While visiting my mother in law for dinner last night, my stepson brought out his gift that he had selected at the gift exchange that had taken place at his school earlier that day.
It was a Rubik's Cube.
If you are not familiar with a Rubik's Cube, it looks something like this:
(Although they can sometimes come in different sizes and colors)
History:
The Rubik's Cube was invented in 1974 by a Hungarian professor named Erno Rubik. It didn't receive national attention till it was marketed and sold by Ideal Toy Corp in 1980. The cube would go on to win the "Best Puzzle of the Year" award, which I didn't even know was a real thing, that same year.
To date, there have been roughly 400 million Rubik's Cubes sold. The toy reached the height of its popularity shortly after it was released in 1980, with some estimates showing that almost 200 million cubes were sold between 1981 and 1983. That time period was known as "The Cube Craze".
In 1981 the first "Speedcubing" championship was held in Munich, Germany hosted by the Guiness Book of World Records.
It was clear, that The Cube had captivated the world and was said to have enthralled and entertained kids aged 7 to 70 alike.
The craze would die down in late 1983 with sales becoming almost non existent for the next several years. It was clear, the craze was over. The Rubik's Cube would no longer hold it's crown as the world's top selling toy.
However, in the early 2000's there has been a resurgence in Rubik's Cube sales. With sales doubling in 2002 and 2003. There was a Speedcubing tournament held in 2003, which was the first officially sanctioned one since 1983. This resurgence would lead to the formation of the official World Cube Association in 2004.
To this day sales remain somewhat strong as the toy has continued it's resurgence. Internet sites showing how to solve the cube as well as the official cube patents expiring are thought to be the main contributing factors.
Back to My Story:
As mentioned above, my stepson brought home the first Rubik's Cube our household had ever seen. He tried to solve it a few times before ultimately getting frustrated with it and handed it to "Dad" (me).
Well dad gave it a try for a couple minutes and the best he could do was almost get one side fully completed. When I say almost, I mean that that one side still had 2 other colors remaining while all other sides remained unsolved.
Me being the perfectionist that I am did not want to give up so easily, so I spent the next 30 minutes trying to get at least one side completed...
Well after 30 minutes I was able to get one side ALMOST completed. I still could not get that last color to match the others on one side. So, after messing around with the cube for almost an hour I still did not even have one side completed.
I handed it to my mother in law, who promptly completed one entire side in less than 2 minutes. That was not very fun to see...
Thankfully she said she was not able to get much further than that, saying she had once gotten two entire sides completed but could never get any further. I didn't feel like a complete moron...
So, starting today I have begun an internet search trying to learn how to beat this silly thing. Once I have mastered it I will create a post sharing with you all my secrets of success! Until that time feel free to leave any tips or comments below that might help me in my quest for knowledge and power!
Live well my friends!
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubik's_Cube#Popular_culture
Image Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubik's_Cube#Popular_culture
Follow: @jrcornel
My brother has several variations of these cubes.
He can solve the one you pictured in your post in 15 seconds no matter how messed up it is. I have personally seen him do it many time.
He also has one that looks like this:
Yes, he has also solved that one in front of me. Mind = Blown
That is amazing.... 15 seconds? Did he tell you his secret?
its actually relatively easy.... there's a specific set of three or 5 turns that if you do it enough it will eventually solve it the world record (by machine) is like half a second. A person who
There are also set patterns for turning corner pieces, which is a key move to solve it.
That's amazing... are you able to solve one?
yeah, i used to be able to do it really fast when i was a kid (probably not 15 seconds, but a minute or two).
The key is to understand how the corners and edges orient to one another. that is to say, if the top left corner has green facing back, the top right also needs to have green facing back.
One of the things that screws people up ,is they will get a side or two all the same color or mostly the same color, and think its "solved" but they actually still have pieces in the wrong place, or facing the wrong way.
The easiest way to start is to start by solving the corners for a particular color. BEcause it will give you an idea about how relative orientation comes into play.
Its not enough to just get all 4 white corner pieces on the same face
you have to get it so that the A and B pieces have the same color in positions 1 and 2, and opposite colors in positions 3 and 4.
There are 8 diff corners, each with a different combination of 3 colors, and they all have to be in a specific postion relativel to each other.
so in the pic above, if my A piece has green at position 1 and red at position 3, my corners will look like
A (red 3, green 1)
B (green 2, orange4)
C (red 5, blue 7)
D (oragne 6, blue 8)
The other 4 corners will be the ones directly below their counterparts, and theyll be exactly the same except with a yellow face.
Nope, and I tried to keep up with is hands but dude... it is just a blurr haha.
I just texted him though, he said there is a pattern to it. Once you know it it is easy.
WOAH! I also just found this:
http://www.recordholders.org/en/list/rubik.html
Apparently there are even people who can solve it in under 10 seconds. O_O
That is unbelievable...
Tell him to make a quick video showing it and explaining it... would make a good post for you and it would be quite helpful! ;)
Just make sure you link it to me so I don't miss it!
He is in Alaska at the moment (dang pilots) and unable to get online or make a video haha, I should ask him to do it though. He isn't as tech sound as I am. Heck maybe I will make a video with him if he visits sometime soon. He is always away some where.
Perfect! Yea, if you get the chance just have him or you use your phone... we all the ability to be film makers right at our finger tips ;)
Dude, that's insane!
That is nuts. Wow
And to think some people even do it blindfolded.
I read that... that is unbelievable...
The people that have figured out how to solve it are good with colors and patterns. If you are not good with colors, then use something to mark each of the corners with something that you are good at recognizing, like number them 1 through 8.
There are movement patterns that move the corners. There are movement patterns that move the edges. And there are movement patterns that move the center pieces.
You can learn 2 or 3 of each of the generic movement and then always solve the cube. There are many more patterns, which are quicker in certain instances, but you have to be able to recognize what state the cube is in.
And realize, that when you move one edge, you are moving at least one other edge at the same time.
Interesting... I will use this as part of my quest for solving this puzzle. Thanks for taking the time to give some advice! Are you able to solve these?
Usually. Or, given enough time, always.
Haha, I'm impressed!
Those things are above my pay grade.
Haha mine as well... so far ;)
LOL, Snowden brought back the cube!
I used to be able to solve it. There is a particular set of transformations that basically most people fail on. Not sure if I would be able to do it now though.
Good post man! It's a throwback! Snowden made the Cube cool again!
#PardonSnowden
Have a nice Christmas JRC