Tuesday, August 15, 2017

Starting Over—Kind Of

After convincing myself that I could use my method to solve a cube with my eyes closed consistently, I decided to take a look see at how others really do it. I checked out NoahCubes@Cubing World on YouTube. It was thorough. Very. His corner method was similar to mine only used less setup moves because he uses a different PLL permutation. His edges method is M2, and from what I gather it is a popular method these days. M2 has pros and cons. The pro is that the move M2 is the swap algorithm! The cons are the complicated cases and the end game if there is parity.

I was pretty excited about a one twist swapper so tried to use M2 when it was easy, and my F Perm when M2 wouldn't work. And the parity issue? I'll just deal with it like I always have. And it works! I modified his M2 method a bit so it works with BD as the buffer and UF as the target. That way I have the same buffer for both M2 and F Perm.

I got to thinking. Why can't you do the same thing with corners? Why can't you use D2 as a swapper to get as many corners as possible? And so with DRB as the buffer I use DLF as the target when using D2. I tried it last night and it worked!

There are some gotchas that came up along the way. As long as I do an even number of M2 or D2 before switching to the F Perm I'm ok. So sometimes I have to use the F Perm to make the number of preceding M2s or D2s even.

Why complicate matters by using three different swappers instead of just one? Because two of them are so quick and easy!!!!!

After working through a scramble seeing what it would look like if I started with Corners, then what it would look like if I started with Edges, then trying to come up with a memorization system that would help me remember when to do M2 or D2 and when to use the F Perm, oh my, what a pain. I decided to take a break and go do some yardwork. While doing yard work it all became clear. When using the F Perm algo I use Food sentences. When using either M2 or D2 I use Jesus talk. Here is how it worked out.

L U' R2 U B' U' L D' F' L D B U L D' L B' U B U R B' D2 B D'
JoeKnows
YahwehGodLovesOthersChristVictorious
EthanUsesRice
HenrySteams
GodIsPatientAndJesusForgives

The first attempt I messed up and I didn't have a solve at the end. The second attempt I kept opening my eyes to make sure all was well. It was. Maybe I'll try again with another cube and see if I can get it start to finish with closed eyes.

Here is a breakdown of how many moves it takes me to solve each piece. Each word stands for a piece of the cube.

The ones that use the F Perm algorithm
Joe 23
Knows 25
Ethan 21
Uses 23
Rice 27
Henry 23
Steams 29

The ones that use M2 or D2
M2 for edges
Yahweh 7
God 7
Loves 7
Others 7
Christ 1
Victorious 7

D2 for corners
God 15
Is 9
Patient 7
And 17
Jesus 9
Forgives 7

So altogether I saved over 200 twists by using M2 for edges and D2 for corners whenever possible.