Honolulu Liʻiliʻi a ʻIke Maka 2024

Inside the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, the steady clatter of turning plastic filled the room on January 27, 2024. Competitors adjusted their mats, inspected scrambled puzzles under the focused lights, and prepared for quick resets between attempts. The single-day tournament gathered 72 solvers across 12 fast-moving rounds, creating an intense atmosphere where every single turn mattered and the margin for error remained unforgiving across the entire timetable.

Format discipline defined the tone of the day, particularly where every solve counted directly toward the final standing. In short-format disciplines and three-solve mean rounds, a single lockup, misread color orientation, or hesitation immediately ruins an entire round without drop scores to salvage the result. That acute pressure was felt across the venue as competitors balanced raw turning speed against the catastrophic risk of a single mistake on the timer.

The 2024 cubing competition, officially known as Honolulu Liʻiliʻi a ʻIke Maka 2024, brought high-caliber speedcubing action to Honolulu, Hawaii, USA. Matty Hiroto Inaba and Luke Garrett spent the day trading top honors across multiple formats, establishing the standard early in the main events. In the classic Rubik's Cube division, 71 solvers battled across three rounds, culminating in a fierce final where Inaba secured first place with an average of 5.86 seconds.

In those standard 3x3 results, Inaba laid down a best single of 5.22 on his way to victory, holding off Garrett, who took second place with a 6.33 average. Michael Larsen rounded out the podium in third place at 8.04 seconds. Inaba added a second title in the 4x4x4 Cube, posting a winning average of 23.59 and a single of 22.98. Paul Mahvi followed in second at 27.79, while Garrett took third with 28.61.

Garrett asserted himself in the shorter formats, claiming the 2x2x2 Cube title with a 1.85 winning average after setting an earlier 1.82 average and a 1.16 single. Travis Dumaran earned second place with 2.67, and Inaba captured third with 2.86. Garrett then dominated 3x3x3 One-Handed, recording a winning average of 10.30 and an 8.71 single, finishing ahead of Inaba in second at 11.89 and Larsen in third at 14.92.

Away from the top of the standings, the day brought massive personal milestones and breakthroughs across the board. Joseph Carrillo cut his 2x2x2 Cube best down to 4.05 seconds, an improvement of 46.2 percent over his previous mark, while also lowering his 3x3x3 Cube best to 23.54. Xavien Patel registered a 47.24 single in the standard cube, slicing 42.5 percent off his earlier time. Zack Halsall made a major leap in 3x3x3 One-Handed, posting a personal best of 36.87 seconds that was 38.7 percent faster than his prior record. Bennett Tice entered four events and delivered a 31.90 single in one-handed solving, improving by 31 percent.

New attempts and debuts also highlighted the depth of the field. Jasper Ladygo improved his 4x4x4 Cube mark to 1:09.75, running 29.7 percent faster than before. Kaimana N. Higa tackled six events, securing a 15th-place finish in Square-1 after completing a first career attempt of 26.03 seconds, alongside personal bests in Skewb and one-handed solving. Theo Masahiro Hirano recorded a first official Square-1 solve of 46.40, a first one-handed solve of 34.18, and a 1:50.25 in 4x4x4. Making their debut at a WCA competition, Ryden Yagi logged first-ever marks across five events, including a 9.90 in Skewb and 6.56 in 2x2x2.

Specialty disciplines provided dramatic conclusions as the afternoon wrapped up. Anthony Carrillo took the Skewb title with an average of 5.01, barely edging Mason Langenderfer at 5.05 and Dumaran at 5.18. In Square-1, Nico Harper won the single-round contest with an average of 8.89 and a best single of 7.88, ahead of Garrett at 11.27 and Larsen at 12.92. The high precision demanded across all six disciplines made Honolulu Liʻiliʻi a ʻIke Maka 2024 a memorable showcase of speed cubing excellence in the islands.