Merry Twistmas Lynnwood 2025

The interior of the NG Lynnwood Church buzzed with steady mechanical turning as tables filled with specialized hardware, timers, and blindfolds on December 13, 2025. Competitors gathered in Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa for an intense single-day meeting dedicated to precision solving. With fifty-seven competitors contesting eight separate disciplines across twelve rounds, the atmosphere was defined by focused concentration as solvers tackled everything from side events to standard speedcubing cubes.

While the classic Rubik's Cube is always a major draw, Merry Twistmas Lynnwood 2025 gave pride of place to the less frequent disciplines that demand distinct technical masteries. Multi-Blind led the unconventional lineup, tasking competitors with memorizing batches of cubes entirely from memory before executing turns sight unseen. Marike Faught delivered an outstanding performance in 3x3x3 Multi-Blind, securing victory by resolving seventeen out of twenty-one cubes in a time of 58:41. Taariq Hassim took second place with a flawless 5/5 in 39:01, while Joshua Bennett completed the podium by securing 4/4 in 29:22.

The sightless and single-handed disciplines continued to showcase niche skillsets throughout the afternoon. In the standard 3x3x3 Blindfolded round, Ruben Grobler claimed the title with a winning single time of 1:12.61, finishing ahead of Marike Faught at 1:39.90 and Joshua Bennett at 2:18.03. Over in 3x3x3 One-Handed, where competitors manage algos and cube control with five fingers on one hand, Osman Badroodin took the top spot across two rounds, averaging 13.78 with a top single of 10.80. Grobler followed in second place with a 16.14 average, while Ian Luies placed third with 21.20.

Specialist twisting puzzles also brought fast-paced drama to the tables. Ian Luies captured the Clock crown with a steady 9.29 average, holding off Miga Ferreira who averaged 9.88, and Ruben Grobler at 10.47. In the Pyraminx division, Rhynard Steyn took first place with a 4.10 winning average, supported by a 3.17 single. Grobler earned second place in Pyraminx with a 4.70 average, and Joshua Bennett took third with 5.26. The Skewb event went to Kagoentle Mokhabela, who averaged 4.84 across twenty-nine competitors to edge out Grobler at 5.40 and Ferreira at 6.04.

Away from the podiums, the cubing competition saw significant personal breakthroughs across the entire field. Rudransh Bindra delivered an immense breakthrough in 3x3x3 One-Handed, dropping his personal best by 56 percent to 26.68 alongside a personal best of 9.48 in Pyraminx. Manoah Visser cut his 2x2x2 Cube personal mark down to 13.97, an improvement of 49.3 percent. Mateo Zarko Cvetkovic achieved a massive 44.5 percent improvement in Skewb with an 8.79 personal best and finished ninth in Clock. Dhruv Ranchod shaved 43.7 percent off his one-handed mark with a new personal best of 16.06 and secured a fifth-place finish in 3x3x3 Cube.

First-time event entries also highlighted the day, as competitors expanded their repertoires at Merry Twistmas Lynnwood 2025. Ian James Mcleod lowered his Pyraminx personal best by 40 percent to 5.00 across five entered events. Tushar Sukraj set new personal bests of 8.18 in Skewb and 6.65 in Pyraminx, while taking on five events. First-time WCA competition entrant Kade Cullen posted opening career marks including a 7.14 in Pyraminx and 7.06 in 2x2x2 Cube. Fellow debutant Jaxon Soares logged his first official attempts across four events, recording a 26.73 in 3x3x3 Cube and 9.07 in Pyraminx.

The sprint puzzle events rounded out the day's speed cubing action, featuring large fields and rapid averages. In the 2x2x2 Cube, Ruben Grobler claimed his second victory of the competition by recording an impressive 2.15 winning average and a 1.66 single across two rounds of forty-seven entrants. Juandré Jacobs earned second place on the podium with a 3.21 average, while Osman Badroodin captured third place with an average of 3.88.

The day concluded with the main event as fifty-four entrants took to the tables for the 3x3 results. Ruben Grobler completed a remarkable multi-event campaign by winning the 3x3x3 Cube with a 9.21 final average and a best single of 8.20. Juandré Jacobs finished as runner-up with an average of 9.38, while Miga Ferreira secured third place averaging 9.50. With all twenty-four podium positions captured by domestic competitors, Merry Twistmas Lynnwood 2025 finished as a comprehensive showcase of South African solving mastery.

The successful December tournament in Pretoria brought a diverse mix of speed, memory, and puzzle mechanics together in fine style. Solvers of every discipline demonstrated their command of both mainstream and specialist formats, leaving behind an exceptional collection of individual records to close out the year 2025.