Keep Austin Weird 2023

Eighty-four competitors gathered at the San Jacinto Residence Hall on December 10, 2023, setting the stage for a packed schedule across 7 events and 13 rounds of action. Hosted in Austin, Texas, USA, the gathering brought together seasoned speedcubing talent alongside ambitious newcomers seeking personal milestones before the year drew to a close. With a demanding slate ranging from classic twisty puzzles to side events, the single-day WCA competition required relentless focus and consistency from start to finish.

Veteran competitors quickly found their rhythm on the main stage, demonstrating technical sharpness and composure under tournament conditions. In the premier 3x3x3 Cube event, Canadian standout Kyle Santucci proved unreachable in the final round of the classic Rubik's Cube, capturing victory with an exceptional winning average of 6.46 seconds and a best single of 5.32 seconds. The 3x3 results confirmed the depth of the field, as Santucci held off fierce challenges from Jason Lee and Jeremy Sheng, who both registered 8.00 averages to secure second and third place respectively.

Ray Bai produced one of the most commanding multi-event campaigns of the entire 2023 season, capturing three individual titles across big cubes and specialty events. In the 4x4x4 Cube, Bai delivered a decisive 27.26 winning average to take the gold ahead of Azhar Virani at 31.69 and Jason Lee at 32.12. Bai also secured the fastest single of the event with a 25.67 mark, highlighting an impressive return to top form across complex layered puzzles.

Bai extended that dominance directly into the 5x5x5 Cube, clocking a 54.91 average with a best single of 50.62 to lead another strong podium that featured Jason Lee in second with 1:02.15 and Jose Ortiz Jr. in third with 1:04.76. The Megaminx bracket saw Bai complete a golden triple, posting an unmatched average of 36.74 and a single of 29.23. Pranav Veera took silver in 44.58, while Ortiz Jr. earned another medal with a third-place time of 46.24.

Away from the top steps of the podium, several competitors made significant personal breakthroughs throughout the weekend. Ben Ramirez turned heads with massive time drops, lowering their Clock personal best by 42.2 percent down to 15.67 seconds while also cutting their 4x4x4 Cube mark by 34.9 percent to 1:34.72. Viwin Dinesh Kumar trimmed their Skewb personal best by 39.3 percent to 6.80 seconds, while Lucas Wood logged a 1:12.02 personal best on 4x4x4 Cube alongside a first attempt at Megaminx that stopped the clock at 2:04.78. Niranjan Uppiliappan took on the 4x4x4 Cube for the first time with a 1:04.43 effort and improved their 3x3x3 Cube personal best by 13.2 percent to 10.22.

The spirit of testing new boundaries continued as Hugo True Venkatesh tackled six events, securing seventh place in 3x3x3 Blindfolded with a maiden time of 2:52.22 and dropping their Clock personal best by 15.5 percent to 12.70. Oliver Tan took on a full seven-event schedule, completing first-ever official attempts in Skewb at 12.79, Clock at 37.29, and 3x3x3 Blindfolded at 9:18.34. Derrick Dunlap also entered seven events, posting initial competition marks of 1:01.20 in 4x4x4 Cube and 5.92 in Skewb, while Stanley Roth improved their Skewb personal best by 29.4 percent to 11.20 while managing seven different disciplines on the day.

The blindfolded discipline provided its signature test of memory and spatial recall across two intense rounds of competition. Jeremy Sheng topped the 20-person field in 3x3x3 Blindfolded with a rapid 43.27 single to claim victory, leaving Leia Jiang in second place with 1:40.48 and Michael Conard taking third with 2:40.61. Sheng's decisive run highlighted the precision required to execute intricate solving sequences without sight under tournament pressure.

In the specialty events, rapid turn speed defined the Clock and Skewb finals. Sourish Datta claimed the Clock title with a narrow winning average of 7.21 seconds, edging out Jose Ortiz Jr. at 7.28 and India's Vyom Sharma at 7.63. The Skewb bracket belonged to Austin Sanchez, whose 4.64 average held off Canada's Catherine Connolly at 4.78 and Sutton Barkley at 5.04. The tight margins across every round showcased how advanced the competitive standards have become across all formats of speed cubing.

By the conclusion of Keep Austin Weird 2023, competitors had logged memorable achievements across all 13 rounds of the cubing competition. United States entrants took home 18 podium positions, alongside two for Canada and one for India. With Kyle Santucci's blistering 3x3 performance and Ray Bai's multi-discipline haul leading the charge, the competition in Austin served as a premier showcase of veteran composure and rising talent.

As the equipment was packed away and timers were switched off, the final results recorded a day filled with sharp execution and expansive personal milestones. Whether mastering blindfolded solves, handling high-order cubes, or trimming seconds off personal benchmarks, the athletes who gathered in Austin delivered a fitting conclusion to a competitive season.