# Rants of a cubist (Rubik's, that is) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 13, 2006, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rants-of-a-cubist-rubiks-that-is/344344 "2006-02-13T22:05:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mayo\_Speaks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mayo\_Speaks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mayo_Speaks)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rants-of-a-cubist-rubiks-that-is/344344/1 "2006-02-13T22:05:00Z")
I speed solve Rubik’s cubes as a hobby (41.617 seconds - personal best). I often do this in public, and I get the following questions/comments after a successful solve (which they all are). Here are the answers, stop asking me: > [@](#): > > 1. **You memorized all the positions!** > No, there are 43,252,003,274,489,856,000 positions. Over 43 million million million. I don’t have quite that much time. > > 2. **Is there some sort of trick?** > Not really. It’s a combination of logic and trial and error to find a general solution, which you then apply to the scrambled cube. > > 3. **I couldn’t solve mine, so I peeled off the stickers and put 'em on in the right spots.** > Then you’re an idiot. Once you take the stickers off, they’ll never really stick properly again. Isn’t this obvious? It makes a lot more sense to take the cube apart physically and then put it together properly. > > 4. (After playing for a few seconds) **How do I put this piece over here?** > It doesn’t go there. There are 6 center pieces, 8 corner pieces, and 12 edge pieces. You can’t swap a corner and an edge, for Og’s sake. > > 5. **I have a friend who can do one of those in like 2 minutes. Can you beat that?** > You fucktard, I just did it in 55 seconds. > > 6. **One time, I got five sides, but I couldn’t get the last one.** > You’re lying out of your ass. That’s impossible. You can’t get four or five sides without having the damned thing solved. > > 7. **Can you teach me?** > Yeah. You got a few hours? Of course, that’s to learn my basic method. To be fast (like under 90 seconds), you’ll actually have to, ya know, practice and stuff. That’s all. ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rants-of-a-cubist-rubiks-that-is/344344/2 "2006-02-13T22:18:41Z")
I just bought a book that explained how to reason it out, better than pulling the stickers off. I always did want to take one apart, to see the innards. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rants-of-a-cubist-rubiks-that-is/344344/3 "2006-02-13T22:32:08Z")
Just because you reject the peeling off solution doesn’t mean it’s wrong. I never peeled off the stickers, since it’s a lot easier just to pop a piece out with a screwdriver for a fast disassemble/reassemble. Once I took away a guy’s cube without his knowing it and assembled it in the wrong configuration so he couldn’t solve it. I wouldn’t have done it, but he went around calling people “fucktards” and thinking he was cool because he could solve Rubik’s cube in 55 seconds. ---
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rants-of-a-cubist-rubiks-that-is/344344/4 "2006-02-13T22:33:40Z")
Woah! When did people from the 1980s start posting here? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rants-of-a-cubist-rubiks-that-is/344344/5 "2006-02-13T22:42:15Z")
> [@Homebrew](#): > > Woah! When did people from the 1980s start posting here? It doesn’t really come across in text, but I always post wearing parachute pants, Moon boots, and a Flock of Seagulls hair-do. ---
**Author:** ![Wolfian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Wolfian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolfian)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rants-of-a-cubist-rubiks-that-is/344344/6 "2006-02-13T22:43:51Z")
> [@Homebrew](#): > > Woah! When did people from the 1980s start posting here? : Smacks with a snap braclet : ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rants-of-a-cubist-rubiks-that-is/344344/7 "2006-02-13T22:46:32Z")
> [@Homebrew](#): > > Woah! When did people from the 1980s start posting here? Rubik’s Cube appears to be nostalgia all of a sudden. I found popping it apart with a screwdriver always worked best for me. Course, I never bothered with the reassembly; I went straight to the hammer. ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rants-of-a-cubist-rubiks-that-is/344344/8 "2006-02-13T22:53:52Z")
Yeah, it’s the new yo-yo fad/craze. I’ve had mine and the book since the 80’s, but I know one of the wunderkids who can solve it in a few seconds (pretty sure he can beat the OP, I think he sent me a link to a vid of him doing it…) ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rants-of-a-cubist-rubiks-that-is/344344/9 "2006-02-13T22:59:02Z")
> [@Homebrew](#): > > Woah! When did people from the 1980s start posting here? Accidentally. If you solve a Rubik’s Cube in 41.617 seconds, you open up a rift in the space-time continuum just big enough for a jerk to fall through. ---
**Author:** ![Mayo\_Speaks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mayo\_Speaks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mayo_Speaks)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rants-of-a-cubist-rubiks-that-is/344344/10 "2006-02-13T23:04:23Z")
> [@Homebrew](#): > > Woah! When did people from the 1980s start posting here? I’m from the 1980s only in that I was born in '86. A friend at my high school got me started with the Rubik’s cube. Also, I don’t call people fucktards to their face (even when I want to). I thought that was the point of the Pit? And I know that 55 seconds isn’t all that impressive. (The official world record is 11.14 seconds :eek: ) ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rants-of-a-cubist-rubiks-that-is/344344/11 "2006-02-13T23:05:44Z")
> [@Homebrew](#): > > Woah! When did people from the 1980s start posting here? Well, we had to put _something_ in those time capsules we buried back in elementary school. ---
**Author:** ![Ensign\_Edison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ab992/32.png) [@Ensign\_Edison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ensign_Edison)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rants-of-a-cubist-rubiks-that-is/344344/12 "2006-02-13T23:07:28Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > It doesn’t really come across in text, but I always post wearing parachute pants, Moon boots, and a Flock of Seagulls hair-do. Well, it’s certainly going to be what I think of every single time I see your name _now_. ---
**Author:** ![scout1222](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@scout1222](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scout1222)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rants-of-a-cubist-rubiks-that-is/344344/13 "2006-02-13T23:26:47Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > It doesn’t really come across in text, but I always post wearing parachute pants, Moon boots, and a Flock of Seagulls hair-do. Psshtt. That’s what _you_ think. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Bytegeist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@Bytegeist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bytegeist)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rants-of-a-cubist-rubiks-that-is/344344/14 "2006-02-13T23:32:13Z")
> [@](#): > > **2. Is there some sort of trick?** > Not really. It’s a combination of logic and trial and error to find a general solution, which you then apply to the scrambled cube. No logic actually needed. For a pure example of the Trial and Error cube-solving algorithm, go see the movie _ **UHF** _. ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rants-of-a-cubist-rubiks-that-is/344344/15 "2006-02-13T23:37:24Z")
Another vote for just taking it apart and putting it back together. I never had the patience to keep after it by the time I had 2 sides done. Maybe I’ll pick one up again and see if the ADD is really under control. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![bubastis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d07c76/32.png) [@bubastis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bubastis)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2006, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rants-of-a-cubist-rubiks-that-is/344344/16 "2006-02-13T23:40:09Z")
Sheeeeet! You should see my mad spacehopper skilz, boyyeee!!! ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2006, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rants-of-a-cubist-rubiks-that-is/344344/17 "2006-02-14T01:09:21Z")
> [@](#): > > Bytegeist > > No logic actually needed. For a pure example of the Trial and Error cube-solving algorithm, go see the movie UHF. Did I get it? No. _Twist_ Did I get it? No. _Twist_ ---
**Author:** ![Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazon_Floozy_Goddess)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2006, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rants-of-a-cubist-rubiks-that-is/344344/18 "2006-02-14T02:06:21Z")
Sir, I salute you. It’s been 20 years and I still haven’t solved mine. ---
**Author:** ![deevee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@deevee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deevee)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2006, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rants-of-a-cubist-rubiks-that-is/344344/19 "2006-02-14T02:42:16Z")
What the fuck do you expect people to say? Fuck me now baby you’re so cool? You can do a nifty parlour trick and then when people provide the standard comments you get all pissy about it. If you don’t want someone asking how you do your lameass trick don’t fucking do it in public. Save it to impress the chicks in the bedroom Sparky. ---
**Author:** ![deevee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@deevee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deevee)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2006, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rants-of-a-cubist-rubiks-that-is/344344/20 "2006-02-14T02:47:02Z")
> [@deevee](#): > > What the fuck do you expect people to say? Fuck me now baby you’re so cool? You can do a nifty parlour trick and then when people provide the standard comments you get all pissy about it. If you don’t want someone asking how you do your lameass trick don’t fucking do it in public. Save it to impress the chicks in the bedroom Sparky. I just now noted your age. Forgive my harshness but the message still applies. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rants-of-a-cubist-rubiks-that-is/344344.md?page=2)