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People · United States

William James

2×2 · top 1.6% of 186,767 all-time · competing since March 2023 · 2023JAME05

William James has been competing for 3 years. His best event is the 2×2: a personal-best single of 1.38, set at Missouri Championship 2026, puts him in the top 1.6% of the 186,767 people who have ever been ranked in the event, and 657th in the United States. Until November 2008, no official 2×2 solve in the world had been that fast. Across 17 competitions since March 2023, he has put 718 official solves on the record across twelve events. Solve to solve, his 3×3 times vary about 13% around a typical one, steadier than 53% of the 35,811 competitors with ten or more counted rounds. His 3×3 best has come down from 40.55 in March 2023 to 9.13, a 77% improvement. William has entered 17 competitions, more competitions than 96% of everyone who has ever competed.

2×2
best event — top 1.6% of 186,767 all-time
1.38
signature single · Missouri Championship 2026
718
official solves on the record
13%
solve-to-solve spread · steadier than 53% of the field

Standing, event by event

vs everyone ever ranked
EventPB singlePB averageAll-time standingUnited States
2×21.383.27
top 1.6%657 / 40,951
3×39.1311.40
top 5.2%2,884 / 59,724
Pyraminx4.258.31
top 8.9%2,312 / 28,708
Megaminx1:03.471:12.73
top 11.8%798 / 7,841
Clock7.359.24
top 12.4%946 / 8,927
Skewb4.917.28
top 17.4%2,759 / 18,907
4×445.7950.97
top 19.3%2,929 / 19,072
5×51:21.901:32.03
top 20.6%1,607 / 9,401
3×3 one-handed24.1528.38
top 31.9%4,149 / 15,683
6×63:15.683:27.28
top 48.4%1,810 / 4,196
Square-134.4143.36
top 57.4%3,791 / 6,743
7×76:01.80—
early days — 3 solves2,068 / 3,184

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

Nebraska Heartland Warmup 2023: 40.55CubingUSA Heartland Championship 2023: 26.58Springfield Summer Open 2023: 19.43KCKC 3 Cubing for Cake 2023: 17.84CoMO Cubing Winter 2024: 14.31Going Fast in Grandview 2024: 18.86Nebraska Championship 2024: 17.52Don't Blow Away Casper 2024: 13.50KCKC 5 Fast and Furious 2024: 12.51Missouri Championship 2024: 11.85KCKC 6 Cubing for Cake 2024: 11.66Nebraska Championship 2025: 12.32Missouri Championship 2025: 11.80Lawrence Summer 2025: 10.83KCKC 8 Cubing for Cake 2025: 11.98Missouri Championship 2026: 9.139.1340.5531 Mar 20237 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-1 2×2 single — 1,032 people have one; it is 0.38 away.
  • A sub-8 3×3 single — 7,931 people have one; it is 1.13 away.

Targets move as he improves.