Side N Blind Narre Warren 2024

Jayden McNeill delivered a masterclass in efficiency at Side N Blind Narre Warren 2024, claiming victory in 3x3x3 Fewest Moves with a stunning 22.33 average and a single best of 21 moves. Unlike the raw turning speed that defines standard Rubik's Cube disciplines, the event tasks solvers with pen, paper, and an hour of calculated trial and error to find the shortest possible solution. McNeill took the title ahead of fellow Australian contenders Gerard McGinley, who finished second with a 25.00 average, and David Epstein, who secured third place on 25.67.

Held across August 3 and August 4, 2024, at the Foundation Learning Centre in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, the specialized cubing competition brought together 38 competitors for a weekend focused on niche puzzles and blindfolded disciplines. The schedule featured nine events across 13 rounds, drawing talent from across the region to test mental endurance. While the classic speedcubing atmosphere remained strong, the unique program offered competitors a distinct platform away from standard head-to-head racing.

The blindfolded events produced some of the weekend's most dominant performances, led by Chenhao Sun of China. Sun captured the 3x3x3 Blindfolded crown with a winning single time of 28.32 seconds, edging out Putian Ye on 37.75 seconds and Swami Srinivasan on 37.76 seconds in a fiercely contested final. Sun also claimed the 4x4x4 Blindfolded title with a decisive single of 2:43.74, while Srinivasan took second in 4:05.01 and Aaron Spiller rounded out the podium in 7:09.36.

In 5x5x5 Blindfolded, memorization demands multiplied as competitors tackled the large cube without sight. Aaron Spiller claimed top honors with a winning single time of 18:52.00, standing alongside Alex Butera, who finished second with 32:16.00 in a challenging single-round format. The 3x3x3 Multi-Blind competition brought another demanding test, where Tam Quan took first place by successfully resolving 21 of 26 cubes in a time of 58:26, ahead of Srinivasan with 20 of 25 in 54:38 and Sun with 13 of 15 in 55:32.

Away from the top of the podium, several competitors achieved remarkable milestones across their events. Hamish Bentley entered six events and cut his Clock mark down to 9.72 seconds, an improvement of 66.8 percent over his previous best, while dropping his Megaminx single to 1:12.66 and his 7x7x7 Cube mark to 5:39.54. Luke Cameron achieved a 43 percent improvement on Clock with a 12.89 personal best and logged his first official attempts in Megaminx at 2:08.91 and Square-1 at 54.78. Zachariah Schuant tackled four events, recording first-time results of 16.15 on Square-1, 11.19 on Clock, and 1:51.62 on Megaminx, alongside a 12th place finish in Fewest Moves. Jordan Lazaro took on four events, setting debut marks of 30.66 in Square-1, 53 in Fewest Moves, and 2:44.50 in Megaminx.

The progress continued through the ranks as Nate Leitch registered his first official results in three different categories, posting a 25.64 in Square-1, a 52 in Fewest Moves, and 1:49.69 in Megaminx. Henry Tran entered four events and delivered his first official 3x3x3 Blindfolded solve in 2:28.84 to finish eighth, while also making his first 7x7x7 Cube attempt in 6:05.45 and clocking 6.64 on Clock. Daniel Patton shaved 15.8 percent off his Clock standard to hit 12.61 and improved his 3x3x3 Blindfolded time to 3:29.74 across five events. Xavier Lianto dropped his blindfolded personal best by 16.9 percent to 7:33.25 and improved his Clock record to 17.28.

The rotational and mechanical puzzles also featured fast times across multiple rounds. Alex Butera captured the Clock victory with an average of 4.63 seconds, having posted the weekend's best single of 2.90 seconds in earlier action, finishing ahead of Auric Cui on 6.73 and Phoenix Patterson on 6.77. Patterson quickly found the top step of the podium in Square-1, winning the event with an 8.95 average over Jacob Joshi on 9.20 and Putian Ye on 10.56.

Timothy Yang triumphed in Megaminx, compiling a 50.49 average with a best single of 46.75 to hold off Tam Quan on 51.06 and Patterson on 53.13. On the largest puzzle of the weekend, Ray Zhang won the 7x7x7 Cube with a 2:24.66 average and a best single of 2:19.88 across two rounds. With diverse formats and focused technical disciplines, Side N Blind Narre Warren 2024 provided a thorough examination of memory, calculation, and speed cubing dexterity, setting a high standard for the upcoming season on the WCA competition circuit.