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People · United States

Nathan Wu

3×3 · top 0.36% of 284,439 all-time · competing since September 2016 · 2016WUNA01

Nathan Wu has been competing for 10 years. His best event is the 3×3: a personal-best single of 5.79, set at SacCubing XIII 2023, puts him in the top 0.36% of the 284,439 people who have ever been ranked in the event, and 244th in the United States. Until June 2011, no official 3×3 solve in the world had been that fast. Across 48 competitions since September 2016, he has put 1,398 official solves on the record across seven events. Solve to solve, his 3×3 times vary about 14% around a typical one; 64% of the 35,811 competitors with ten or more counted rounds hold a tighter spread. His 3×3 best has come down from 13.54 in September 2016 to 5.79, a 57% improvement. Nathan has entered 48 competitions, more competitions than 99% of everyone who has ever competed.

3×3
best event — top 0.36% of 284,439 all-time
5.79
signature single · SacCubing XIII 2023
1,398
official solves on the record
14%
solve-to-solve spread · wider than 64% of the field

Standing, event by event

vs everyone ever ranked
EventPB singlePB averageAll-time standingUnited States
3×35.796.71
top 0.36%244 / 59,724
4×428.3134.67
top 1.9%319 / 19,072
2×22.012.88
top 4.8%1,927 / 40,951
3×3 one-handed14.4717.57
top 7.0%940 / 15,683
5×51:11.571:21.20
top 12.8%982 / 9,401
6×62:49.152:57.06
top 35.7%1,282 / 4,196
3×3 blindfolded2:20.77—
top 40.4%852 / 2,092

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

Berkeley Summer 2016: 13.54Berkeley Fall 2016: 12.40Armin Open 2017: 13.02Berkeley Winter 2017: 11.19Berkeley Spring 2017: 9.39Bay Area Speedcubin' 10 2017: 9.30San Ramon 2017: 8.77SacCubing II 2017: 9.50Berkeley Summer 2017: 9.58San Francisco Bay Open 2017: 8.15San Ramon Cubed 2017: 9.22Berkeley Fall 2017: 9.54South Enough 2018: 8.81Berkeley Winter 2018: 8.78Bay Area Speedcubin' 11 2018: 8.00SacCubing IV 2018: 9.21CubingUSA Western Championship 2018: 7.30West Coast Cubing Tour - Cupertino 2018: 8.70CubingUSA Nationals 2018: 8.56SacCubing V 2018: 8.25Berkeley Summer 2018: 8.14Bay Area Speedcubin' 12 2018: 6.98Berkeley Fall 2018: 7.68SacCubing VI 2019: 7.71Bay Area Speedcubin' 13 2019: 7.19Bay Area Speedcubin' 14 2019: 8.26Bay Area Speedcubin' 15 2019: 7.56Bay Area Speedcubin' 16 2019: 8.76SacCubing VII 2019: 7.63Bay Area Speedcubin' 17 2019: 7.88CubingUSA Nationals 2019: 6.25SacCubing VIII 2019: 8.26Berkeley Summer 2019: 6.90Bay Area Speedcubin' 20 2019: 7.89Bay Area Speedcubin' 21 2019: 6.68Bay Area Speedcubin' 23 2020: 7.63SacCubing IX 2020: 6.79Berkeley Summer 2022: 7.13Bay Area Speedcubin' 34 - San Ramon 2022: 6.38Bay Area Speedcubin' 35 - Pacifica 2022: 6.83Berkeley Fall 2022: 7.41SacCubing XIII 2023: 5.79CubingUSA Western Championship 2023: 7.38SacCubing XVI 2024: 6.58Bay Area Speedcubin' 60 - Mountain View 2024: 6.66Berkeley Summer 2024: 6.47Berkeley Fall 2025: 6.66Bay Area Speedcubin' 69 2026: 6.845.7913.5417 Sep 201629 Aug 2026

Best single per competition, 3×3. Faster is higher — the axis is the right way up.

The story so far

Competitions

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.

Next targets

  • A sub-5 3×3 single — 344 people have one; it is 0.79 away.
  • A sub-25 4×4 single — 588 people have one; it is 3.31 away.

Targets move as he improves.