Family: What is it is?

Me: I'd be down for that new 2020 Corvette...

Family: or...

Me: or some new puzzles!!!

[junkcuber]

I have tried platforms like Instagram and YouTube to post things about my “cubing” hobby, but I wanted to give tumblr a try.  I don’t consider myself a pro-level cuber, just an interested hobbyist.  I am also father, husband, math teacher so I will probably post some cool things about that too. I found myself making tutorials a lot of YouTube, which was kind of boring... I feel like I will be able to make more interesting content with pictures and shorter videos with text. I may put some math topics on here that relate to cubing as well.  I never look up a solution to any of the puzzles until I get an organic solve on my own using Group Theory or prior knowledge from other puzzles.