# Inspection Time - what can you do?



## Todd (Oct 9, 2007)

I was reading on Macky's website the other day and he says during the inspection time he can see the cross and usually the first pair..

What can you guys do?

Personally i can only see the cross (pretty quickly) but cant see the first pair unless it is really obviuos or already conencted.


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## h3ndrik (Oct 10, 2007)

i can think of a way to build a 1x2x2 block and try to follow the next corner-edge pair (to extend it to a 1x2x3 block) while executing.
but thats about it.


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## chue.hsien (Oct 10, 2007)

cross should be easy to see.. i believe he first f2l is the hardest to get to. i don;t know anyone who can see the 2nd f2l pair lol.. so first f2l is almost the 'furthest' now.


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## badmephisto (Oct 10, 2007)

i usually figure out 3 edges and get lazy with the 4th, and just insert it lazily from wherever it ends up... (i track it as i insert the first 3 edges). I can plan all 4 but im too lazy... its like extra 2-4 seconds 
I haven't tried planning a pair as well. Sounds pretty hard for non-trivial crosses


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## pjk (Oct 10, 2007)

I try to find a nice cross, and possibly a first corner edge pair, if not, just a corner that will be in the U layer. While do the cross, I find the edge with it so I can do that first pair immediately following the cross.


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## AlexandertheGreat (Oct 10, 2007)

Yeah, I always find it helpful if I can see that a corner piece or an edge piece is already in place while I'm doing the cross; this helps me limit the number of possible cases down to a certain group, so my brain can recall the alg more quickly as opposed to if I just saw the case right when I put the cube in position to solve it


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## Johannes91 (Oct 10, 2007)

Usually at least a 2x2x2 block and a ce-pair, sometimes whole 2x2x3 block.


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## Jack (Oct 10, 2007)

I can see the whole cross pretty quickly, and like pjk I find a corner that looks like it will be in the top layer and then find the matching edge, then follow them until the cross is done.


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## Erik (Oct 10, 2007)

I was reading the title and thought: matyi can memorize the whole cube in preinspection.....
But just check for a nice cross and try to predict where your first pair will be is what I do on 3x3. On 2x2 I need my inspection time harder to see which case, and which 2nd case I will have on all faces and which method. On 4x4 I check the first and part of the 2nd centre. On 5x5 I mostly see the first centre. On megaminx I try to check for the whole star and on clock I see the first clock and the first of the one I will solve on the back. On pyraminx I see the first 3 basic edges + first edges of the first layer. On sq-1 I see how to gather all corners quickly and on magic.....


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## Lofty (Oct 10, 2007)

I need to work on seeing the first pair after reading this. My biggest pause in my whole solve is the transition from cross to f2l. I can see the cross easily in like 5 seconds and then waste the other 10...


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## TimMc (Oct 10, 2007)

I don't use an inspection time...

Is an inspection time just a way of getting a head start on a solve? I.e. "cheating"

One's ability to solve a puzzle should be based on the time they first look at it.

For example:
- If someone solves cube in 10 seconds and has a 15 seconds inspection time then add 15 seconds.
- Compare that with someone who solves it in less than 20 seconds without an inspection time.

Tim.


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## Johannes91 (Oct 10, 2007)

TimMc said:


> Is an inspection time just a way of getting a head start on a solve? I.e. "cheating"
> 
> One's ability to solve a puzzle should be based on the time they first look at it.


I guess you loathe speed bld even more? I personally think that one's ability to solve a puzzle should be based on how well he understand it and how many moves he needs. Rubik's Cube isn't a dexterity thing for me.



TimMc said:


> - If someone solves cube in 10 seconds and has a 15 seconds inspection time then add 15 seconds.
> - Compare that with someone who solves it in less than 20 seconds without an inspection time.


Those two are different events, how should I compare them?


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## Erik (Oct 10, 2007)

Then how do you time exactly how fast can you solve a rubik's cube? Cause on speedcubing it also means 'pick up the puzzle fast' etc etc etc


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## clincher (Oct 10, 2007)

It's not cheating it's just planning and like johannes said I can't compare them because they ARE 2 different events


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## Lt-UnReaL (Oct 11, 2007)

My transition from cross to first F2L pair is really bad...at least 2.5 sec pausing and looking around...


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## Todd (Oct 11, 2007)

Tim, the inspection doesnt necessarily help that much.

The unofficialy record for solving the 3x3x3 without inspection is 11.77 seconds.


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## badmephisto (Oct 11, 2007)

It's not cheating - I actually really like the fact that 15 second pre-inspection is a part of the solves - it gives another aspect to the solve... and it's just another thing you can work on perfecting, trying to push your boundaries with the cube inside your head  its awesome


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## TimMc (Oct 11, 2007)

Johannes91 said:


> Those two are different events, how should I to compare them?



Ok, those two individual scenarios may not be directly comparable but if you took the average of 100 solves with a 15 second inspection time and the average of 100 solves without an inspection time then I'd predict that the later would have a slower solve time directly proportional to the inspection time.

Perhaps someone with a good memory could get the averages of their solves using different inspection times and no inspection time and report back to see if there are in fact any trends that would suggest an inspection time assists in a solve.

Tim.


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## Johannes91 (Oct 11, 2007)

TimMc said:


> ... if there are in fact any trends that would suggest an inspection time assists in a solve.


Isn't it quite obvious that inspection time helps? Or did I misunderstand you somehow?


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## AvGalen (Oct 11, 2007)

Simply put: inspection time helps, but 15 seconds inspection time doesn't mean 15 seconds faster solving.

What do I see during inspection? Full Cross + first two corners (I solve cross, 3 corners, 4 middle layer edges, 4th corner for F2L)


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## clincher (Oct 14, 2007)

TimMc said:


> Johannes91 said:
> 
> 
> > Those two are different events, how should I to compare them?
> ...



15 seconds of preinspection doesn't mean that you'ra gonna save 15 seconds of your solve time

EDIT: just saw AvGalen's post and I realized i said the same thing


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## velcro (Oct 17, 2007)

When you are in your inspection time what do you look for? All I see is one edge of the cross,2 if Im lucky


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## doubleyou (Oct 17, 2007)

it depends. I guess I could need more practice, but.. sometimes the cross is easy to planm out and sometimes I just cant do it. 

usually I see three of the cross edges. and more like I can see one solution, not THE perfect solution

My main goal for this part of the solving is to get from the cross and into my first F2L pair smoothly. this rarely happen tho


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## Todd (Oct 18, 2007)

velcro said:


> When you are in your inspection time what do you look for? All I see is one edge of the cross,2 if Im lucky



I got a good example for you that Jnetcube just gave me 5 mins ago.

With white on top and blue on the front layer scramble your cube with this:

L' D L U2 F' B' D2 B F2 R' F' U2 D2 B' R' L2 U2 R' F' L F2 R' F2 D2 R

Flip the cube over for white to be on bottom and orange is on the left and you should see that if you count D2 (any move with 2) as 1 move you can have a 3 move cross, you should also notice that one corner and edge are already paired up and correctly oriented. and by only adding a couple of extra moves you can pair up another one as well.

If you do: R D2 L' U R L'

6 moves and you placed 2 corners/edges and the cross. That was a pretty simple scramble and you should be able to see that in 15 seconds.


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## joey (Oct 18, 2007)

Heh, I got a 11.60 with that scramble. The easiest scramble ever. If only I was more awake/warmed up, maybe there could have been a sub11 or sub10!


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