My favorite puzzles
Shashank Naik (12, India)
I solve many different types of cubes. Out of them these are my favorite puzzles: pyraminx, 4×4, 3×3 and square‑1.
Pyraminx is my most favorite puzzle because it is very easy to solve and it does not take much time to solve it. Pyraminx is a pyramid shaped cube. It has four sides, four corners, twelve centers and dash edges. The colours are green, blue, yellow and red. I use the layer by layer method to solve it. My personal best is 11.93 seconds. I always start with the green face at the bottom. Currently I am using the Shengshou pyraminx.
3×3 is one of my favorites as it was the first cube I learnt to solve. I like to solve it for fun and if I am bored or have some free time. I use the fridrich method currently to solve the cube. But now I am learning the VLS method (Valk last slot). I rarely speed solve my 3×3 as it pops out during solves. I use the cyclone boys cube. I hope I win the competition so that I could get a gans 356 air or valk3M. My personal best is twenty seconds.
Next comes 4×4. It is one of my best speed cubes. It is also known as the Rubik’s Revenge. I have a Mo Fang Ge cube. I use the Yau method to solve the puzzle. I actually never knew that there was a 4×4 cube until I came across one. While solving it I never choose a particular colour to start with. I first solve the centers that are close to completion. But I actually prefer to solve white first if possible. My personal best time for solving it (single) is two minutes thirty eight seconds. My average best is three minutes ten seconds.
To end, I am going to write about Square-1. The square-1 is a shape shifter, that is , it changes its shape when scrambled. The notation of the cube is quite confusing. It took me a whole hour to understand the notation. I use the Vandenbergh method to solve the square-1. I use the shengshou square 1. My best time is 45.55 seconds.
