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The Middle Three
People → United States → Nicholas Houghton

People · United States

Nicholas Houghton

3×3 · top 1.7% of 284,439 all-time · competing since April 2022 · 2022HOUG05

Nicholas Houghton has been competing for 4 years. His best event is the 3×3: a personal-best single of 7.31, set at Saratoga Springs Newcomers 2024, puts him in the top 1.7% of the 284,439 people who have ever been ranked in the event, and 1,032nd in the United States. Until July 2008, no official 3×3 solve in the world had been that fast. Across 22 competitions since April 2022, he has put 676 official solves on the record across seven events. Solve to solve, his 3×3 times vary about 16% around a typical one; 90% of the 35,811 competitors with ten or more counted rounds hold a tighter spread. His 3×3 best has come down from 19.57 in April 2022 to 7.31, a 63% improvement. Nicholas has entered 22 competitions, more competitions than 97% of everyone who has ever competed.

3×3
best event — top 1.7% of 284,439 all-time
7.31
signature single · Saratoga Springs Newcomers 2024
676
official solves on the record
16%
solve-to-solve spread · wider than 90% of the field

Standing, event by event

vs everyone ever ranked
EventPB singlePB averageAll-time standingUnited States
3×37.319.50
top 1.7%1,032 / 59,724
2×22.413.55
top 8.0%3,178 / 40,951
Pyraminx4.397.68
top 9.6%2,499 / 28,708
Skewb4.329.05
top 13.1%2,037 / 18,907
3×3 one-handed26.2734.36
top 37.5%4,988 / 15,683
4×41:03.741:15.85
top 40.4%6,570 / 19,072
Clock17.2222.64
top 56.2%4,668 / 8,927

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

Saint John's Spring 2022: 19.57ROC the Cube 2022: 20.44Empire State Fall 2022: 14.47Pretzel Mania 2023: 17.11ROC the Cube 2023: 10.99CubingUSA Mid-Atlantic Championship 2023: 9.79Chemung Cubing 2023: 10.19Pretzel Mania Summer 2023: 10.28Vermont Cubikon 2023: 8.79Loon Cubikon 2023: 9.45Cicero 2023: 7.93Troy Story 2024: 8.46Empire State Winter 2024: 8.27Saratoga Springs Newcomers 2024: 7.31ROC the Cube 2024: 9.42Pretzel Mania Summer 2024: 8.87A Buffalo Cube Day 2024: 8.95Binghamton Winter 2025: 8.47Cubing in the 'Cuse 2025: 8.76Rubik's WCA World Championship 2025: 9.96RIT Tiger Twist 2026: 8.98Syracuse Elite Cubing 2026: 9.287.3120.449 Apr 202212 Jul 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.

  • Evan Liu — met in 76 rounds, finished ahead 3 times
  • Louis Truong — met in 71 rounds, finished ahead 16 times
  • Evan Waters — met in 69 rounds, finished ahead 16 times

Next targets

  • A sub-6 3×3 single — 1,376 people have one; it is 1.31 away.
  • A sub-2 2×2 single — 8,848 people have one; it is 0.41 away.

Targets move as he improves.