Warm Up Seattle 2025

A blistering 4.94-second final average by Xuanyi Geng in the 3x3x3 Cube set the tone for an intense weekend of competition in Lynnwood, Washington, USA. Held on June 28 and June 29, the Lynnwood Event Center hosted 266 competitors tackling 13 different events across 30 rounds. While pen-and-paper strategy events like Fewest Moves highlight the deliberate, quiet side of puzzle solving, this two-day gathering leaned heavily into raw speed cubing. Geng paced a field of 252 entrants in the main event, posting a best single solve of 4.39 seconds on the way to the title.

The 3x3 results at Warm Up Seattle 2025 showcased elite consistency in the four-round main bracket. Alexey Tsvetkov secured the runner-up spot behind Geng with a 5.73-second average, while Timofei Tarasenko rounded out the podium in third place with a 5.81 average. The rapid pace at the top tables demonstrated how high the standard has risen for the traditional Rubik's Cube across modern speedcubing tournaments, where sub-6 averages are now necessary to challenge for the hardware.

Short-format puzzles delivered rapid turnarounds and razor-thin margins. Luke Garrett captured top honors in the 2x2x2 Cube with a 1.37-second winning average, edging out Ian Cantius Fredric who finished second at 1.49 seconds, and Ezra Severson who took third at 1.52 seconds. In the Pyraminx, Tripp Peters emerged victorious among 115 competitors with a 1.99-second average, backed by a 1.77 best single. Ash Black topped the Skewb bracket of 85 solvers, taking the win with a 1.80-second average and a single of 1.64.

Mid-sized twisty puzzles featured repeated head-to-head battles between seasoned podium contenders. Matty Hiroto Inaba claimed the 4x4x4 Cube victory with a 21.17 average and a 17.97 single, finishing ahead of Tarasenko at 22.45 and Garrett at 24.41. Tarasenko reversed the order on the 5x5x5 Cube, claiming first place with a 42.60 average and a single solve of 35.72, while Inaba finished in second place at 44.62 and Garrett placed third with 44.98.

Big cubes extended the test of endurance and spatial awareness. Tarasenko secured another gold in the 6x6x6 Cube, recording a winning average of 1:19.95 and a best single of 1:14.60 across two rounds, leaving Inaba in second at 1:25.37 and Kevin Hays in third at 1:26.79. In the 7x7x7 Cube, Hays delivered a decisive victory with a 2:01.90 average and a 1:57.73 single, followed on the podium by Kate Grahame at 2:10.06 and Tarasenko at 2:11.29.

Specialty disciplines rounded out the diverse schedule throughout the WCA competition. In Clock, Greyson James took the title among 99 competitors with a 3.35 average and a 2.78 single solve. Square-1 saw Sameer Aggarwal secure first place out of 46 entrants with a 5.33 average, recording a best single of 4.34. In Megaminx, Tarasenko earned his third individual title of the weekend, finishing atop a field of 61 solvers with a 27.65 average and a 23.53 single.

Specialized solving categories demanded distinct physical and mental skill sets from the entrants. Luke Garrett earned his second championship of the tournament in 3x3x3 One-Handed, recording a 9.71 winning average and a 6.99 single to finish ahead of Tsvetkov at 9.98 and Luke Tycksen at 10.72. The 3x3x3 Blindfolded discipline, requiring complete memorisation before executing turns without sight, was won by Timothy Castle with a best single solve of 20.48 seconds, while Ayden Kainalu A. Bueno placed second with 25.54 and Maxime Madrzyk took third with 20.77.

Across the two days of competition in 2025, United States competitors led the overall medal count with 22 podium finishes, followed by Russia with 10, and individual podium representations for China, Canada, India, and Singapore. The broad lineup of events at this cubing competition tested solvers across varying formats, from quick-fire sprints to multi-layered puzzles, closing out an eventful weekend in the Pacific Northwest region.