People · United States
Benjamin Downs
Clock · top 3.5% of 32,048 all-time · competing since July 2024 · 2024DOWN08
Benjamin Downs has been competing for 2 years. His best event is the Clock: a personal-best single of 4.59, set at CubingUSA New England Championship 2025, puts him in the top 3.5% of the 32,048 people who have ever been ranked in the event, and 284th in the United States. Until June 2015, no official Clock solve in the world had been that fast. Across 13 competitions since July 2024, he has put 428 official solves on the record across nine events. Solve to solve, his 3×3 times vary about 13% around a typical one; 56% of the 35,811 competitors with ten or more counted rounds hold a tighter spread. His 3×3 best has come down from 36.95 in July 2024 to 10.47, a 72% improvement. Benjamin has entered 13 competitions, more competitions than 94% of everyone who has ever competed.
Standing, event by event
vs everyone ever ranked| Event | PB single | PB average | All-time standing | United States | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clock | 4.59 | 5.26 | top 3.5% | 284 / 8,927 | |
| 3×3 | 10.47 | 12.60 | top 8.9% | 4,854 / 59,724 | |
| 2×2 | 2.61 | 4.35 | top 10.0% | 3,938 / 40,951 | |
| Pyraminx | 4.78 | 7.94 | top 11.9% | 3,081 / 28,708 | |
| Skewb | 5.07 | 7.70 | top 18.7% | 2,975 / 18,907 | |
| Megaminx | 1:27.40 | 1:44.19 | top 26.4% | 1,826 / 7,841 | |
| 4×4 | 56.44 | 1:03.51 | top 32.4% | 5,153 / 19,072 | |
| 3×3 one-handed | 32.03 | 38.82 | top 51.2% | 7,076 / 15,683 | |
| 5×5 | 2:49.09 | — | top 74.3% | 6,609 / 9,401 |
Percentile against all competitors ever ranked in each event, a fairer measure than raw rank, because the pools differ by a factor of ten.
The line so far
Best single per competition, 3×3. Faster is higher — the axis is the right way up.
The story so far
- 1 Aug 2025Five personal bests in one day at CubingUSA New England Championship 2025.
- 26 Jul 2025Five personal bests in one day at Saratoga Springs Summer 2025.
- 29 Mar 2025First sub-15 3×3: 10.47 at Cubing in the 'Cuse 2025.
- 2 Nov 2024Six personal bests in one day at ALL1- Empire State 2024.
- 27 Oct 2024Three personal bests in one day at Quick in Quincy 2024.
- 23 Aug 2024First sub-30 3×3: 19.89 at CubingUSA New England Championship 2024.
Competitions
- Empire State ALL11-Stars 2026 · 7 Mar 2026 — 1 personal best set
- New York Championship 2025 · 12 Oct 2025 — 1 personal best set
- CubingUSA New England Championship 2025 · 1 Aug 2025 — 5 personal bests set
- Saratoga Springs Summer 2025 · 26 Jul 2025 — 5 personal bests set
- Cubing in the 'Cuse 2025 · 29 Mar 2025 — 2 personal bests set
- New New York New Year 2024 · 31 Dec 2024 — 2 personal bests set
- Saranac Lake 2024 · 17 Nov 2024 — 1 personal best set
- Be Placid in Lake Placid 2024 · 16 Nov 2024 — 1 personal best set
- ALL1- Empire State 2024 · 2 Nov 2024 — 6 personal bests set
- Quick in Quincy 2024 · 27 Oct 2024 — 3 personal bests set
- New York Championship 2024 · 14 Sep 2024 — 2 personal bests set
- CubingUSA New England Championship 2024 · 23 Aug 2024 — 2 personal bests set
- Saratoga Springs Summer 2024 · 14 Jul 2024
Reading this page: a single is one solve's time · an average is the middle three of five solves, best and worst discarded · a PB is a personal best · a DNF (did not finish) is an attempt with no valid result: a popped piece, an unsolved face, an over-limit memorisation · top X% compares against everyone ever ranked in that event, which is fairer than raw rank because event pools differ tenfold.
The circuit
The people whose scorecards keep turning up next to his.
- Evan Liu — met in 79 rounds, finished ahead once
- Angelo Terpening — met in 71 rounds, finished ahead 13 times
- Jake Oppedisano — met in 60 rounds, finished ahead 18 times
Next targets
- A sub-4 Clock single — 741 people have one; it is 0.59 away.
- A sub-10 3×3 single — 21,172 people have one; it is 0.47 away.
Targets move as he improves.