# What's the hardest Cube-y thing? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 26, 2016, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-hardest-cube-y-thing/747183 "2016-02-26T09:53:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-hardest-cube-y-thing/747183/1 "2016-02-26T09:53:37Z")
I have in my house at the moment… A 3x3 Rubiks cube A 5x5 cube A megaminx (dodecahedron) I’ve also had in my possession, over the years, a 4x4, pyraminx, and a few other random rubiksish puzzles (the snake, rubik’s magic, etc) which were pretty straightforward by comparison. It seems to me, from playing around that: - A 4x4 cube is a reasonable degree harder than a 3x3 - A 5x5 and higher is \*\*not \*\*appreciably harder than a 4x4 … once you can do a 3x3 and a 4x4 you can do anything. - A pyramid shape is much easier than a cube. - The dodecahedron shape is \*\*also \*\*possibly easier than a cube - certainly not harder. So … there’s lots of cubey things out there. A Gigaminx looks promisingly tricky. But is there anything else out there among the many many different Rubik’s Cuboids now available that’s harder than a cube? Particularly \*\*unexpectedly \*\*hard… ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-hardest-cube-y-thing/747183/2 "2016-02-26T16:35:39Z")
OOOHHHHHH… you mean “difficult to solve” NOT Mohs hardness scale “hard”. this wasn’t clear from your title ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-hardest-cube-y-thing/747183/3 "2016-02-26T16:43:28Z")
Just a wild guess here, but Cuban diplomacy seems to be mighty difficult, when compared to Rubikian geometry. ---
**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:** [February 26, 2016, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-hardest-cube-y-thing/747183/4 "2016-02-26T16:49:42Z")
Well, there’s the [20x20x20 cube.](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/aSlXYSqonIE/hqdefault.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-hardest-cube-y-thing/747183/5 "2016-02-26T16:52:51Z")
It has to be the Time Cube (sadly the site may be down, but there are archives of it) > **[Time Cube](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Time_Cube)** > > Time Cube was an incomprehensible "hypothesis", created by Gene Ray around 1997, that claims time is cubic. Interpretations vary, but the core appears to have had something to do with the earth passing through four simultaneous days in the course of... ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-hardest-cube-y-thing/747183/6 "2016-02-26T18:48:21Z")
nvmd ---
**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:** [February 26, 2016, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-hardest-cube-y-thing/747183/7 "2016-02-26T19:11:47Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > nvmd Not at all sure that’s for real. [Here are some level 10 puzzles from Puzzle Master.](https://www.puzzlemaster.ca/browse/cubepuzzle/all/?difficulty=10) I especially like the “Gigaminx Cube4You”. ---
**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:** [February 26, 2016, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-hardest-cube-y-thing/747183/8 "2016-02-26T19:43:22Z")
Folks who can do all of them report that a 5x5 has a few techniques not found in a 4x4, but that above that, any edge dimension can be done using the same techniques as those two. There’s more steps involved, of course, and God help you if you lose track of what you’re doing in the middle of a move sequence, and the bigger cubes are often mechanically stiffer, but there’s nothing new intellectually. Once you get beyond the cubes to other shapes, it’s difficult to make proper comparisons, because other shapes aren’t nearly as well-studied. Pick up any given twisty-puzzle, and it might take you a while, just because the techniques needed are unfamiliar to you, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re any more difficult once you learn them. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-hardest-cube-y-thing/747183/9 "2016-02-26T20:54:57Z")
This one is pretty nasty, especially when the chains and hooks come flying out… [![](https://duncanincidental.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/lament_configuration.jpg) ](https://duncanincidental.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/lament_configuration.jpg) ---
**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:** [February 26, 2016, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-hardest-cube-y-thing/747183/10 "2016-02-26T21:21:51Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > This one is pretty nasty, especially when the chains and hooks come flying out… > > [Duncan, Incidentally: Image](https://duncanincidental.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/lament_configuration.jpg) 1. You don’t play with that one-that one plays with _you_. 2. Once you touch it, your game is over. ---
**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:** [February 27, 2016, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-hardest-cube-y-thing/747183/11 "2016-02-27T00:07:16Z")
I’ve modified cubes. Took a standard 3x3x3 and made it so that each face had one cubelet of a color (used nine colors, obviously). So that the goal was not to have each face uniform, but rather as un-uniform as possible. Solved it any number of times and once I started keeping track and none of the solutions were the same. It’s harder than the standard cube because you have to _think_ about where you’re putting the pieces rather than just putting them there. I also modified a 4x4x4, adding two colors to the standard six. Each corner and edge piece is a single color. It’s harder than a standard 4x4x4 because most folks start those by rebuilding the centers. This is actually my favorite cube and when solved it has eight two by two blocks. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2016, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-hardest-cube-y-thing/747183/12 "2016-02-27T01:27:05Z")
I once tried to modify a cube for a friend with different _textures_. She could almost solve a regular cube blindfolded. This cube was intended to literally be solved with your eyes closed. ---
**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:** [February 27, 2016, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-hardest-cube-y-thing/747183/13 "2016-02-27T06:32:34Z")
Ooh, that reminds me, I have a sudocube lying around. Each face has the numbers 1 through 9. Which is basically the same thing as **E-DUB** ’s cube of many colors, though it probably has a different specific arrangement. And I’ve also seen a blind kid using a textured cube. ---
**Author:** ![Octarine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/22d042/32.png) [@Octarine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octarine)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2016, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-hardest-cube-y-thing/747183/14 "2016-02-27T13:53:41Z")
My first thought: [Diamond cube!](http://www.crystalsbuy.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/b/e/beveled-optical-crystal-diamond-cube-ornament-a1816.jpg) My second thought: Oh . . . ---
**Author:** ![Dervorin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Dervorin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dervorin)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2016, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-hardest-cube-y-thing/747183/15 "2016-02-27T23:18:56Z")
My first thought: [MDX optimisation](https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-GB/library/ms144785.aspx). My second thought: yeah… No. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2016, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-hardest-cube-y-thing/747183/16 "2016-02-28T02:52:30Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Not at all sure that’s for real. > [Here are some level 10 puzzles from Puzzle Master.](https://www.puzzlemaster.ca/browse/cubepuzzle/all/?difficulty=10) I especially like the “Gigaminx Cube4You”. Oooh, I could spend a shit-ton of money on that site. If I had a shit-ton of money… Their separation of easy/intermediate/hard pretty much matches my experience too, for the ones where I’ve **had** experience. I’m told the square-1, which I also see there on Level 10, is unexpectedly tricky. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2016, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-hardest-cube-y-thing/747183/17 "2016-02-28T03:55:41Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > - A pyramid shape is much easier than a cube. Back in their hey-day (the 80s) my cousin had one of the pyramid shaped ones (technically a regular tetrahedron). I played with it for a minute of two then decided to just get one face and put it down. After I got one face (which was way easier than getting one side of a 3x3 Rubik’s) I did a double-take suddenly realizing that I had inadvertently solved the whole thing without even trying\*!\* ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2016, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-hardest-cube-y-thing/747183/18 "2016-02-28T05:11:49Z")
[Cube](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0123755/) has gotta be right up there. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2016, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-hardest-cube-y-thing/747183/19 "2016-02-28T08:59:34Z")
I’ve seen some quite irregular cubey things -for example 3x4x5 or some such. Does the irregularity make them easier or harder? ---
**Author:** ![Majestic\_Lee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Majestic\_Lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Majestic_Lee)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2016, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-hardest-cube-y-thing/747183/20 "2016-02-28T09:44:14Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Well, there’s the [20x20x20 cube.](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/aSlXYSqonIE/hqdefault.jpg) I think the sun will go out before THAT one gets solved 😃 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-hardest-cube-y-thing/747183.md?page=2)