People · United States
Nicholas Paff
2×2 · top 2.9% of 186,767 all-time · competing since February 2023 · 2023PAFF01
Nicholas Paff has been competing for 4 years. His best event is the 2×2: a personal-best single of 1.67, set at Pretzel Mania Summer 2024, puts him in the top 2.9% of the 186,767 people who have ever been ranked in the event, and 1,136th in the United States. Until February 2008, no official 2×2 solve in the world had been that fast. Across 15 competitions since February 2023, he has put 431 official solves on the record across seven events. Solve to solve, his 3×3 times vary about 13% around a typical one; 57% of the 35,811 competitors with ten or more counted rounds hold a tighter spread. His 3×3 best has come down from 25.73 in February 2023 to 8.68, a 66% improvement. Nicholas has entered 15 competitions, more competitions than 95% of everyone who has ever competed.
Standing, event by event
vs everyone ever ranked| Event | PB single | PB average | All-time standing | United States | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2×2 | 1.67 | 2.62 | top 2.9% | 1,136 / 40,951 | |
| 3×3 | 8.68 | 10.70 | top 4.1% | 2,316 / 59,724 | |
| Pyraminx | 4.56 | 6.68 | top 10.6% | 2,761 / 28,708 | |
| 3×3 one-handed | 19.25 | 22.48 | top 18.5% | 2,383 / 15,683 | |
| 4×4 | 1:01.93 | 1:05.92 | top 38.6% | 6,248 / 19,072 | |
| Skewb | 10.20 | 11.78 | top 56.1% | 10,206 / 18,907 | |
| Megaminx | 2:30.63 | — | early days — 3 solves | 4,632 / 7,841 |
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
- 3 Feb 2024First sub-10 3×3: 8.68 at Empire State Winter 2024.
- 3 Feb 2024Three personal bests in one day at Empire State Winter 2024.
- 5 Nov 2023Three personal bests in one day at Northampton Fall B 2023.
- 7 Oct 2023First sub-15 3×3: 14.87 at CubingUSA New England Championship 2023.
- 7 Oct 2023Three personal bests in one day at CubingUSA New England Championship 2023.
- 27 Jul 2023Three personal bests in one day at CubingUSA Nationals 2023.
Competitions
- The Battle of Lexington 2025 · 11 Jan 2025
- Pretzel Mania Summer 2024 · 31 Aug 2024 — 1 personal best set
- Green Summer 2024 · 6 Jul 2024 — 1 personal best set
- New Jersey Championship 2024 · 25 May 2024
- Saint John's Showdown 2024 · 27 Apr 2024
- Plum Puzzles 2024 · 6 Apr 2024
- Empire State Winter 2024 · 3 Feb 2024 — 3 personal bests set
- New York New Year 2024 · 31 Dec 2023 — 1 personal best set
- Lake Placid 2023 · 2 Dec 2023 — 1 personal best set
- Northampton Fall B 2023 · 5 Nov 2023 — 3 personal bests set
- CubingUSA New England Championship 2023 · 7 Oct 2023 — 3 personal bests set
- CubingUSA Nationals 2023 · 27 Jul 2023 — 3 personal bests set
- ROC the Cube 2023 · 10 Jun 2023 — 4 personal bests set
- Niskayuna Nimble Fingers 2023 · 11 Mar 2023 — 1 personal best set
- Empire State Winter Warmup 2023 · 4 Feb 2023
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.
- Eli Ozsvath — met in 45 rounds, finished ahead 7 times
- Evan Liu — met in 43 rounds, finished ahead 4 times
- Ethan Zhuang — met in 42 rounds, finished ahead once
Next targets
- A sub-1 2×2 single — 1,032 people have one; it is 0.67 away.
- A sub-8 3×3 single — 7,931 people have one; it is 0.68 away.
Targets move as he improves.