New New York New Year 2024

William Lavoie delivered a blistering standard in the 2x2x2 Cube final, locking down an eye-catching 1.46-second winning average to headline a weekend of explosive progress. Held across December 31 and January 1, 2025, in Malta, New York, USA, the gathering brought together 34 competitors inside the Hyatt Place Saratoga/Malta. The dual-year calendar transition served as an ideal backdrop for rising talents looking to reset benchmarks and lower their times across 7 events and 11 rounds of high-pressure solving.

Across the two-day schedule, the Rubik's Cube community saw intense competition from an eager roster of emerging solvers. Noah Kim secured victory in the marquee 3x3x3 Cube event, posting a sharp 7.25 average to lead a competitive field of 33 entrants. In a contest where small mistakes can derail a round, Kim stayed composed across two rounds to claim the top spot on the podium. The final 3x3 results confirmed the depth of the field, with Curtis Chai finishing as runner-up on a 7.68 average and Will Russo taking third place at 8.74.

Evan Liu produced one of the most versatile performances of the entire weekend, capturing gold medals across three distinct categories. Liu dominated the 4x4x4 Cube with a 33.28 winning average, narrowly holding off Curtis Chai who posted a 33.38 mark. Liu returned to the tables to capture the 5x5x5 Cube crown with a 58.26 average, once again finishing ahead of Chai and third-place Louis Truong. His endurance carried over into 5x5x5 Blindfolded, where Liu stood as the only competitor to register a successful solve, claiming the title with a single mark of 11:57.00.

The specialist disciplines featured equally impressive turnarounds and rapid solving. Clem Tucker paced the Clock event, taking top honors with an average of 3.59 seconds over Eli Rogers and Saisabari Ramesh. Skewb provided one of the closest podium finishes of the competition, as Saisabari Ramesh recorded a 2.92 average to win the title, edging past Evan Liu at 3.01 and Quinn Maloney at 3.02. In the 2x2x2 Cube, Canada claimed its lone podium finish of the event via Lavoie, while the United States secured the remaining 21 podium places across the weekend program.

Beyond the top steps of the podium, speedcubing progress was on full display as several competitors achieved dramatic breakthroughs. Austin Li delivered one of the steepest leaps of the weekend, dropping his 2x2x2 Cube personal best by 56.1 percent to 6.18 seconds, improving his 3x3x3 mark by 7.8 percent to 23.08, and recording a first ever attempt at 4x4x4 Cube with a 1:44.04 result. Myles Bruce showed similar momentum, lowering his Clock mark by 25.8 percent to 20.43, chopping 23.8 percent off his Skewb personal best down to 9.00, and improving his 4x4x4 Cube time by 3.9 percent to 1:23.31. Sebastian Mazura also surged forward, cutting 23.2 percent from his 2x2x2 personal record with a 5.43 average.

Other solvers embraced new territory and took on expanded schedules at this WCA competition. Yiyul Jung tackled 6 events, securing an 11th-place finish in Clock while logging first-ever official attempts in 2x2x2 Cube at 5.10, 4x4x4 Cube at 1:18.12, and Skewb at 13.10. Samin Yasar took on the 2x2x2 Cube for the first time in an official round to log a 4.28 result. The weekend also welcomed first-time competitors stepping onto the floor for their debut cubing competition: Aaron Bleier achieved a 22.97 single in his first 3x3x3 attempt, Benji Jensen completed his first 3x3x3 solve at 33.02, and Achyuth Badami notched a 25.20 finish in his own debut appearance.

The 2x2x2 Cube contest proved especially fast throughout the weekend, featuring a series of sharp rounds from the top contenders. Lavoie set a 1.01 single and 1.49 average, while Quinn Maloney registered a 1.43 single on the way to second place overall. Curtis Chai delivered a 0.91 single alongside an average of 1.83 to take third, adding to podiums from Eli Rogers, Nico Ozsvath, Evan Liu, Saisabari Ramesh, Clem Tucker, Will Russo, and Ethan Qiu across the division.

The action at New New York New Year 2024 demonstrated how quickly dedicated practice translates onto the official competition floor. From seasoned all-around solvers claiming multiple event victories to newer competitors making substantial personal gains across multi-layered puzzles, speed cubing in the region capped off the 2024 calendar with impressive depth and momentum for the upcoming season.