world records

Rubik's cube world record: 5.66 seconds by Feliks Zemdegs

blindfolded world record 28.80 seconds

tips and tutorials

part one

part two

how to solve a Rubik's cube

5 tips for solving a Rubik’s Cube

The world's best-selling toy isn't a game, a doll or a spud: it's a humble arrangement of 26 cubes, invented by a Hungarian architecture professor back in 1974.
In the 37 years since Erno Rubik first created his famous cube, it's sold over 350 million units, making the man himself a household name and propelling his cuboid conundrum into the history books. Although its three-dimensional nature makes it a tricky prospect for beginners, pros can solve it well under a minute. The world record? A mere 5.66 seconds.
Hard as that may be to believe, mathematicians have proved it's always possible to solve absolutely any cube arrangement, no matter how scrambled, in 20 moves or less. Deciding which 20 is the hard bit -- but we're here to help.

1. Squaring up to the Cube

It's natural to think of the cube as having six faces, each with nine cubes. But don't. Instead, think of it as 26 cublets, grouped into three categories: centers, edges, and corners.

Centers have one colored side, and are fixed together by the cube's internal spindle. They can move around but can't swap places, and there are six of them, one per face. Get in the habit of thinking of these as fixed points that indicate the proper color for each face.

The twelve edge cubes have two sides and can be found in the middle of a face. Corners, meanwhile, have three sides, and there are eight of them -- four on the top, four on the bottom.

2. Start at the beginning

There are lots of good methods for solv2ing a Rubik's Cube, but some are easier than others. Most of the beginner-appropriate ones start the same way: solve the top face.

How? Pick a color (any color), and find the corresponding center cublet. Then move out the cublets that don't fit, and move in the ones that do. If you get one in the right place but with the wrong orientation, move it out and come back to it later. Once you're done, you'll have not only the top face one uniform color, but the top three cublets on each side face will also match; if not, you have an edge or corner in the wrong place.

3. Go "through the keyhole"

Having solved one face, you're probably pretty reluctant to undo your good work. But sometimes you need to step backwards to move forwards, and that's the principle behind this handy tip.

After solving the top face, the standard next step is to tackle the bottom, opposite face. One good way to do that is to deliberately move an edge piece out from the already finished top, making a "keyhole." As you maneuver pieces to solve the bottom face, you'll find that if you move them through the keyhole each time, you won't disturb the rest of the top. Once you're done with the bottom, it's a simple matter to move the keyhole piece back into place.

4. Develop your intuition

Stuck? That's not surprising. Once you've got the top and bottom faces down, matters get more difficult.

We suggest stopping there, rescrambling the cube, and starting over. Once you've gone from a complete cubescramble to a couple of finished sides, you'll have absorbed most of the principles and methods you'll need to finish up that elusive middle layer. But if you're still stuck, there are some great, step-by-step tutorials on the Web -- but be prepared to memorize some pretty complex move sequences. If you can hone your own intuition without detailed guides, you'll be a better solver.

5. Don't forget: lube your Cube
Are your twists just not as smooth as you think they should be? Maybe your cube is running dry. Twist the top face through 45 degrees, and use a flat-bladed screwdriver to gently pry out one of the edge pieces. Spray a small amount of silicon-based lubricant -- available from your local home improvement store -- into the gap. Replace the edge piece, and give your cube a good scrambling. You should find it much smoother, and your solving times should plummet.

Erno Rubik's speaks about his personal life

My messages

• You need to have the courage to get off the beaten track, and you shouldn’t give up to find your own path.
• My favourite cocktail is what is mixed of Beauty and Truth – I name it Harmony.

What is most precious for me – the importance of creativity.

• There’s a necessity to find out and to formulate the original questions for finding the real answers: the new truth.
• Never forget to ask yourself: Am I right?
• Never forget to forget, throw out the ballast, fly high!

Memorable events:

• The birth of the Cube (1974)
• American Toy Fair in NY  (1980) – first occasion to travel behind the Iron Curtain
• The first World Championship of the Cube (Budapest, 1982)
• Cooperation with programmers on Visual Geometric Description Language (GDL) (1995–97) Graphisoft Co., on computer games (1996) Androsoft Co.
• I retired in 2004 (in legal terms) but I continue doing the same things as before.
• World Championship of the Cube (Budapest, 2007)

What I like to do – role of cultural and leisure activities

I indulged myself in books from the moment I learnt to read and I became a passionate reader.  Books offered me the possibility of gaining knowledge of the World, Nature and People. I have a special interest in science fiction and as a result I have a 'small‘ collection of books and magazines in this topic.

In the elementary school my favorite subject was mathematics, especially geometry, because for me it was not necessary to learn, it was enough to understand and use. I remember that I was spending many hours solving mathematics problems not as homework but for fun.

I have always loved outdoor activities:                                                                                      discovering nature, doing sports, playing table tennis, sailing on the Lake Balaton, skiing.
At present gardening, collecting succulents are my favorite pastime.

My relationship to other people – entrepreneurship, leadership
György Szrogh (architect, 1915-1999) was my mentor – first as a professor, later as a colleague – at the Hungarian Academy of Applied Arts (today Moholy-Nagy University of Arts and Design) from whom I learnt the most about the humane content of architecture.

With Tom Kremer, founder and director of Seven Towns Ltd., London, we have become friends during the past 30 years. He was the person who introduced me to the (at that time) alien and strange world of toy business, whose excellence in the toy field was crucial for me back in the 1980s.

In 1982 I have founded the Rubik Scholarship Foundation, which gives financial assistance to young Hungarian designers for their studies abroad.
I am also founder of the Rubik Innovation Foundation (1982), which financially helps Hungarian citizens to accomplish their ideas, realise their inventions.
Later, in 1983, I have founded my company the Rubik Studio Ltd., and since then I am its managing director. 
In 1987 I became Professor of Honor at the Hungarian Academy of Applied Arts.
In 1990 I took part in founding  the Hungarian Academy of Engineering, of which I am the Honorary President.
I am co-founder and managing director of A&D Studio Ltd. (1990-)
I am also co-founder of the Palace of Miracles (scientific playhouse), Budapest (1994)
Doctor honoris causa (1996) University of Technology, Budapest
Doctor honoris causa, Honorary Master (1997) of Moholy-Nagy University of Arts and Design

My major achievements

I have received prizes and awards that I am proud of. I regard them as evidences of people receiving, understanding and evaluating my messages. However, when I consider my fundamental achievement, it is as simple as this: I am close to know who I am.

• Budapest International Trade Fair, Prize for the Cube (1978)
• Toy of the Year (1980)
• Federal Republic of Germany,
• United Kingdom,
• France,
• USA
• Toy of the Year (1981)
• Finland,
• Sweden,
• Italy
• Toy of the Year (1982) in the United Kingdom (second time)
• The Museum of Modern Art, New York selected my Cube into its permanent collection (1982)
• State Prize (1983) for demonstrating and teaching 3D structures and for the various solutions that inspired scientific researches in several ways
• Juvenile Prize (1988) from the State Office of Youth and Sport
• Dénes Gabor Prize (1995) from the Novofer Foundation as an acknowledgement of achievements in the field of innovation
• Ányos Jedlik Prize (1996) from the Hungarian Patent Office
• Prize for the Reputation of Hungary (1997)
• Kossuth Prize (2007) – the most prestigious cultural award in Hungary

Moholy-Nagy Prize (2008) – from the Moholy-Nagy University of Arts and Design

My publications

Editor and co-author of ‘A bűvös kocka’ (The Magic Cube), Műszaki Kiadó, Budapest,1981
Co-author of The Rubik’s Cube Compendium (written by David Singmaster, Ernő Rubik, Gerzson Kéri, György Marx, Tamás Varga and Tamás Vekerdy), Oxford University Press, 1987

CNN interview

The little cube that changed the world

 (CNN) -- There's one solution out of 43 quintillion possible combinations, and even the man who invented it spent a month of solid research trying to figure it out. But that hasn't stopped the Rubik's Cube from becoming the most popular toy in history.

The colorful puzzle, consisting of small blocks rotating on a central axis, has sold an estimated 350 million units since its conception nearly 40 years ago. And yet the man whose name it bears -- Erno Rubik -- only ever intended it to be a teaching aid for his small class of design students.

The son of a poet mother and a father who manufactured glider planes, Rubik grew up in Soviet-era Hungary, studying both sculpture and architecture.

Read: Rubik's Cube in numbers

His life-changing idea arrived when he was in his late 20s, a young professor still living at home with his parents.

"I think, probably, that's part of the key to the success of the cube -- you are able to have a connection with this order and chaos
Erno Rubik

Starting off with just chunks of wood and rubber bands, Rubik set about trying to create a structure that would permit individual blocks to move independently of one another without the whole thing falling apart.

It took six years to go from prototype to market, but when it finally hit the shelves at the start of the 1980s, it became the fastest selling puzzle of all time.

It stills retains its appeal to this day. Last year alone it sold seven million units and so-called "speed cubing" competitions -- where contestants attempt to solve the puzzle against the clock -- are as popular as ever.

In a rare interview, the publicity-shy Rubik retraces the journey of his iconic toy.

The enduring cult of the Rubik's Cube

CNN: What do you think it is about the cube that continues to capture the public imagination?

Erno Rubik: I believe probably the most characteristic part of the cube is the contradiction between simplicity and complexity. I love the simplicity of the cube because it's a very clear geometrical shape, and I love geometry because it's the study of how the whole universe is structured.

I think probably that's part of the key to the success of the cube -- you are able to have a connection with this order and chaos.

CNN: You had the idea in 1974 and at the time you were a lecturer in interior design, what set you off on this invention?

ER: I was searching to find a good task for my students.

When you are studying from a book, lots of people go straight to the end to look for the answers. But that's not my style. For me, the most enjoyable part is the puzzle, the process of solving, not the solution itself.

Also, we were playing with geometry, which is not a static subject. It's a very mobile thing, it's changeable.

So, I was looking for a mobile structure and I found the geometry of a cube very exciting because of the high level of symmetries it has and the fact that you can do a lot of things with it.

CNN: What was the puzzle you were trying to pose?

ER: Usually structures are pieces that are connected in some way or another, and usually these connections are stable things. So all the time "A" is connected to "B." But with the structure of the Rubik's Cube, you realize these elements are moving very freely, but you don't understand what keeps the whole thing together, so that was a very interesting part of it.

CNN: How did you go about building the prototype?

ER: Nowadays you've got three-dimensional printing and CAD [computer-aided design] programs on computers, but I was working at a very different time.

"Usually people are surprised by how simple it is, but it is also very difficult to explain. So the best way to discover it is to take it apart!
Erno Rubik

There was a workshop in the school, and I just used wood as a material because it is very simple to use and you don't need any sophisticated machines.

So I made it just by using my hands -- cutting the wood, drilling holes, using elastic bands and those kind of very simple things.

CNN: How does the internal mechanism actually work?

ER: Usually people are surprised by how simple it is, but it is also very difficult to explain. So the best way to discover it is to take it apart!

CNN: How long did it take you to solve the cube once you'd created the prototype?

ER: It took more than a month of research, facing the problem, trying to understand it, building up theories, testing them, thinking to myself things like: "I have one side and one turn is 90 degrees and if you turn it four times I'll be back where I was," and so on. You have to find rules and then you find the law of symmetry, the law of movements.

CNN: Do you remember the moment when you solved it?

ER: I remember it was very emotional, but I don't remember what time it was exactly. I don't make notes on that, and I have no diary about it, but I remember it was a very emotional feeling.

Read: 'Li-Fi' provides a light bulb moment for wireless web

But then it's not something like a jigsaw puzzle where you start to work on it, spend some time on it, and in the end it's solved, it's finished. If you find a solution with the cube, it doesn't mean you find everything. It's only a starting point. You can work on and find something else, you can improve your solution, you can make it shorter, you can go deeper and deeper and collect knowledge and many other things.

CNN: What did you do next?

ER: I showed it to the people in the school and my students liked it very much.

And I had the feeling that because it has very simple structure, it can be manufactured easily and it can be a product that is available for others. And so I applied for a patent because I had some experience of my father's work and he has got several patents.

"I am really not a speedcuber. My best time when I was practicing was about a minute.
Erno Rubik

After that I was searching to find a manufacturer here in Hungary. But the country was a very different place from how it is today. We were behind the Iron Curtain, we had different social circumstances -- so it was not an easy task.

Read: DIY inventors flock to Maker Faire

But I found a small company who was working with plastic - their main line was manufacturing chess sets -- and we started to negotiate.

CNN: Did you make any mistakes with the patent application, would you do it differently given what you know now?

ER: You know, there is a Hungarian saying that it's easy to be clever after the event.

One problem was the speed of the process because from the beginning to the real marketing [point] was six years. Six years is too long because there is a rule on how you can patent: When you start the process, you need to make the next step within a year, because otherwise you lose the patent.

But in the end we partly solved the problem because we used my name as a trademark, and this too is a good tool for protection. I was lucky because in the New York phone book there is less than five people who have the same name!

CNN: What would you advise an inventor now to do to protect themselves?

ER: That's a very difficult question. There are many more protection possibilities than in that time. One thing is, you need to find partners, you can't do it alone. You need professionals; you need advisers and you need partners who are capable of helping you both on the legal part and also the financial part as well.

And naturally it is very important to realise you product. You can protect your patent but if you don't develop the product it's meaningless.

CNN: In a couple of years, it'll be 40 years old, how do you feel about it? Are you still discovering things about it?

ER: Yeah, nowadays my discoveries come from watching the impact of the cube. I'm wondering how people are so creative, and how many things were born out of and inspired by the cube. That's a very interesting thing.

CNN: The final question: Are you a good Rubik's Cube player?

ER: I am really not a speedcuber. My best time when I was practicing was about a minute.

Usually people say if you can create a piano, you must be a good piano player, but it is not true. They are different type of human activities and need different capabilities.

Time magazine

Time magazine

The Rubik's Cube: A Puzzling Success

By WILLIAM LEE ADAMS Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2009

There are many reasons for the enduring popularity of the Rubik's Cube, according to its reclusive Hungarian inventor, Erno Rubik. The iconic toy is an intellectual challenge, it's accessible to people from all cultures, and it helps provide a sense of order and stability in an uncertain world. But the fundamental reason 350 million cubes have sold since 1980, Rubik says from his studio in Budapest, is its design: "People like its beauty, simplicity and form. It's really not a puzzle or a toy. It's a piece of art."

Whatever the magic, it's still working. As toy stores around the world feel the chill of recession, the Rubik's Cube is in the middle of a comeback. Global sales reached 15 million last year, up 3 million over 2007, according to Seven Towns Limited, the British firm that licenses all of Rubik's creations. When New York City toy retailer FAO Schwarz reintroduced the Cube 18 months ago it became one of the store's Top 20 selling toys within weeks; sales have stayed steady despite the economic downturn. In Britain, Cube sales are up 300% over the past two years. "People have gone back to safe brands that have been on the market for a while and that they have confidence in," says Gary Grant, chairman of Britain's Toy Retailers Association, noting that playtime staples such as Lego and Playmobil are also faring well despite the recession. (See pictures of toys.)

The Rubik's Cube certainly makes a good austerity toy: it can take years to solve and it's virtually indestructible — apart from the easily removed colored stickers. (Not that anyone ever cheated by swapping the stickers, of course.) The Cube is also benefiting from nostalgia for the 1980s, when many parents of today's kids first encountered the toy. "In the crazy times that we live in, adults are looking for those things that remind them of happier times," says David Niggli, FAO Schwarz's president and chief merchandising officer. "I've seen 40year-olds and 8-year-olds stop by and spend hours trying to figure it out."

Little wonder that YouTube has some 38,000 videos, including tutorials, that feature the puzzle, or that clubs such as the World Cube Association (WCA) have boomed lately. The WCA organizes international "speedcubing" contests — the next competition takes place in Sweden on Feb. 7. In 2003 it signed up just 89 new members; last year it added 2,200. "It's a puzzle of all times and all ages," says Ron van Bruchem, 41, the Dutch co-founder of the WCA. Says Rubik: "Not a lot of objects can generate emotions in human beings. The Cube is one of them."

On Feb. 5, Rubik's latest creation, the Rubik's 360, will debut at the Nuremberg Toy Fair, ahead of its worldwide release in August. The new puzzle is a transparent orb consisting of three spheres and six colored balls that must be maneuvered into color-coded domes. Does it stand up against the original? "If you have many children, the first one is always different because you can only have one child who is the first," Rubik says. "They have different natures and talents for you to love." In an industry looking for a boost, a little sibling rivalry will be welcome.

With reporting by Theunis Bates / London