Ao5 / Ao12 Average Calculator
Enter your solve times and get a WCA-style trimmed average, with DNFs handled the same way competitions score them.
The best and worst solve are dropped automatically, same as WCA competition scoring. A DNF counts as your worst solve; a second DNF makes the whole average a DNF.
How it works
Enter five or twelve solve times in seconds, check the DNF box for any solve you didn't finish, and the calculator drops your single best and single worst solve, then averages what's left. That's exactly how the World Cube Association scores an Ao5 or Ao12, and it's become the standard way cubers compare speed because it filters out both the lucky skip and the one pop or lockup that would otherwise wreck an honest number.
Worked example: solves of 12.5, 14.2, 11.8, 15.0, and 13.1 seconds. Sorted, that's 11.8 (best), 12.5, 13.1, 14.2, 15.0 (worst). Drop the 11.8 and the 15.0, and average the middle three: 12.5 + 13.1 + 14.2 = 39.8, divided by 3 is 13.27. That 13.27 is your Ao5, even though none of your five individual solves was exactly that time.
A DNF (did not finish) counts as your worst solve, so a single DNF in an Ao5 just gets trimmed away like any other bad solve. Say you solve in 10, 12, 11, and 13 seconds and DNF the fifth attempt. Sort with the DNF at the back: 10, 11, 12, 13, DNF. Drop the 10 (best) and the DNF (worst), and the middle three average to 12. But if two solves in the same set are DNF, there's no way to trim just one of them away, so the whole average is recorded as DNF.
FAQ
Why drop a solve instead of just averaging all of them?
A plain mean lets one outlier, a lucky sub-10 skip or a fumbled cross, swing the number a lot over just five or twelve solves. Trimming the extremes gives a steadier read on your typical pace, which is why competitions score it this way instead of using a raw average.
What's the difference between my average and my session mean?
Your average (Ao5, Ao12) drops the best and worst solve; your session mean uses every solve with equal weight. The mean is more sensitive to a single great or rough attempt, while the average is the number cubers usually chase because it rewards consistency over one flashy solve.
Does a single DNF ruin my average?
Not on its own. One DNF is simply treated as your worst solve and gets dropped in the trim, the same as a slow solve would be. It only becomes a problem when a second DNF shows up in the same set, since there's no longer a spare "worst" slot to absorb it.
Should I care more about a PB single or a PB average?
A personal-best single tells you what you're capable of on a great day; a personal-best average tells you what you can actually do on a normal one. Most cubers treat the average as the real measure of progress and the single as a nice bonus, since it's the number that shows up reliably instead of once in a hundred attempts.
For more on what these numbers mean and how to track them, see what an average of 5 actually is, how to use a cube timer and read your times, and a realistic practice routine to lower your times.