Gouverneur Quick & Quiet 2024

Inside Saint James Parochial School, the atmosphere balanced the rapid rhythm of speed solves with stretches of total silence across a packed schedule. With ten competitors registered and ten official events contested over thirteen rounds, the weekend in Gouverneur, New York, USA provided an intimate yet rigorous proving ground from October 19 to October 20, 2024. The schedule leaned into varied round structures, combining standard multi-round speed formats with strict single-round blindfolded trials where a solitary misstep meant a recorded DNF.

The competitive format made an immediate impression in the blindfolded events, where participants had to balance pure memorisation discipline with decisive execution under time pressure. Evan Liu dominated this corner of the program, sweeping the blindfolded roster. In the 3x3x3 Blindfolded final, Liu secured the top spot with a best single of 42.72 seconds, while Jacob Hughes took second in 1:06.52 and Saisabari Ramesh claimed third with 1:22.67. The single-round structure left no room for recovery, rewarding composure across the board.

Liu carried that focus straight into the larger blindfolded puzzles, navigating the demanding single-round formats with precision. In 4x4x4 Blindfolded, Liu registered a winning mark of 5:02.30, followed by Ramesh at 7:59.12 and Hughes recording a DNF. Liu then closed out 5x5x5 Blindfolded with an unmatched 13:52.00 single. The multi-blind trial, 3x3x3 Multi-Blind, offered another rigorous test under the clock, where Liu solved 6 out of 7 cubes in 23:08 to take first place ahead of Ramesh, who successfully solved 5 of 7 cubes in 53:55.

The main event brought traditional progression into play with a two-round format for the classic Rubik's Cube. In the final round of the 3x3x3 Cube, the 3x3 results confirmed Liu at the summit with a winning average of 8.89 seconds, bolstered by the competition-best single of 6.66 seconds. Rowe Hessler took the second step on the podium with a 9.36 average, while Ramesh finished third with an average of 10.16. Liu also topped the single-round 3x3x3 One-Handed event, securing victory with a 15.66 average and a 13.19 single, ahead of Ramesh in second at 18.14 and Jonathan Proulx in third at 28.35.

Proulx enjoyed strong success of his own in the shorter rotation puzzles. In the 2x2x2 Cube, which featured two full rounds, Proulx took the title with a 2.76 average and a 2.17 single in the final, edging past Liu who finished with 3.07 and Ethan Qiu in third at 3.49. Proulx added another victory in Clock, winning the one-round contest with an average of 4.27 seconds and a fast single of 3.17. Liu followed in second at 5.28, just ahead of Ramesh who logged a 5.32 average for third.

Beyond the podium places, several competitors delivered massive improvements across multiple puzzle disciplines. Avian Burt entered seven different events during the weekend, highlighted by a fourth-place finish in Clock where a new personal best of 9.91 seconds shaved 35.2 percent off an earlier 15.30 mark. Burt also expanded their official repertoire by logging first ever official attempts in Pyraminx with a 9.78 single and 3x3x3 One-Handed with a 56.65 single. Colin Tobin tackled five events and dropped substantial time, cutting their Clock personal best by 52.2 percent down to 22.50 from 47.06, while trimming 13.1 percent off their 2x2x2 Cube best to 7.52 and establishing a new 3x3x3 Cube best of 22.02.

International entrants from Canada also made significant strides across the program. Tobin Lancaster entered three events, taking on a first ever attempt at Pyraminx with a 9.89 single and setting a personal best of 17.66 seconds in the 3x3x3 Cube. Ibrahim Kaleem took on three events as well, reaching fourth place in Pyraminx thanks to a personal best average of 6.27 seconds, an improvement of 7.4 percent compared to an earlier best of 6.77.

The side events rounded out the weekend with fast-paced finals. Ramesh took top honours in Skewb, posting a winning average of 2.94 seconds alongside a 2.52 single to place ahead of Liu at 4.85 and Qiu at 5.35. Ramesh also secured the Pyraminx victory across two rounds, concluding with a 3.21 winning average and a 2.60 single. Across all podium outcomes, the United States accounted for 27 positions while Canada earned 4.

Gouverneur Quick & Quiet 2024 showed how diverse round formats can challenge speed cubing specialists and multi-event veterans alike. From quiet memory puzzles to rapid-fire speedcubing sprints, the cubing competition delivered high-stakes turnarounds across every table. As the 2024 calendar heads toward the next season of events, the memories and numbers registered at this WCA competition set a distinct standard for efficiency and focus under pressure.