# HS kid does Rubik's Cube in 5.25 seconds **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [April 28, 2015, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hs-kid-does-rubiks-cube-in-5-25-seconds/718687 "2015-04-28T00:14:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hs-kid-does-rubiks-cube-in-5-25-seconds/718687/21 "2015-04-28T21:53:35Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **Martian Bigfoot** : > > See that look on his face when he finishes it? That is surprise. Well, yeah, of course it’s surprise. He knew he was going to solve it, and he knew he’d do it quickly, but he didn’t know that he’d set the world record. He was surprised at seeing the time on the clock, not at the solution itself. Funny thing: Yesterday, at probably just about the time that would have been happening, I was talking with a high school student about Rubik’s Cube world records (he was finished with all of his assigned work, so I didn’t mind him cubing in class). ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hs-kid-does-rubiks-cube-in-5-25-seconds/718687/22 "2015-04-28T23:11:45Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > Yea, doing it in five seconds is a feat of dexterity, not spatial reasoning. The kid memorizes the algorithms, and than the real test of skill is how fast he can get his fingers to execute them. Not only dexterity. Although he doesn’t have to figure out the algorithm on the fly, he does have to recognize which of several dozen sequences to apply, in a fraction of a second. That is a very rare talent. I’m lucky if I can find the blue side in half a second, let alone recognize all the various permutations and orientations of the cubies on that side. I can imagine some DOD bigwigs being very interested in recruiting this guy to control their drones, or something _Ender’s Game_-ish like that. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hs-kid-does-rubiks-cube-in-5-25-seconds/718687/23 "2015-04-29T01:49:50Z")
I think that for these official events, you’re allowed to look over the cube off the clock-- The time doesn’t start until you actually start manipulating it. While it still takes some skill to look at the cube and figure out the sequence of moves before you actually make any of them, it at least doesn’t take quick skill. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hs-kid-does-rubiks-cube-in-5-25-seconds/718687/24 "2015-04-29T02:03:28Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Well, yeah, of course it’s surprise. He knew he was going to solve it, and he knew he’d do it quickly, but he didn’t know that he’d set the world record. He was surprised at seeing the time on the clock, not at the solution itself. Well, yes, obviously. That’s what I meant. As I said, I have no doubt that he consistently solves the thing super-quick. Just saying that he probably wasn’t actually planning, as such, to do it in five seconds. More like a few seconds more than five seconds. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hs-kid-does-rubiks-cube-in-5-25-seconds/718687/25 "2015-04-29T02:12:10Z")
BTW, now I’m wondering what the actual physical limit is for how quickly it can be done. I have no real idea, since five seconds already seems impossible to me. Still, it just doesn’t seem like you could get much quicker than that. Three seconds, say, seems properly impossible. But maybe it isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hs-kid-does-rubiks-cube-in-5-25-seconds/718687/26 "2015-04-29T03:04:37Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I think that for these official events, you’re allowed to look over the cube off the clock-- The time doesn’t start until you actually start manipulating it. While it still takes some skill to look at the cube and figure out the sequence of moves before you actually make any of them, it at least doesn’t take quick skill. [You’re allowed 15 seconds](https://www.worldcubeassociation.org/regulations/#A3) from the time you first see the cube until the time you begin solving it. That should be enough time to plan your first move, but if it’s enough time to for you to plan the entire solution, then you’re some kind of mutant. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hs-kid-does-rubiks-cube-in-5-25-seconds/718687/27 "2015-04-29T04:32:30Z")
[Here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3drHpXWECRk) is a guy who can do it in one second. Got him out of a [traffic ticket](http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2014/12/rubiks_cube_magician_steven_br.html) once. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hs-kid-does-rubiks-cube-in-5-25-seconds/718687/28 "2015-04-29T04:37:16Z")
> [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](#): > > [Here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3drHpXWECRk) is a guy who can do it in one second. Got him out of a [traffic ticket](http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2014/12/rubiks_cube_magician_steven_br.html) once. That’s some pretty amazing dexterity, if there’s no camera trickery involved. It is a magic trick though, not an actual solve. The cube is carefully arranged in advance, not scrambled. ---
**Author:** ![Hoopy\_Frood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoopy_frood/32/8452_2.png) [@Hoopy\_Frood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoopy_Frood)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hs-kid-does-rubiks-cube-in-5-25-seconds/718687/29 "2015-04-29T04:59:03Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > A great algorithm, a ton of practice, a lot of lube… and yeah, probably quite a bit of luck. Then maybe you finish in seconds. Just like my sex life, really. Thread win. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hs-kid-does-rubiks-cube-in-5-25-seconds/718687/30 "2015-04-29T05:26:34Z")
Just noticed [this](http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2455053,00.asp) link from the article. As with most things in life, a smart phone and some Lego can kick our butts. ---
**Author:** ![DKW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dkw/32/3118_2.png) [@DKW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DKW)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2015, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hs-kid-does-rubiks-cube-in-5-25-seconds/718687/31 "2015-05-03T04:06:59Z")
Pretty damn impressive. Of course, I’d be saying that even if he took twice as long, but setting a world record is never not cool. Little surprised Rubik’s Cube is still a thing. We have tons more options for tests of skill and entertainment nowadays. We’ve lost so much fun stuff to the Internet, I’m glad to see that simple toys haven’t gone out of style. Really, _really_ hoping that this does not result in him getting bullied and getting death threats, which appears to be the default response to any kind of notable achievement in high school nowadays. High school was an unspeakable cesspool when I was in it, but since social media got big it’s gone to 6th Circle of Hell levels. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2015, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hs-kid-does-rubiks-cube-in-5-25-seconds/718687/32 "2015-05-03T04:13:43Z")
I suspect that the guy who’s supposedly solving it while tossing it in the air is actually using sleight of hand to swap it out for a pre-solved cube. No, that’s not what he says he’s doing… but he’s a magician. What he says he’s doing should be regarded as suspect. I can’t actually see any spot in the video where he could be doing that, but that just means that he’s a good magician: I can more readily believe that he’s swapping cubes without me noticing than I can that he can make seven moves one-handed that quickly and fluidly. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2015, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hs-kid-does-rubiks-cube-in-5-25-seconds/718687/33 "2015-05-03T08:11:34Z")
> [@DKW](#): > > Really, _really_ hoping that this does not result in him getting bullied and getting death threats, which appears to be the default response to any kind of notable achievement in high school nowadays. High school was an unspeakable cesspool when I was in it, but since social media got big it’s gone to 6th Circle of Hell levels. Bullied? Really? If being the world record holder for solving a Rubik’s Cube doesn’t instantly turn him into the most frequently laid boy in high school, we should all just go kill ourselves. Who wants to live in that world? Besides, he’s pretty cute. My optimistic prediction is that the girls are slobbering all over him, in a good way. I could be wrong. Maybe I’m hopelessly naive. I hope I’m right, though. \* You may say I’m a dreamer…\* ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2015, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hs-kid-does-rubiks-cube-in-5-25-seconds/718687/34 "2015-05-03T08:21:10Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Probably not. Haven’t done it myself, but I’d guess that anyone with a M.S.-level grasp of abstract algebra could do the proof. It should be a pretty straightforward application of group theory. Honestly, despite the number of permutations you could probably get A\* to do it with a half-decent heuristic. ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2015, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hs-kid-does-rubiks-cube-in-5-25-seconds/718687/36 "2015-05-05T02:13:31Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > But 5 seconds? That has to be a fluke. Sometimes, even with my slow method, the starting configuration was such that just by chance, I could skip a step in the solution – the corner cubies would already be oriented correctly, or something. I think that something like that must have happened here. > > I’m not saying he isn’t brilliant and super fast, and I’m not saying the starting position wasn’t sufficiently scrambled, but I’m saying I have to believe that most of the time, it takes him quite a bit longer. I just can’t believe that someone can recognize patterns that fast. It’s no fluke. Algoriths and solving methods have improved significanly in the 35 years the cube has been mass-produced. In a competition like this, a cube is sufficiently scrambled by a predetermined algorithm. All are judged to be equally difficult. It isn’t as random as one guy being lucky that his cube just happened to fall right. There are a lot of people who can solve the cube in under 20 seconds, and a subset of that number who can do it regularly under 10. I think Feliks Zemdigs had a sub 10 average for 5 solves in a row on youtube… That kid is amazing, not only because he can solve the 3x3x3 in less than 6 seconds, but he has held or currently holds WR solves for the 4x4x4, 5x5x5 and up… Not sure where he tops out…, but he also cruises through a megaminx (Remember those?) and a number of other -minx variations (the biggest mass produced megaminx is called (i think) the terraminx, and it is a twelve sided puzzle with 9 cubies per edge. It is massive. I own the 7x7x7 petaminx (i might be getting these names wrong), and it was a bitch to solve for a number of reasons. But I took it apart, and putting it together was even harder than solving it normally. > [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > Solving a Rubik’s cube is dead easy, if you get someone to teach you how to do it. It involves zero thinking. All you have to do is memorize a few steps. > > Coming up with a solution for solving one? That probably takes a planet-sized brain. But just solving one, if you know how? Your potted plant could probably do it. > > I can do one in… I dunno. A couple of minutes, or something? Not sure. Not very long. I learned it from a YouTube video posted by some fourteen-year-old. I would need to brush up now, though. I haven’t done one in ages. > > Of course, solving one in five seconds? Yeah, now we’re probably back to planet-sized brain again. I mentioned in another thread that I came up with my own solution to the Rubik’s cube… About 3 years ago. It takes patience, a bit of a brain, and an understanding of group theory. At least, that’s how I did it. My method is not fast. The quickest I ever got was 1:10 (that’s a minute, 10 seconds.). My fingers are too big, and my moves are too slow to get much faster. As to solving it in 5 seconds… Personally, this is more than just fast memorization. Yes, they all memorize algorithms, but they have to “see” the answer before they start. When you see a kid study the cube for a few seconds, they are able to literally solve it in their heads, and not only that, but they can pick it up and move the cube fast enough to solve it in seconds. I can do neither. I have never seen a champion over the age of 20, which tells me something. A kid can devote a ton of time to the cube, his/her hands and fingers are smaller and more dexterous than an adults, and their brains are less cluttered. Their muscle memory develops quickly, and they see things most other people don’t. Even if you grasp the idea of F2L solving (which means first 2 layer solving) you still have to execute it. I learned how to do F2L after I learned about it on the web. It took me a while to understand it conceptually, but it took me much longer to actually solve the first two layers correctly. I still had the last layer to solve, but the normal way most people solve a cube is the top layer, middle layer, then bottom. In F2L, you learn to hold the cube upside down, and solve the first two layers at the same time. This saves a boatload of time, and leaves you with the last layer. The difference is, these kids, while doing F2L somehow integrate the moves necessary to solve the third layer at the same time. I have never heard or have seen someone demonstrate how to do this. It’s either a closely guarded secret, or it really can’t be taught. I think after staring at a cube for years and years, one day the light goes on for some of these kids and the sub 10 second mark is reached. I find their abilities amazing. But ANYONE can solve a rubik’s cube. There are many tutorials on YouTube that cover it, and coutless other puzzles too. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hs-kid-does-rubiks-cube-in-5-25-seconds/718687.md?page=1)