IAmA Rubik's Cube Speedsolver, preparing for the World Championship this weekend. Ask Me Anything!

I know the basic method to solve a cube, and if I try hard I can maybe do it in +/- 1min. How do you go from 1min to 5 seconds ? Do you use an other method than the basic one? Or is it just purely training to be as fast as possible?

There are a lot of elements that go into getting faster. The main thing is just practicing a lot, but if you want to get anywhere close to 5 seconds you'll need to learn to solve a lot more efficiently, using a method better suited for speedsolving. The how to get faster page on the r/cubers wiki is a good resource for getting faster, as is cubeskills

Damn that 'how to get faster page' looks interesting! I won't have the will to practice enough, but thanks for the links!

No problem!

I never new there was such a page and I've been trying to just get faster with cfop. Thanks!

No problem!

What is your fastest time?

5.46 seconds, for the original 3x3 cube

Come again for big fudge??

The fastest time I've ever solved a Rubik's cube in is 5.46 seconds. There are other puzzles speedcubers solve too, some of which I've solved faster than the original Rubik's cube

Is that your fastest 3x3 time, including on speed cubes?

Are the cubes you compete with new or broken in?

Yes, that includes speed cubes. I usually say "Rubik's Cube" even though it's not technically Rubik's brand, because more people will understand what I'm talking about.

My cubes are almost always pretty broken in by the time I compete with them, yeah

"Can I get a facial tissue?"

"A what?"

"I want a facial tissue."

"I have no idea what a facial tissue is. Try asking @TheSixthSide"s mama; she should know about facial tissues."

"A kleenex."

"Oh, sure."

I could see using the brand name as being simpler.

P.S. Good cubing username.

P.P.S. I'm sure @TheSixthSide's mama is a nice lady.

Yeah. Everyone knows what a Rubik's Cube is, but if you say "3x3", people look at you weird.

Rubik's is a brand...???

Yeah. Rubik's is a company that makes 3x3 cubes, 4x4 cubes, and other random puzzles (heard of the Rubik's 360?). Most of the good speedcubes aren't actually made by Rubik's - they focus on making puzzles that cater to the general public, rather than ones designed specifically with speedcubing in mind

when I was a kid I did it in just under 12 minutes with my feet!

​

at what point in the 5.46 seconds (or more likely, in an average solve) do you already know the solution and it's just a matter of doing it?

Before the solve starts, I'll usually plan out the first dozen moves or so. An average solve is ~60 moves and takes me around 9 seconds, and I'm thinking pretty much the whole way through. At around 8 seconds or so, I'll recognise the case I'm left with, and know all the remaining moves I have to do. So usually at the 8 second mark it's just a matter of doing it as fast as possible.

I don't recall my exact solution for the 5.46, so I'm not sure when exactly in that solve I was "done" and just had to finish turning

What exactly do you need for wining the competition: concentration, more practice than others before competition, fingers flexibility, or what?

I mean: when you lose to some other guy, what do you think: "hmm, i think i lost concentration in that moment" or "hmm, i think i need more practice before competition".

It's a combination of factors! The most important thing is absolutely practice - I'm okay at cubing, but there are others who've practiced far more, and are far, far faster than me. They'd beat me at a competition ten times out of ten.

However, between cubers of similar speed, nerves, concentration, and luck all come into play. There are probably a dozen people who have a real shot at winning the World Championship this weekend, but the winner will come down to who holds their nerve the best, and, admittedly, doesn't get too unlucky

I'm okay at cubing

Good luck in the competition then :D

Thanks!

Do you watch this to get into the zone?

Hahahahaha holy shit. No, but my day just got better

I’m a fellow speed solver- in middle school I won a Rubiks Cube contest they held in the lunch room... I finished in just over 3 minutes beating my nemesis (and a real jerk) Steve Lusk.

So I also have participated in the glory.

My question: how much of a contest is luck- meaning the cube is mixed up in a way that makes it easier to solve? Is everyone’s cube mixed up identically?

Bonus question: has this ability ever gotten you attention from chicks? Because this really hasn’t happened for me yet. I’m thinking when I break one minute the flood will come.

Edit: an a extra word

At competitions, everyone gets the same set of scrambles. That means that the cubes are just as "difficult" for everyone. That said, there is still an element of luck involved. Everyone's going to solve the cube in a slightly different way, and depending on the moves you do at the start of a solve, the rest of the solve might be more/less difficult, which is essentially just luck. You can even skip steps (those parts of the cube happen to be solved when you reach that step). So there's certainly some luck, but we try to make it as fair as possible.

It's gotten some attention, but mostly just as a kind of conversation starter. You're not gonna get girls by just sitting there cubing, regardless of how fast you are haha

“You think this is fast you should see me in bed”

No way this won’t work as a pick up line

Report back with your results

There are lots of generic 3x3 cubes out there. Do you have any design preferences for performance? Like no stickers, rounded corners, special lubricant for the core, etc? Do you have to use a specific model for competition?

I prefer stickerless puzzles, yeah - they're lower maintenance and I find it easier to find pieces during a solve on them. Most high-end 3x3 cubes these days have very similar design features though - rounded center pieces, squared-off corners, etc. Most cubers will also use special lubricant for the core, yeah. You can find a variety of silicone lubes for sale at any online cube store, and the thicker weights are ideal for use on the core.

No, cubers are free to use any model they'd like - we're required to bring our own puzzles for use in competition, and so long as they abide by certain guidelines, we can use whatever we want.

Welcome fellow cuber!

My fastest is 9.97 seconds, but my average floats around 16-17 seconds. I'm slowly working towards breaking the sub-15 barrier but having a lot of issues between the cross and F2L - What kinds of things did you practice to smooth the transition between those steps?

My F2L lookahead is pretty good and then my OLL/PLL execution stinks. I know that's something I need to speed up, but wanted to get your opinion on that transition. (I.e; How often do you do x-cross or do you always have your first F2L pair in mind when solving the cross? Also, are you color neutral?)

I'm not colour neutral, but I should be. Everyone should be (at least, everyone who uses CFOP). I plan my first pair in inspection something like half the time if I'm just doing mindless practice, and almost all the time when I'm focused. I probably do xcrosses something like 1/20 solves? I'm not sure, I haven't actually tracked that.

Honestly, the vast majority of my improvement has come from just doing thousands and thousands of solves. I haven't done much practice targeting specific parts of my solves, but I might well have improved faster if I had. I'd recommend you film an average of 12 or something and ask for tips - it's a lot easier to give advice when people can see what your weaknesses are

Is it true that there's a "system" to solving Rubik's cubes? Where did you learn that?

Absolutely! Figuring out how to solve it all by yourself is really challenging, so most people don't do that, preferring to learn from a tutorial. I personally learned from my brother, but these videos are really solid tutorials. Once you learn a method, solving the cube is fairly trivial, and the real challenge is getting faster :P

I'm about to order my first Rubik's cube! Thanks

No problem! A word of advice - if you're interested in solving it at all fast, Rubik's brand cubes are generally seen as bad. There are lots of other brands that sell better quality cubes, for cheaper

I keep a cube at my desk and it’s a Rubik’s brand. What would you recommend?

If all you do is solve it casually from time to time, a Rubik's brand is fine - they're hard to break and other people can scramble them without you having to worry about them potentially damaging them. That said, the main problem is that they're usually quite stiff and hard to turn quickly. If you'd like to try out a more conventional speedcube, I'd recommend something like the Yuxin Little Magic. It's a solid speedcube and has fantastic performance for the price

What else them fingers do? ;)

;)

So a bunch of people get together and championship belts are handed out to whoever can solve it the fastest that day?

I mean that's a simplified version, but yes, essentially. In a given round of a competition, every competitor does 5 solves, which are timed. People's averages are ranked, and the fastest competitors move on to the next round. A competition will have 1-4 rounds of each event being held (there are multiple events held at competitions, like in athletics) and the competitor with the fastest average in the final round is the winner. We don't have championship belts, but there are trophies and prize money at larger competitions.

I've still simplified a few things, but let me know if you want more details!

I think belts are in order!! Thanks for explaining ;)

No problem!

Hi,Congrats for the qualification and I wish you the best with your championship. Are you getting laid from being fast at rubik's cube??

It's sometimes a conversation starter haha

Anything? Ok, where were you when the murders happen? Ps.: not a cop

How the hell did you...

Right, time to run away and live as a hermit

Yo.

You probably solve a ton of different shapes and styles of Rubik’s “cubes.”

• Which was the easiest to solve and master after the original 3x3?

• Which one is the most fun for you to solve?

2x2. It's essentially just an easier version of 3x3.

Megaminx! It's the dodecahedron one pictured in my "proof" picture. It's a lot of fun, and definitely the one I'm best at

Have you seen Melinda Green’s 2×2×2×2 four-dimensional Rubik’s cube? It’s a real, physical representation of a 4D cube in 3D space using magnets and tetrahedral “stickers”, making it possible to execute all the legal moves of a true 4D object.

I have, yeah, and I've also tried solving simulated 4D cubes. Altogether too confusing for me, but I think it's a really cool concept!

I'm building a rubiks cube solver. It's 6 stepper motor powered, to rotate each face, coupled with a graphical representation of the cube (using a raspberry pi).

I'm currently working on algorithms to solve it (can solve myself in 50secs). You have posted info on solving more efficiently so I'll ask this instead.

Do you think multiple people (say, 50-100 people) could solve a cube at the same time?

Sounds cool! Make sure to keep us posted over on r/cubers!

I'm not quite sure I understand your question though. How are you envisioning multiple people solving a single cube?

Twitch solves Rubiks would be awesome, I would totally watch that.

I could be remembering wrong, but I feel like that's actually been done... Remind me in a few hours once this whole AMA dies down a bit and I'll check

If your last layer has an H shape oriented, what's the one to orient the remaining opposing unoriented cubies?

Assuming you know how to read notation:

R U R' U' M' U R U' r'

So basically you solve it with the intro to Bad Romance with Lady Gaga?

Okay that was good

Are there issues with competitors using performance enhancing drugs? do you have to submit to any sort of doping protocols?

Not currently, but I could see this potentially being an issue moving forwards. Drugs like beta blockers or Adderall could theoretically help cubers get better results, and ideally we would ban the use of drugs like these. Cubing is currently small enough that it hasn't been a big deal, but as the hobby continues to grow, I expect we'll have to deal with this at some point. That said, there are issues with trying to control the use of these substances, chief among which is age - a lot of fast cubers are young teenagers or children, and forcing them to submit themselves to drug tests doesn't sit right with a lot of people

Yo, 'sup.

Are you going for the 3x3 WR? What's it like to be in the world championship?

EDIT: Any thoughts about the God's Number and its usage in speedcubing, if there ever was one? If there is, any pros and cons that you have?

Sup.

I'm not especially going for the 3x3 WR, no. It takes years and years of practice to get fast enough where WR is a real possibility, if you can even get that fast at all (imo genetics play a big enough role that most people aren't capable of getting to that level). I sincerely doubt I could ever get fast enough for WR, and 3x3 isn't really my main event anyway.

Worlds is awesome! I've attended a bunch of the major competitions in the last couple of years, and they're a ton of fun, really different to smaller, local competitions. It's crazy to see all the pros solving, and it's cool to meet up with friends from all over the world, that I haven't seen in a while. It's also a very different experience - I always feel more nervous in big competitions, as I feel like my times matter a lot more

and 3x3 isn't really my main event anyway

What's your main event? And what are your favorite puzzles to solve?

Yeah like Ben said, my main event is Megaminx. Answers your second question too I guess, although I also really enjoy 3x3, 4x4, 5x5, blindfolded and fewest moves

On God's Number - I don't think it has any particular usage in speedcubing, no. It's an interesting statistic, but doesn't really have any relation to solving the cube quickly

Do you find the techniques used to solve cubes help you solve other problems in general day to day living?

Not particularly. I can memorise really long strings of letters and numbers because of blindfolded solving, but the skills involved in solving cubes quickly aren't super transferrable

See you on thursday, James! Doubt you would remember me haha - we met at batam last year When are you staying around Melbourne until?

I don't remember everyone I met at Batam, but I might recognise you haha. Anyway, I'm leaving Melbourne next Tuesday

What method is best and why is it roux?

Can't do Roux on a Megaminx

Any cool spots you like to cube at? I personally love grabbing a larger sized cube and going camping or to the beach.

I used to take a cube with me everywhere, and have lots of pictures of me solving it in forests, up sitting on top of rocks, etc. Nowadays I quite like sitting somewhere in town and solving it - I like seeing people's reactions! Kids are especially fun - adults are interested but I think often feel it's rude to stare, whereas kids are fascinated by it

Just wondering how do you define the highest degree of scrambling of a 3x3 cube? Assuming something like this is even quantifiable. I'm a beginner myself and can clock in under 25 secs. This question has always intrigued me though.

Good question! You could consider a puzzle "fully scrambled" when all possible states are equally likely to have been reached. You can do this two ways:

First, you can just apply a ton of random moves. The more random moves you apply, the more even the distribution of possible states becomes. I don't recall the exact number of moves you need to apply before it can really be considered to be close to a "random state", but I read the number a while ago and it was fairly unreasonable.

Second, you can use a "random state scrambler". Most good cubing timers (cstimer for example) include random state scramblers. A random state scrambler generates a completely random cube state, finds an efficient solution to done that state, then inverts the solution. That way you have a short sequence of moves that results in a completely random state, and can be considered to be the "highest degree" of scrambled

What's your favorite color to complete?

I start my solves on white almost every time, but this is a bad habit that I don't recommend. Apart from that, I don't have a favourite colour to complete

Odd question but its a small world in a niche community... Is Brendan Vallance / Mcelhill still around the world champ scene?

I was friends with him in school but haven't spoken to him since. But i knew he had entered and last i heard had won a world championship.

Question 2 - what was your progression from solving your first cube to entering comps?

Haha small world indeed... Yeah, I was hanging out with Breandan just a few days ago. A group of us were gonna go skydiving in Sydney but it got rained off. So yeah, he's still around and will be attending the World Championship, but he isn't particularly competitive these days.

I first solved a cube in 2011 and found it fascinating. I discovered the online community a bit over the next few years and got faster, but my interest came and went. I didn't cube much in 2013 and 2014, but in 2015 one of my friends (who I'd taught to cube initially) had gotten faster than me, so I got back to practicing with the aim of beating him. I attended my first competition later that year and haven't stopped since :)

What in your opinion is the best 3x3 cube out there for speedsolving?

GAN 356 X

Mr. Valk would like to have a word with you.

I'll make sure to tell him tomorrow :P

approximately how many algorithms do you know? I started cubing a week ago and I only know like 7 lol

Across all events? Probably something like 500-600. It kinda depends on how you count them though - if you include "algorithms" that I intuitively understand, then it's more like 1000

I've never solved one ever. How do I start? Any tips

There are lots of great tutorials you can learn from. That's what most cubers do

What's your fastest time on a standard 3x3 cube that anyone could buy at a store? I understand that for competition there are special cubes that are lubed up or something that make the movements much faster. I'm talking about the normal clunky kind.

I honestly have no idea, I don't track my solves on them. Maybe 20-25 seconds? I make a habit of not using them haha

Are Rubik's brand cubes actually used in competitive cube solving?

By and large, no. People tend to use brands specifically designed for speedcubing

Best resource for newbie megamind solving?

Assuming you mean megaminx, I'd recommend the cubeskills videos on the event

What is the secret?

No secret. Learn a method from a tutorial and get practicing :P

Did you choose the Rubik's Cube or did the Rubik's Cube choose you?

That's one for the philosophers

Well I've probably missed it but I'll ask anyway. Which are more difficult to solve even or odd numbered cubes?

Even. Because they have no fixed centre pieces, you can run into nasty parity issues that require long algorithms to solve, and make your solves slower for no good reason

How long did it take you to break the sub-20 barrier and do you have any tips for breaking it?

That was years ago haha, I honestly don't remember. It's hard to give out general tips, so I'd advise you film your solves and post them to r/cubers to get advice, or look here or here for more of a self-taught approach

How is a blindfolded puzzle done?

Memorise the puzzle, don a blindfold, solve the cube. You use special memorisation/solving methods to make it much easier - essentially it's equivalent to memorising 10 short words, with memory techniques to assist you with that. I can link you to some solid tutorials if you'd like, but it'd be super confusing if you don't already know how to solve a cube

Have you ever thought of doing an 80's montage of yourself training for the championship?

No, but I am now

How did you become interested in the rubik cube? Please, let us know about your path

It's honestly a not very exciting story haha. My brother's friend taught him how to solve it, and he taught me in 2011. I practiced on and off until 2015, when I attended my first competition. I really tell in love with the hobby after that, attending competitions all round New Zealand and eventually overseas. Since then I've made so many friends through cubing that I don't every see myself really stopping - even if I don't enjoy solving cubes as much, I'd still attend competitions to see everyone

What's the worst mistake you've ever made near the end of a solve?

I've lost track of the number of times I've locked up on the last few moves of a solve and have lost the chance at a personal best. I'm really bad for that shit.

Do you need to do any stretches before practice?

Most cubers, myself included, don't, and I haven't heard of many cases of cubers getting RSI or anything. That said, it probably would be a good idea, and I suspect more cubers will start doing so in the future

Do you have dreams or nightmares involving cubes? Such as your normal solving techniques, puzzles in general, oddly shaped cubes, ones missing pieces, or being naked and panic in deciding to solve the cube or cover up using it? LOL Sorry, the last one is just a tease. My dreams are crazy obviously or I wouldn't ask. Ha!

I never really remember my dreams, but the few that I do remember don't generally involve cubing. That said, I'm sure cubes do feature in my dreams from time to time - frankly, it'd be weirder if they didn't.

What music do you listen to to prepare yourself for a event?

I'm not too picky haha, just whatever random stuff I've been listening to recently. Last competition where I listened to music I was bouncing between Mumford & Sons, of Monsters & Men, Disturbed and Christopher Tin's Civ music. Idk, I'm weird

I just bought my first cube yesterday! I got the MF3RS2 M.

Is there anything you wish you'd have known when you first started cubing?

Be colour neutral. Watch cubeskills videos. Try other events. Practice lots. Film solves and get others to critique them so you don't build bad habits. Have fun!

Do you regularly solve any of the larger cubes, or is the 3x3 your regular? What brand of cube so you prefer?

I regularly solve 3x3, 4x4, and Megaminx (Megaminx is the dodecahedron one pictured in my "proof" picture. Megaminx is the one I'm best at, and I guess is my "regular", although I go through phases of practicing different events.

For Megaminx, I use GAN, for 3x3 I use Dayan, and for 4x4 I use MoYu. I don't have any particular brand loyalty, although I guess I like a lot of aspects of GAN.

I’m a cuber myself but I’m not that good. I know basic f2l and 4 look last layer. Any advice on how I could improve? My best time is 18 seconds plz don’t laugh lol

Copied from another reply: "It's hard to give general advice without seeing you solve, so two tips:

1. Video yourself solving and ask for advice from r/cubers

2. Go to the how to improve page of r/cubers or cubeskills and learn from there"

How did you first solve a Rubik's Cube (luck, problem solving, tutorial etc)? How long did your first one take?

My brother taught me the method over the course of a weekend. The next week I borrowed a cube from a friend, and was consistently solving it in ~5 mins

Do opponents facing off against each other in a competition get the same randomization as a starting point to make it fair? How are competitors ultimately eliminated?

Yeah, everyone gets the same scrambles. It's not a head-to-head format for the most part, everyone just does their solves and the fastest x% (different in different competitions) advance to the next round.

Do you ever get lucky and just have a really simple puzzle to solve, or do they somehow control for that?

​

It's always seemed to me that, assuming the cube is mixed randomly, there's always a (small) chance someone gets a puzzle that takes significantly fewer moves to solve, which would of course make it much easier to break records.

Copied from another reply:

"At competitions, everyone gets the same set of scrambles. That means that the cubes are just as "difficult" for everyone. That said, there is still an element of luck involved. Everyone's going to solve the cube in a slightly different way, and depending on the moves you do at the start of a solve, the rest of the solve might be more/less difficult, which is essentially just luck. You can even skip steps (those parts of the cube happen to be solved when you reach that step). So there's certainly some luck, but we try to make it as fair as possible."

Do you like rubik's cubes?

I plead the fifth

is there a trick to solving it? like can you just look at the rubix cube and be able to say it takes x amount of spins/turns? thanks

Hmm. I can't tell you how many turns it'll take for a given solve, but there's a "trick" in the sense that there's a method that I use to solve it every time, and I didn't figure out how to solve the cube myself. There are plenty of tutorials if you want to learn!

if there is a championship, how do magicians do it in seconds ?

It's a trick. If presented with a randomly scrambled cube, they can't do it in seconds

Do you memorize f2l algorithms and predict where the f2l pairs go?

Yeah. I don't know as many algorithms/random tricks for F2L as I should, so I do need to work on my F2L efficiency, but I know enough to average around 9 seconds. And yeah, I have okay lookahead for my speed (I assume that's what you're describing in the second bit?)

Do you have any other aspirations in life?

I don't know what I want to do as a career right now, but there's lots of things I enjoy doing, apart from cubing. I love travelling, meeting new people and visiting new places. I do a fair bit of graphic design in my free time, and like learning about new subjects. I really enjoy hiking - I live in New Zealand and love getting outside and seeing the natural beauty the country has to offer. I also do all sorts of other nerd stuff - I play D&D, watch movies, tv, play board and video games, etc.

Hey there! I’m no speed solver like you but got my time on the 3x3 down to less than 3 minutes which is almost a cool party trick. Almost. How are you at the 2x2 or the Void? I can’t get the 2x2 for the life of me but the Void is fun-ish.

I don't really practice either tbh, but I can solve them - 2x2 takes me 4-5 seconds. Not really sure about the void, I don't have one on hand but I'm fairly sure I could solve it in 20-30 seconds consistently.

Have you ever tried to speedsolve the Megaminx? (For anyone unaware, it's basically a 'Rubik's Dodecahedron')

If so, what's your best time?

Yup, Megaminx is actually my main event! My best time at home is 33.10, and I'm competition is 40.40

Is that a yulong in the picture?

Nah. Dayan Tengyun

I see, it just looked very similar. I have a yulong myself but I was never that much into speedcubing, although I find it fascinasting how fast people can go. Good job and good luck at the championship!

Yeah most modern speedcubes look very similar tbh, it's quite hard to tell them apart without turning them. And thanks!

So what skills does this provide in the real world?

What type of jobs?

It's not a particularly transferrable skill tbh. It impresses people, which can open some doors, and you can meet all different sorts of people through the hobby. That said, I think the most useful skill I've learned from cubing is learning how to improve at something. Cubing can teach you how to be very analytical when learning new skills, breaking them down into smaller parts that you can work on, and it teaches you the value of practicing to get better at something. Cubing is quite cool in that there's very tangible improvements - if you sit down and do solid practice for a month, you'll be noticably faster by the end of it

Have you ever been on date?

jk good luck at your meet.

Yup, and cheers!