# Rubik's Cube on Americ's Got Talent **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 14, 2016, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rubiks-cube-on-americs-got-talent/759875 "2016-07-14T02:47:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dingbang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac8455/32.png) [@Dingbang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dingbang)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rubiks-cube-on-americs-got-talent/759875/1 "2016-07-14T02:47:48Z")
Steven Brundage did some Rubik’s Cube tricks on AGT and there’s one that has me baffled. When he had a mixed cube (not random probably, but something he did) in front of Simon Cowell, he appeared to toss the cube and it landed in his hand solved. I watched very carefully in slow motion and don’t see how he did it. He manipulates the cube before tossing it up, but it appears mixed when it goes up and comes down solved. Ideas on how he did that? ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rubiks-cube-on-americs-got-talent/759875/2 "2016-07-14T03:01:11Z")
My guess: A cube has 6 faces. When you present it to someone they can never see more than 3 faces at a time. I’m guessing he has a scrambled cube that he quickly solves the 3 hidden faces of and then tosses it into the air and turns the 3 solved faces toward the observer. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rubiks-cube-on-americs-got-talent/759875/3 "2016-07-14T16:04:03Z")
Someone did the same trick on “_Penn and Teller’s Fool Us_” and with that camera angle it is easier to see the 3 faces switch as Hampshire describes. ---
**Author:** ![Dingbang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac8455/32.png) [@Dingbang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dingbang)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rubiks-cube-on-americs-got-talent/759875/4 "2016-07-14T16:12:51Z")
Ahh, that makes sense. Thanks. It is a very effective trick, though. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rubiks-cube-on-americs-got-talent/759875/5 "2016-07-14T16:15:30Z")
These guys are impressive. They mix rigged cubes, switches and real rapid solving techniques making it difficult to catch just what they’ve done. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rubiks-cube-on-americs-got-talent/759875/6 "2016-07-14T16:46:33Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > My guess: > A cube has 6 faces. When you present it to someone they can never see more than 3 faces at a time. I’m guessing he has a scrambled cube that he quickly solves the 3 hidden faces of and then tosses it into the air and turns the 3 solved faces toward the observer. Can you solve just three adjacent visible faces without solving the others? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rubiks-cube-on-americs-got-talent/759875/7 "2016-07-14T17:00:09Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Can you solve just three adjacent visible faces without solving the others? Not with a standard cube. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rubiks-cube-on-americs-got-talent/759875/8 "2016-07-14T17:06:47Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Can you solve just three adjacent visible faces without solving the others? With a rigged cube you could. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rubiks-cube-on-americs-got-talent/759875/9 "2016-07-14T19:25:50Z")
As a practical matter the effort to solve the entire cube would not be any greater than trying achieve a state where only three sides are solved. ---
**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:** [July 14, 2016, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rubiks-cube-on-americs-got-talent/759875/10 "2016-07-14T21:27:43Z")
You can’t actually solve three visible faces without solving the other three. You can, however, get three visible faces into a state that _looks_ solved without the other three looking solved. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2016, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rubiks-cube-on-americs-got-talent/759875/11 "2016-07-15T00:03:26Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > You can’t actually solve three visible faces without solving the other three. You can, however, get three visible faces into a state that _looks_ solved without the other three looking solved. What? Can you explain the difference? To me, a face is solved, and looks solved, if it is all the same color. What else does it mean? ---
**Author:** ![KellyCriterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b3f665/32.png) [@KellyCriterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KellyCriterion)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2016, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rubiks-cube-on-americs-got-talent/759875/12 "2016-07-15T00:58:43Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > What? > > Can you explain the difference? > > To me, a face is solved, and looks solved, if it is all the same color. What else does it mean? For a cube face to be truly “solved”, the cube should be in a state such that if you placed the cube on a table with the solved side facing down, upon examining the cube from side on, you should see the entire bottom layer of the cube is also solved. Eg, [it should look something like this](http://static1.squarespace.com/static/54f2df67e4b079e94c291e4f/t/562c97cfe4b0be3275fc622f/1445763027298/rubiks+cube+edge+insert+right). ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2016, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rubiks-cube-on-americs-got-talent/759875/13 "2016-07-15T01:21:47Z")
> [@KellyCriterion](#): > > For a cube face to be truly “solved”, the cube should be in a state such that if you placed the cube on a table with the solved side facing down, upon examining the cube from side on, you should see the entire bottom layer of the cube is also solved. That’s an odd definition of “face”, but I guess it’s Rubik’s cube jargon. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2016, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rubiks-cube-on-americs-got-talent/759875/14 "2016-07-15T01:49:49Z")
I guess it all depends on the definition of…solved. ---
**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:** [July 16, 2016, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rubiks-cube-on-americs-got-talent/759875/15 "2016-07-16T00:51:29Z")
It also depends on what you think of a “Rubik’s Cube” as. Novices will often think of the cube as consisting of six faces, each of which has nine colored squares on it. More experienced folks, though, think of it as consisting of a core plus 20 cubelets, each of which has 2 or 3 colored squares on it. You’re not trying to get the nine squares on each face in the right positions; you’re trying to get the 20 cubelets into the right positions. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2016, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rubiks-cube-on-americs-got-talent/759875/16 "2016-07-16T00:58:51Z")
You can disassemble a cube, and reassemble it, so that three “faces” look solved, and others look scrambled. It won’t be exactly that, but my point is that by disassembling and reassembling, you can have a rigged cube that looks like more or less anything you want. For that matter, you can buy a set of stickers, and put new stickers on the faces. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2016, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rubiks-cube-on-americs-got-talent/759875/17 "2016-07-16T01:01:47Z")
And, if you are good at sleight of hand, you can exchange a solved cube for a scrambled one. FWIW, though, there are speed solvers who can look at a cube and memorize what it looks like in its scrambled state, then solve it blindfolded. In like 15 seconds. And they are really solving it. There are competitions. ---
**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:** [July 16, 2016, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rubiks-cube-on-americs-got-talent/759875/18 "2016-07-16T01:46:30Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > That’s an odd definition of “face”, but I guess it’s Rubik’s cube jargon. No, I see their point. Imagine taking a completely solved cube, and writing the numbers 1 - 9 on each square of one face, sequentially. You then re-arrange the cube so that that face is still a solid color, but the numbers no longer run sequentially. Despite being all the same color, the face isn’t “solved,” because each square isn’t in the exact position it needs to be for the cube to be completed.