by Alex Wold
At first glance, the Rubik’s Cube might look hard and even impossible, but it isn’t as hard as you’d expect. You can solve a Rubik’s Cube, as long as you put the practice and effort into it.
During summer break, I wanted to try something new, so I chose to try it out. I thought it was interesting how you can turn it in multiple ways to solve it. At first, I didn’t know what I was doing and was very slow at solving it, but as I practiced, I got better.
One of the more favored methods of solving the Rubik’s Cube is known as the CFOP method. I still use this method and it is the best method to start with in my opinion. “C” stands for the cross, which is the first part of solving the cube. This means you would create a cross on one side of the cube. “F” stands for First two layers, or F2L which is the next step and is more complicated. Two layers are being solved for this step. “O” stands for Orientation of the last layer, or OLL; and “P” stands for Permutation of the last layer, or PLL. Both of these last steps finish the last layer of the cube.
People find it intimidating at first and how complex it seems, but once you figure it out, it makes much more sense. Different tutorials and guides are abundant on how to solve the Rubik’s Cube, but one channel I would recommend watching is JPerm. JPerm is a Youtube channel that has high-quality and easy-to-understand tutorials. When I started cubing, I watched his tutorials and still do. In the beginning, the tutorials might sound complicated, but rewatching them can be helpful.
There are some common mistakes people make in how to solve the cube. People might think of solving one side one at a time, but the best way is to solve one layer at a time. Also, people might think that mixing up the cube for a long time, or hiding it as it is mixed, would increase the difficulty. In reality, once it gets randomized, it doesn’t get harder.
One thing that makes it easier to learn to cube is understanding Rubik’s Cube notation. Rubik’s Cube notations are letters that determine how you turn the cube. For example, the letter “R” would mean turning the right side of the cube. The letter “R2” would mean turning the right side of the cube twice. Notation is very helpful for understanding algorithms.
An algorithm is a set of instructions using the Rubik’s Cube notation for a certain situation. Some algorithms can be as simple as four moves while others can be 16 moves. If you want to learn algorithms, I would recommend checking out JPerm.net but should know the basics and how to solve the cube first.
If you learn to solve the Rubik’s Cube and are still interested, I would recommend getting faster with the cube. This is also known as speedcubing. Again, I would recommend watching JPerm because he has multiple tutorials on tips on how to get faster.
Also, there are special magnetic cubes manufactured for speedcubing. A magnetic cube consists of small magnetic pieces which would be attracted to other magnets on the cube. This means that it is faster and more precise to turn.
There are also competitions for solving Rubik’s Cubes. Cubers compete at events trying to get the fastest time possible. The current time for the fastest 3x3 Rubik’s Cube solve is 3.47 seconds by Yusheng Du.
If you want a different challenge than getting faster, I would recommend trying bigger cubes. At first, these cubes are challenging, but you will realize that big cubes have the same process of solving them. The cubes don’t get harder in difficulty, but they do take longer to solve.
In brief, to solve a bigger cube you would start by solving one center. Next, you would solve the other opposite center and solve all of the remaining centers. Unlike a 3x3, the most popular method would be solving the centers. Then, you would solve all of the other sides by the centers. Then you solve the rest of it just like a 3x3. This would require you to learn how to solve a 3x3 Rubik’s Cube first before attempting a bigger cube.
After practicing hard and perfecting your cubing skills, you may want to take a break. Don’t worry: there will still be at least some muscle memory. And when you come back to it you might try to break the bad habits you used to do before, and train yourself out of habits like doing the wrong algorithm in a given situation, which could accidentally mix up the cube worse than before.
Ready to give cubing a try? You can get a Rubik’s cube for $10. And then it’s up to you: how much time and determination will you give it?