So, ok I’ll admit it, when Rubik’s Cube first came out in the 80s, I was really into it. (When my mother told my husband that I used to grease my cube, he called me a nerd).

I remember buying a book on how to solve it (it was called Jeff Conquers the Cube in 45 Seconds. You can still find used copies on Amazon).

My fastest time ever was about 27 seconds if I recall correctly. I even went to a Rubik’s Cubathon. I think it was sponsored by Ideal to get more people to buy their product. Just found a video of it on YouTube: That’s Incredible Rubik’s Cube 1980’s.
I made it to the semi-final round in Jackson, NJ.

Anyway, they never had another Cubathon and I thought Rubik’s Cube died in the 80s.

I just found out a few weeks ago that it’s not dead. In fact, it’s better than ever.

Solving Rubik’s Cube quickly is now known as ‘speed cubing.’ It had a rebirth in 2003 and now they have world championships every year. They even have a World Cube Association that publishes official rules.

Wow! Where have I been? Wish I knew this 10 years ago.

As with all sports events, times have gotten faster and faster. The world record for solving it is under 6 seconds. UNDER 6 SECONDS!

And the events don’t stop with just solving Rubik’s Cube. They have different size cubes such as 2×2 and 4×4. They even have categories for solving it blindfolded and using your feet.

So in watching just a few YouTube videos of speed cubing, I can see reasons why times have gotten so fast.

• Solving Multiple Levels at Once
  Back in the 80s, you solved it by completing the cube level by level. You did this by finishing a few levels on your own and then using memorized moves depending on the pieces you still had scrambled. In the book I read, there were probably about 12 moves to memorize.

  But that all changed when some incredibly intelligent people started getting involved. A woman named Jessica Fridrich came up with a method that solves two levels at the same time. But as you can imagine, it requires memorizing over 100 different collections of moves, depending on the way your cube is scrambled.

• Faster Cubes
  My original cube had a lot more tension. It physically took more strength to turn a side. Nowadays there are companies that sell ‘speed cubes.’ It takes very little effort to turn them. Some people actually take their cubes apart and sand them to make them faster. I believe that you can use your own cube at competitions.

• Finger Action
  With the speed cubes, you no longer have to twist a side with your entire hand like you did when I learned. These cubes are nimble enough that you can just flick a side and it will spin. This method is much faster.

So, now that I know that the cube is alive and well and living in the suburbs, what am I going to do about it?

Well…I thought I might just see what this speed cubing obsession is all about.

I’ll post my results.

Any by the way, people still grease their cubes. Companies actually sell special silicon cube lube. So there are a lot of nerds still out there!