Norwich Winter 2024

The sports hall at the City of Norwich School was filled with a diverse array of twisting plastic and mechanical puzzles as competitors gathered on December 14 and December 15. Tables across the venue held everything from standard cubes to multi-faceted dodecahedrons and triangular Pyraminx puzzles. The competition brought a dedicated group of 33 speedcubing entrants together in Norwich, Norfolk, United Kingdom for a packed schedule spanning 11 events and 22 rounds. The atmosphere reflected a full celebration of puzzle variety, with solvers moving between rapid sprints and long memory trials.

The range of disciplines defined the weekend at Norwich Winter 2024, showing the depth required to master modern speed cubing. In the headline 3x3x3 Cube event, Monty Fox secured first place with an impressive winning average of 7.14 seconds, bolstered by a best single solve of 6.21 seconds over three rounds. Sean Moran took second place on the podium with an average of 8.88 seconds, while Thomas Patterson earned third position with a mark of 9.02 seconds in the final 3x3 results.

Cham J. Chambers delivered a remarkable run across the larger mechanical challenges. Chambers swept the big cube categories, securing first place in the 4x4x4 Cube with a winning average of 29.22 seconds, winning the 5x5x5 Cube in 54.03 seconds, and taking the top spot in the single-round 6x6x6 Cube event with a time of 1:32.61. Chambers also demonstrated great versatility across other events, earning second-place podium finishes in 2x2x2 Cube, 3x3x3 One-Handed, Pyraminx, and Skewb.

Short-format puzzles provided intense competition on the tables. In the 2x2x2 Cube final, Ben Stokes captured the victory with a 2.15-second average, edging out Chambers at 2.33 seconds and Fox at 2.58 seconds. Skewb action saw Ariel Benchetrit claim first place with an average of 3.36 seconds and a best single of 1.80 seconds. The Pyraminx event brought an international triumph as Sweden solver Bo Forsell took first place with a 2.51 average, ahead of Chambers and Moran.

Specialist solving techniques were also on full display throughout the cubing competition. Sean Moran captured the title in 3x3x3 One-Handed with an average of 13.54 seconds and a single of 10.00 seconds, before also winning the Megaminx category with an average of 33.15 seconds. In the memory events, Ben Stokes won the 3x3x3 Blindfolded division with an average of 28.38 seconds and a best single of 23.40 seconds, while Thomas Patterson topped the 3x3x3 Multi-Blind discipline by successfully resolving 37 out of 41 cubes in 59:30.

Beyond the podium battles, several competitors achieved remarkable milestones across the schedule. William Smith recorded massive gains, improving his Skewb personal best to 6.14 seconds, which was 55.8 percent faster than his prior mark, alongside a 23.7 percent improvement in Pyraminx to 8.80 seconds. Oscar Russell registered a 36.9 percent drop in his 3x3x3 Cube time down to 17.64 seconds, while making his first ever attempts at Skewb with an 8.14 single and 2x2x2 Cube with a 3.75 single. Timothy Johnstone took on five events, producing a 36.4 percent improvement in 2x2x2 Cube down to 3.63 seconds and posting a first attempt of 2:16.01 in the 5x5x5 Cube.

New ventures and steep personal bests continued down the standings. Ruben Berkin entered his first WCA competition, tackling seven different disciplines, earning a best finish of 10th in Pyraminx, and setting marks of 13.82 in the standard Rubik's Cube, 17.59 in Skewb, and 2:24.19 in 5x5x5 Cube. Lukas Horne improved his Pyraminx best by 19.6 percent to 5.57 seconds to finish 9th, and logged a 16.16 personal best in 3x3x3. Millar Fernley delivered an opening attempt of 5.83 seconds in Skewb and improved his 3x3x3 Cube best by 16.6 percent to 32.48 seconds. Hugo Last cut his Skewb time by 33.1 percent to 10.11 seconds, while Luke Wood logged a first ever attempt of 1:15.13 in the 4x4x4 Cube.

The 2024 gathering demonstrated the sheer breadth of events that modern competitors take on in a single weekend. With 32 podium finishes awarded to United Kingdom solvers and one to Sweden, the tournament celebrated both seasoned podium regulars and newcomers mastering fresh events. As the venue cleared at City of Norwich School, the achievements across all eleven formats concluded a memorable edition of Norwich Winter 2024.