PortlaNxNd 2024

The tournament hall at the Holiday Inn Portland Airport was a hub of continuous motion on May 11, 2024. Competitors unpacked bags of puzzles, aligned timers across rows of tables, and began warm-up solves beneath the hotel lighting. With the airport concourses just minutes away, many of the 115 participants arrived after extensive travels, converging on Portland, Oregon, USA, to dedicate a full day to high-stakes solving. The staging area hummed with the quick, rhythmic snapping of plastic mechanisms as solvers settled in for a packed program spanning five classic layered puzzle disciplines.

The single-day gathering, officially hosted as PortlaNxNd 2024, brought together enthusiasts of all skill levels for a total of 11 rounds of competition. As a dedicated cubing competition, the schedule was tailored entirely around cubic puzzles from the traditional three-layered challenge up to the massive seven-layered giant. While the journey across planes, trains, and highways brought everyone under one roof, the focus quickly shifted to the solving stations as the opening rounds got underway across the venue floor.

In the flagship 3x3x3 Cube, where all 115 competitors were in contention across three intense rounds, Max Siauw established control from the early stages through to the final. Siauw captured first place with a winning average of 6.78 seconds, backed by a tournament-best single of 5.55 seconds. Asher Kim-Magierek took the second step on the podium with a 7.02 average, while Luke Tycksen finished third with a mark of 7.76. These standout 3x3 results underscored the sharp level of execution at the top of the bracket.

Siauw continued his dominant run as the puzzles scaled upward in size. In the 4x4x4 Cube, which drew 64 participants over two rounds, Siauw took the title with a winning average of 25.41 seconds and a best single of 23.78. Tycksen followed closely in second place with an average of 27.67 seconds, while Kevin Hays rounded out the podium in 29.62. The standard Rubik's Cube was only the beginning of the mid-sized puzzle battle, which expanded further during the 5x5x5 Cube contest.

The 5x5x5 Cube division saw Siauw secure his third gold medal of the meeting, turning in a winning average of 46.68 seconds and a single of 44.88 across two rounds featuring 44 entrants. Hays claimed the runner-up spot with an average of 48.36 seconds, and Tycksen collected another podium finish in third place with a 52.49. The rapid succession of layered challenges tested stamina and precision, proving that speed cubing at this level requires sustained endurance as the piece counts multiply.

Beyond the championship battles, PortlaNxNd 2024 featured remarkable breakthroughs from competitors who made huge strides on the official floor. Elijah Dodson posted a major advance in the 3x3x3 Cube, recording a personal best single of 20.09 seconds, which was 66.2 percent faster than his previous mark of 59.48. Legion Yep took on three events and slashed his 3x3x3 single by 50.3 percent down to 22.14 seconds, alongside his first official attempt at the 4x4x4 Cube in 1:36.25. Nolan Limont showed similar progress by dropping his 3x3x3 single by 42 percent to 21.12 seconds, while Jameson Steele improved his 3x3x3 best by 38.8 percent to 20.20 seconds in addition to a first 4x4x4 Cube attempt of 2:08.12.

Several solvers embraced the largest challenges on the schedule during the weekend. Ronan Hobbs delivered personal bests across three disciplines, including a 4x4x4 single of 53.61 seconds that was 39.2 percent faster, and a 5x5x5 single of 2:21.82 that improved by 35.8 percent. Peter LeClair completed five events, logging his first official attempts at the 5x5x5 Cube in 1:50.17, the 6x6x6 Cube in 3:42.49, and the 7x7x7 Cube in 6:49.46. Crystal Calvert tackled all five categories, notching a 15.6 percent personal best in 4x4x4 of 1:02.16 while completing debut efforts in 6x6x6 at 4:11.37 and 7x7x7 at 6:58.91. For Liam Sichley, the trip marked an official debut at a WCA competition, taking on five events with opening marks of 24.88 in 3x3x3, 1:54.32 in 4x4x4, and 3:07.82 in 5x5x5.

The heavyweight contests belonged to Kevin Hays, who demonstrated his enduring mastery of the biggest puzzles in speedcubing. In the 6x6x6 Cube, Hays earned the victory with a 1:28.64 average and a best single of 1:25.69, edging out Siauw who took second with 1:30.51, and Tycksen who finished third in 1:33.32. The event gathered 30 competitors across two rounds, setting a formidable pace for the final event on the schedule.

Hays completed his big-cube double in the 7x7x7 Cube, which featured 28 solvers over two rounds. He captured the victory with a winning average of 2:04.01 and a premier single of 1:58.03, finishing well ahead of Siauw in second place at 2:22.15 and Tycksen in third at 2:35.39. Across all five podiums, United States competitors swept all 15 available top-three placements.

When the final timers were packed away, PortlaNxNd 2024 concluded having delivered an intense showcase of classic cubic solving in the Pacific Northwest. Solvers who travelled near and far gathered valuable stage experience and personal milestones across every tier of competition, closing out a memorable day in Portland as the community looks ahead to the next stops of the 2024 season.