# Your major cause of a DNF in 3BLD



## ilikecubing (Feb 15, 2011)

Every 2 out of 10 solves,i miss a short edge cycle for the sake of fast memo and its ends in a DNF obviously

In a lot of solves,I forget the last single letter which I have to shoot to(only in case of edges).it happens only when there are odd number of targets to shoot to(obviously)

Very rarely now,i mess up the the algorithms(this happened a lot when i was a beginner to BLD)


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## Carrot (Feb 15, 2011)

Because my pyraminx and megaminx gets so jealous that they begin yelling at me... pretty disturbing lol


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## Mike Hughey (Feb 15, 2011)

I think it's fairly safe to say I don't have one. It's all kinds of different things. Probably the greatest percentage (although I'm sure it's significantly less than 50%) would be that I memorize the wrong sticker - I look at the place where the next piece needs to go, point to the right place, but then call it the wrong letter when memorizing. Other things that get me often are: not seeing a flipped edge, twisting corners the wrong way or not memorizing them correctly, messing up parity fix, recalling images out of order, or performing a 3-cycle backwards.

I usually make it a point to try to understand what I did wrong for BLD solves, and I suspect that's why there's not one overwhelming problem for me; doing "post-mortems" on your solves very quickly shows you if you have a common problem, and then you work to fix it, so you make that mistake less often. I'm really careful about doing this for big cubes BLD, but I admit sometimes I don't bother to figure out what went wrong on 3x3x3 BLD solves.


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## Sa967St (Feb 15, 2011)

I rush memo and forget stuff.


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## EVH (Feb 15, 2011)

Either memorizing a flipped an edge and then I don't flip it. Or failing at setup moves.


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## ben1996123 (Feb 15, 2011)

I don't know. But most likely memo mistakes.


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## TheMachanga (Feb 15, 2011)

I think there should be a "Messing up memorization". That's what I would choose.


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## Engberg91 (Feb 15, 2011)

messing up with your algorithms or moves
or forgot the parity


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## ilikecubing (Feb 15, 2011)

TheMachanga said:


> I think there should be a "Messing up memorization". That's what I would choose.


 
Look at the third option


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## AJ Blair (Feb 15, 2011)

I'll stop the timer, THEN remember that I had twisted corners...


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## wontolla (Feb 15, 2011)

I always forget to undo set up moves


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## EricReese (Feb 15, 2011)

For me its execution mistakes right now. Memo is pretty easy at my times. I suspect once I get faster I will have to concentrate more


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## Andreaillest (Feb 15, 2011)

Execution. I sometimes forget my "undo" moves or mess it up.


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## uberCuber (Feb 16, 2011)

Remembering what I memo is no problem. The problem is just that what I memorize is not always complete or correct...probably the biggest cause of DNFs for me is failing to notice a flipped edge or twisted


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## RyanReese09 (Feb 16, 2011)

M slice stuff
And when I'm looking at a sticker and do wrong memo, so the edge is flipped

And sometime with parity..


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## cmhardw (Feb 16, 2011)

I have to be honest that I don't post mortem my 3x3x3 DNFs very much. If it's something obvious like forgetting to twist permuted but disoriented pieces then those are pretty obvious. I find that I tend to get completely scrambled, or mostly so, DNFs on 3x3x3 _much_ more than on any other puzzle BLD. I think I still view my 3x3x3 attempts as "disposable", meaning that if I DNF I just scramble again and try again. I probably should do post mortems on my 3x3x3. I always do them on bigger cubes BLD, and it is a tremendous help. I guess I'm just lazy with my 3x3x3 practice when I shouldn't be.

I voted messing up my solving phase. I rarely don't recall the memo at all (I'll sit there until I remember it, no matter how long it takes). However I do make mistakes sometimes like not catching a 2 cycle in edges, so I'll have memorized parity in corners but not in edges, or silly things like that. More often than not my memo is solid on a DNF, but I still open my eyes to a scrambled cube.


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## Mike Hughey (Feb 16, 2011)

cmhardw said:


> More often than not my memo is solid on a DNF, but I still open my eyes to a scrambled cube.


 
I also always try to recall it, no matter how long it takes, which is why sometimes my best solve on a weekly competition has been 5 minutes. I do occasionally have scrambled cubes, but it's very rare - certainly less than 10% of the time. I'm almost always off by just 2 or 3 pieces.

Chris, it seems like your having scrambled cubes often would indicate that you must misorient the cube during the solve, don't you think? If you make it a practice to set down the cube carefully when you practice (so you can see what your final orientation is), you could easily check to see if this is the case. It might cost you half a second or so to put down the cube carefully instead of dropping it, but might it be worth it if it will spot a problem?

I kind of have a death grip on my cube when I'm solving BLD. It probably slows me down a little, but I'm just so paranoid of DNFs. So I almost never misorient the cube during a solve.


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## Tim Major (Feb 16, 2011)

I often need to count through the pieces to determine which letter = which sticker, but I still label pieces wrong, I'd say this is my biggest, next biggest is doing the wrong letter, on similar sounding letter pairs/triplets.


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## amostay2004 (Feb 16, 2011)

Mostly execution mistakes, from trying to execute fast. Could be wrongly cycling pieces, rotating the cube wrongly during execution, or simply messing up an alg.

Other times it would be wrong memo from rushing.

I rarely forget memo unless I've done too many BLD or practising at a bad time (late at night, right after dinner, etc)


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## Keroma12 (Feb 16, 2011)

Often I recall that I need to flip two edges at the end, but can sometimes only remember where one of them is. I usually only have trouble remembering everything else if I've done more than 4 solves in a row.


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## Yes We Can! (Feb 16, 2011)

I almost never make memo mistakes but sometimes I forget what I memorized.


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## Zane_C (Feb 16, 2011)

I think the most common cause of a DNF, for me is forgetting corners.


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## riffz (Feb 16, 2011)

I memorize corners first, but solve edges first. As long as I notice a flipped edge, I'll fix it as soon as I don the blindfold so it's not a problem. For corners, however, I memorize twisted ones visually immediately after memorizing the cycles, and then solve them at the very end of my solve. I'm getting more accustomed to it now, but for quite a while I would simply forget to fix the twisted corners and stop the timer before realizing. I angle my feet to remember which direction they need to be twisted in.


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## RCTACameron (Feb 16, 2011)

Probably accidentally not memorising all the pieces.


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## ilikecubing (Feb 16, 2011)

Sa967St said:


> I rush memo and forget stuff.


 
happens 40% of the time with me,it gets really irritating when the blindfold has to be taken of due to forgetting what you memorised.


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## Kian (Feb 16, 2011)

Incompetence.


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## cmhardw (Feb 16, 2011)

ilikecubing said:


> happens 40% of the time with me,it gets really irritating when the blindfold has to be taken of due to forgetting what you memorised.


 
You can overcome this by forcing yourself to sit there and remember it, no matter how long that takes. Even if you have to search through all possible cycles on the cube until you hit on one that "feels right" it will still help you to remember the cycles the next time. I don't know why doing this works so well, but it really does. After you try it 2-3 times, you'll find that the next time you have the same kind of recall delay, that you can almost force yourself to remember the missing information. Of course it doesn't always work like this, but it often does.


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## ilikecubing (Feb 16, 2011)

cmhardw said:


> You can overcome this by forcing yourself to sit there and remember it, no matter how long that takes. Even if you have to search through all possible cycles on the cube until you hit on one that "feels right" it will still help you to remember the cycles the next time. I don't know why doing this works so well, but it really does. After you try it 2-3 times, you'll find that the next time you have the same kind of recall delay, that you can almost force yourself to remember the missing information. Of course it doesn't always work like this, but it often does.


 
Thanks Chris,but the thing is I have my first competition soon and I have certain goals to be achieved in it,one of the them is a sub 2 BLD solve,that's why I'm trying to rush with my memo these days.Usually I go at a constant speed to make sure I memorize it right and steady,but that way I average between 2:30-3:30 min.

My edge memo is not a problem,its quite fast I would say,I use letter pairs it works fine.

My visual corner memo is always very time consuming,i have to check all the corners like 2 to 3 times to make sure that my i have memorized them correctly,and with new cycles,it gets worse,thats the reason I'm experimenting a bit with Audio corners since yesterday


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## theace (Mar 1, 2011)

1. I forget to memo. I don't really forget my memo, but it's really easy to over look things like 2 or 3 swaps and all. I make memo mistakes when there are too many broken cycles.
2. Accidental cube rotations: I hold Orange on F and Yellow on U. Sometimes, After I open my eyes to a MAJOR DNF and There's a Red on U and a Blue on F.
3. Accidental turns: Yeah, I mess up the PLLs


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## ryo (Mar 1, 2011)

Memorize correctly two twist corner and twisting them the wrong way during resolution. (in fact, I rarely done other type of DNF)


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## Kynit (Mar 1, 2011)

In order of frequency:

1. Incorrect execution - Usually, my biggest mistakes are undoing setups incorrectly. I sometimes screw up my Y/J perms, though.
2. Incorrect memo - Memorizing an 'E' as a 'Q' ruins the whole solve. This hurts me most on corners, as I'm not nearly as used to my letters on corners as I am on edges. Also, my only full attempt at wings was off by a 2-cycle of edges, simply because I had trouble counting all of my images.
3. Forgotten memo - I often forget my visual memorization. The difference between a CW twist and a CCW twist is brutal on me. I also sometimes forget to finish my cycle - I execute ABCA as ABC far too often. Today's DNF was a botched edge flip like this.


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## Rubiks560 (Mar 1, 2011)

Most of the time it's just forgetting my memo.


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## 04mucklowd (Mar 1, 2011)

Can't get the memo to stick in my head and therefore the execution gets screwed up


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## NevinsCPH (Oct 11, 2012)

Sometimes are corners' orientation(which I did CW for CCW piece and CCw for CW piece, edges' orientation.
Some very small DNFs are caused by the last M2 that I've missed, too bad it can't be a +2. Most of the time I get DNFs is because of wrong execution, E.g Memo : ABDA, HWLM. Exec : HWLM, ABDA.


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## Ollie (Oct 11, 2012)

Not knowing how to memorize for 3BLD! My big cube BLD memo system doesn't seem to work for 3BLD (and when it does, it isn't fast.)


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## JasonK (Oct 11, 2012)

NevinsCPH said:


> Some very small DNFs are caused by the last M2 that I've missed, too bad it can't be a +2.



If you're uncertain about whether you need to do an M2 at the end or not, just do an R2 - it'll either be solved or +2 

(For the record I think +2 should be removed in BLD, but while it exists you might as well use it)


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## Noahaha (Oct 11, 2012)

100% nerves


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## NevinsCPH (Oct 11, 2012)

JasonK said:


> If you're uncertain about whether you need to do an M2 at the end or not, just do an R2 - it'll either be solved or +2
> 
> (For the record I think +2 should be removed in BLD, but while it exists you might as well use it)



Thats an excellent tips! Haha will do it next time lol.


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## Cubenovice (Oct 11, 2012)

Ollie said:


> Not knowing how to memorize for 3BLD! My big cube BLD memo system doesn't seem to work for 3BLD (and when it does, it isn't fast.)



Along those lines: I found that doing 4BLD does NOT help my 3BLD at all...
If I use my 4BLD memo method (journey) I'm slowing down.
If I just use plain sentences (which I always used) I tend to have recall issues.

It seems adopting a structured approach for bigger cubes / multi has decreased my flexibility for 3BLD.


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## Ollie (Oct 11, 2012)

Cubenovice said:


> Along those lines: I found that doing 4BLD does NOT help my 3BLD at all...
> If I use my 4BLD memo method (journey) I'm slowing down.
> If I just use plain sentences (which I always used) I tend to have recall issues.
> 
> It seems adopting a structured approach for bigger cubes / multi has decreased my flexibility for 3BLD.



This is the exact same thing I'm experiencing. I only really practice 5BLD nowadays and I'm losing enthusiasm for 3BLD because of this and your reasons too! :/

I will concede, however, that learning 3-cycles and commutator cases on the 5x5x5 improved my 3BLD drastically.


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## Cubenovice (Oct 11, 2012)

Because of 4BLD center comms I am now including more and more comms in 3BLD solving.

While more move-efficient they currently require too much thinking time, thus slowing down my execution vs good old Old Pochmann.
But I persevere as eventually I will be faster for it.

So I decided to not solve 3BLD for speed for a while and just focus on the comms


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## A Leman (Oct 11, 2012)

flipping 2 corners instead of 3. Unless I am really paying attention, I won't notice the third corner and DNF.

also during long sessions, I can just start failing at memo and need a food break.


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## Ranzha (Oct 11, 2012)

I usually screw up an alg by not exactly knowing if I did a particular turn or not.


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## Tyjet66 (Oct 11, 2012)

Almost always it's during my Y-perm after these turns: F R U' R' U R U R' F' At which point I fumble and forget to jack-hammer. My only other fails come undoing set-up moves. I do my set-up move, and when I go to undo them, I find a quicker or more efficient way instead of my original moves.


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## uberCuber (Oct 11, 2012)

One of my DNFs at Nats was two moves off because I did one wrong move in undoing a setup to twist a couple corners.


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## blackzabbathfan (Oct 12, 2012)

What happens with me is usually I don't forget what I memoed but I mis-memo something.


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## Ickathu (Oct 12, 2012)

Either forgetting memo or messing up execution probably.


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## antoineccantin (Oct 12, 2012)

Other: Mis-memoing the cube (missing an unsolved cycle kinda thing)


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## Riley (Oct 12, 2012)

Forgetting memo is huge for me. I memo edges, corners, and then solve corners, edges. After solving corners, it's really hard to for me to think of how my edge memo starts.


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## Ickathu (Oct 12, 2012)

^IMAGES FTW


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## Riley (Oct 12, 2012)

Ickathu said:


> ^IMAGES FTW



Never worked for me. :/ My memo is a lot of audio, so yea.


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## Ranzha (Oct 12, 2012)

Riley said:


> Never worked for me. :/ My memo is a lot of audio, so yea.



I memo EP before CP, and at one time I usually made it a point to go back over the first edge I memo'd for EP so it'd stick better. Just an idea.


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## AlexByard (Oct 12, 2012)

Not seeing flipped edges... My BLDown fall.


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## HEART (Oct 18, 2012)

Mismemorizing corners. asdf.

occasionally i'll execute the orientation of an edge wrong :l


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## sukesh12 (Nov 17, 2012)

Unflipped edges and the cube slipping out of my hand.


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## Bhargav777 (Nov 17, 2012)

forget some of my edge memo for which I did not make journeys (I usually just skim around my corner memo, so its mandatory for me to memorize and make up a proper story for my edges)


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## AndersB (Nov 17, 2012)

My biggest problem is that I memo the wrong thing or miss something in memorization.


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## Andrew Clayton (Nov 18, 2012)

i rush my edge memo i forget some of it on my corner memo


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## NSKuber (Nov 18, 2012)

I think you should do a new poll, with more options:
forget what memorized
memorized something wrong
forget to do something(twist 2 edges or corners)
mess up algorithm or setup move.
And make it possible to choose several options.


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## TheNextFeliks (Nov 18, 2012)

Mostly flipped edges and corners or missed cycles. 
I have been able to remember my memo better but I still forget the above things.


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## piece popper (Dec 20, 2012)

Messing up my algorithms, or even more common, messing up the inverse of setup moves. My memorization is too scrupulous.


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