Rubik’s cube

[Mudball]

I have always been fascinated by the Rubik’s cube but never been able to solve it

Got Jr a Rubik’s cube a few weeks ago and it had been gathering dust in the corner after the initial novelty wore off.


In a fit of moment I challenged him that I would learn it and teach him too. So last week have been pouring thru YouTube vids

Learnt to do solve it after many frustrating and time consuming attempts. Very proud that I not only learnt it but also had my PB of solving it in 10 mins and 55 sec

The cube is fairly straightforward if u figure out how it works.. I wondered why I never learnt it previously... never too old to learn..

 

[Rlburnside]

Friend of mine was going away for a week and told his 10 year old son he would give him £40 if he solved it by the time he come home, son went on u-tube and learnt to do it in under 3 min.

 

[LGC2019]

Whats the secret (in a nutshell)?

 

[larmen]

Whats the secret (in a nutshell)?

There is a system to follow which my girlfriend know and I can't. That way you solve it every time, but often the long winded way around. Otherwise it is pattern recognition.

 

[Crow]

I remember getting one of those when they first came out and spent ages solving it without any books or Youtube.

My two boys got heavily into it a couple of years back and bought "fast" cubes (I didn't know such things existed, apparently they're low friction and don't stick like the cheaper ones do), learnt all the algorithms and they used to be able to do it in under 20 seconds.

 

[Ross61]

I had one when they first came out. Unfortunately I could not get hold of the pucker one as they sold out everywhere. So I had a knock off one instead that was a bit graunchy. I toiled over it for days, but one of my parents friends had a go and it fell apart. We managed to put it back together, but didn’t do it the solved condition. I then spent a week trying to solve it, but the best I could get was with one piece the wrong way around. Eventually I took the stickers off the offending piece and stuck the the other way around. Jumbled the cube and then was able to solve it. I did it with my own method before any of the books were printed and years before YouTube.

 

[Mudball]

Whats the secret (in a nutshell)?

It took me a few tries to do it.. but I now have a system that works for me. It is an amalgamation of a few video that make it simple. Will post when I get to a laptop.

 

[robinthehood]

My son watched the you tube vids and easily does it in under a minute now

 

[USER1999]

I am self taught, and it takes me a bit less than 3 minutes. That said, I last did it about 5 years ago, to prove I could still do it. I am sure the algorithm way is quicker, but to me learning from a vid is a bit cheaty.

 

[Piece]

I learnt when they first came out. Even had a jumper in the 80s that said I can do it .

Still can do it now, although not as fast as today’s gen!

 

[Mudball]

Here are my notes.. Done at my pace. Its a bit like Golf, the first few steps seduce you into believing that this is easy-peasy.. then it gets interesting. So keep doing it.. If I can, then anyone can..

==x==
How to solve a Rubiks cube... my experience


How to eat an elephant... one bite at a time. This is particularly true if you are trying to learn how to solve a Rubiks cube. I realised that if you try and learn everything in one go, it will lead to severe frustration - unless if you are gifted (which I am clearly not). So my experience is to learn it over 5 days with plenty of repeats

The method that worked for me was a combination of a few Youtube videos. It may not be elegant, but it works for me and i can remember the steps. Some of the videos use different methods to arrive at the same position. So review the videos and adopt a method that works for yourself. Ignore parts of the video which show things that you have mastered from elsewhere. Think of the whole process as a series of steps. You will also realise how you hold the cube is critical in solving the cube. So here is what i learnt.


0) Step 0 - Understand the cube.

The cube is made of 3 types of pieces and each piece is unique and can only go into a unique position. Before i started, I thought all similar coloured squares are same and can go anywhere on its face. The best place to understand is from the first video from Rubikscube.com. The subsequent videos get too complicated, so i ignored them.

If you like DIY, then check this video for understanding the basics

Watch it till about 2:45. Once it gets into notations it gets too complicated but leave the window open


Now time to solve the Cube.

Day 1

1) Step 1 - Solve the White Cross.

The first step is to solve the white cross. There are number of ways to solve it. The simplest way is to use the 'Daisy' method as it solves 2 steps at the same time.

2) Step 2- Solve the White Corner.

For both the steps I used this video from Rollo Gaming. Watch till 04:40. Don’t feel shy to go back and rewind.

(Bookmark this video as we will come back to it)

The 'DIY' video is also good, skip the notation bit and watch how they do the first two steps.

Congratulations.. Now you have solved the White Face AND the first row. This was a major achievement. Surprisingly you don’t break a sweat to get here either and will make you feel cocky. But now is the time to take a break. Mess up the cube and start again. Do not get past this stage till you can create the white corner and the first row. End of Day 1.


Day 2

Start Day 2 with redoing the first 2 steps. All it takes is muscle memory to get till Step 2.

3) Step 3 - Solving the second row.

This is another simple remarkably simple step. But you need to master Step 2 (Solving the White corner) before you get here. I found Rollo Gaming video very useful. She solves the second row using two repeatable sub steps. The first sub step is about moving the correct edge around while the second step is the same as Step 2 (Solving the White corner).

(from 4:45 to 7:48)

Finish Day 2 by practicing solving Step 1-3 a few times. It is remarkably simple set of repeatable steps

Day 3

Start Day 3 with repeating Steps 1-3.

4) Step 4. Solving the Yellow cross

Once you have solved the first two rows, the yellow is on the opposite of the White and will require a Cross (just like you first start by solving the White with a cross).
When you have finished Step 3. The Yellow side always has one of 4 combinations

a) A simple Yellow centre only
b) A yellow L
c) A yellow Straight line
d) A yellow cross.

The order is notionally important, but you ALWAYS follow the same steps to get to the cross. The only change will be how you hold the cube when you start the steps. If you start the step with the Yellow dot, the result will be an L. Then you repeat the steps with the L, you will get the straight line. Then you repeat the steps with the straight line and you will get the cross. So irrespective of what the state of your yellow face, always use the SAME steps.

This video shows it well. ignore the steps he takes, but listen to the explanation. Warning, the guy is a speedcuber, so don’t be put off by what he is doing, only listen to what he saying about the yellow step.

Now that you know how the Yellow face develops, follow instructions from the Rollo video https://youtu.be/e5Jj14gS6TI?t=467
As mentioned, keep repeating the same steps till you get the cross.

5) Step 5. Align the Ts

This is the first time, you need to learn an algorithm - the Right 180. You will need to remember it, because it will come handy later. Once you have the cross, continue with the Rollo Video on how to align the Ts. Again, you will need to repeat the R180 a couple of times till you align the Ts. It comes down to how you hold the cube - start with the good T on the back is key. Do the R180 a few times and hey presto you have solved it.

End Day 3 with a few more practices. Run through Step 1-5 a few times. it will be frustrating that you may forget a few steps. But persevere. if you have survived so far, you will realise that you only have 4 yellow corner pieces. What an achievement.


Day 4.

Again start the day with running Step 1-5. If you have mastered the process, you will realise that it is always the same series of moves to get the same results.


6) Step 6. Align the Yellow Corners.

When you reach this stage. There are only 2 possibilities.

a) No corners are aligned or
b) one corner is aligned.

There is a small possibility that you might have solved it, but that is more luck than skill. Irrespective of a or b possibility, you will do the SAME algorithm - Left algorithm.

Back to the Rollo video here https://youtu.be/e5Jj14gS6TI?t=661

End of Day 4. Like always practice this a few times. You only need 2 algorithms. On Day 5, you will finish the cube as you have only 2 corners to orient



Day 5.

Start with running thru Step 1-6. So far you have only had 2 algorithms to master. The R180 will come handy today as you will be using it again. You will use the Rollo video again. However i found her discussing this in a hurry and therefore could not follow it correctly. It is a very simple step and involves the R180 and (new) Left 180 algorithm. By now you would have mastered the R180 algo, so need to focus only on the L180 algo when she talks about it. It will take a few times before you figure out what she is doing. It is essentially the same as the R180, but done with the Left hand.

The key here is to hold the cube in a way where the Yellow side faces outwards toward the right. You will have to do this for each yellow face looking outwards.

7) Step 7 Orient the yellow Corner >> Video here >> https://youtu.be/e5Jj14gS6TI?t=752


Bravo. You have solved it!!! Now the next challenge to do it under 15 mins.. You will be doing that before the weekend

 

[Tashyboy]

Just take all the stickers off and put them back on.

 

[Leftie]

Was given one at Christmas. Not the usual coloured one. This one has a different 9x9 sudoku on each side.

Within 15 secs of getting it, my 6 yr old grandson had grabbed it out of my hand and messed it up.

Don't think I will bother to try to solve it.

 

[Mudball]

Was given one at Christmas. Not the usual coloured one. This one has a different 9x9 sudoku on each side.

Within 15 secs of getting it, my 6 yr old grandson had grabbed it out of my hand and messed it up.

Don't think I will bother to try to solve it.

It will be the same as a basic cube.. go for it mate.. v addictive.. see my notes above. HID just started doing it and it is painful watching her do it - feels like I m watching her park a brand new car between two other brand new cars.

 

[Piece]

Years ago, I was given a Rubik's Clock for Christmas. Solved within the hour!

 

[Orikoru]

We had one in the house when I was a kid. It sat in the drawer unsolved for about a decade. No idea what you're supposed to do with it, and not worth the effort to learn really. Once you've solved one, what can you do with that? Tell someone you solved it? Great.

The fact that we're now in the internet age where you can Google how to solve one easily as well probably nullifies the appeal even more.

 

[patricks148]

Just take all the stickers off and put them back on.

one my yonnger brother had, you just popped it apart and stuck it back together done, less that 2 mins

 

[Mudball]

We had one in the house when I was a kid. It sat in the drawer unsolved for about a decade. No idea what you're supposed to do with it, and not worth the effort to learn really. Once you've solved one, what can you do with that? Tell someone you solved it? Great.

The fact that we're now in the internet age where you can Google how to solve one easily as well probably nullifies the appeal even more.

I am sure you cant solve climate change or Brexit with it.. but it was a massive sense of achievement for solving it on the wrong side of 40. Since hitting PB, i am now teaching the Mrs and another friend. There are many permutations so always throws up a new challenge. I guess similar to playing golf, if you have played a good course once, would you want to go out and play it again ??

 

[Orikoru]

I am sure you cant solve climate change or Brexit with it.. but it was a massive sense of achievement for solving it on the wrong side of 40. Since hitting PB, i am now teaching the Mrs and another friend. There are many permutations so always throws up a new challenge. I guess similar to playing golf, if you have played a good course once, would you want to go out and play it again ??

It's not at all similar to golf, lol.

 

[Wolf]

Mrs Wolf younger brother had an obsession with these last year, he got so good he could literally solve it in under 60 seconds, even got to a point where he would look at it when picking it up to see how it looked then proceed to not look again and solve it whilst having his eyes closed. But I belive he did the whole YouTube thing learning algorithms etc.

For me much like Orikoru I literally can't see the point, once you've solved it short of saying I've done it Where's the point beyond doing it once the sense of achievement is gone and I don't have the inclination to Google how to just to say I did it or followed instructions how to do it.