The Cube

Erika was very good at mathematics. She was the best math student in class, and she was also a very good artist. She had a keen sense of colors—which colors mix together to create new ones. She knew that if you mix red and white, it makes pink, and things like that. She was a very bright student.

One day, she saw a man solving a Rubik's Cube very fast. She asked her dad, "I want to learn the Rubik's Cube!"

Her dad said, "I don't know how to do it either, but I'll buy one. I'll learn it myself, and then I'll teach you."

So Daddy bought a Rubik's Cube. He could easily solve one side, but he couldn't do all the sides. Whenever he tried to solve the second side, the first side would get messed up. He did a lot of research on the internet and learned a few important things about the cube.

First, although the cube has many moving pieces, the middle pieces on each face are always fixed—they never move. Second, there are eight corner pieces, and each corner piece has three colors. Those three colors never change. Third, there are six colors on the cube, and they're always in the same pattern: yellow is always opposite white, red is always opposite orange, and green is always opposite blue.

After understanding these patterns, Daddy learned the classic seven-step method for solving the cube.

The seven steps are: First, solve one complete side (usually white). Second, solve the first layer while keeping the first side intact. Third, solve the second layer. Fourth, make a cross on the top. Fifth, position the edge pieces correctly. Sixth, position the corner pieces correctly. Seventh, orient the final pieces to complete the cube.

For the first side and first layer, there's no formula—you have to use intuition and understand how the pieces move. After that, there are algorithms: sequences of moves like "right, up, left, down" that you repeat to move pieces into place.

But it was frustrating! Sometimes Daddy would make one wrong move, and the whole cube would be ruined. He'd have to start from scratch. He spent hours and hours learning, and then he taught Erika.

Erika was very interested. She was always fast at solving one side, but she struggled with the first layer. So Daddy would do the first layer for her, and then she could complete the rest: second layer, top cross, edges, corners. She got really good at it.

Then Erika said, "Daddy, I want to do the cube fast—as fast as the speed cubers!"

Daddy said, "For that, you first have to memorize the algorithms. You can't keep looking at the paper. And you also have to learn how to do the first layer on your own."

So he taught her how to move the edge pieces: bring a piece down, move it away from the main square, position where it needs to go, then bring it back. There's a method to it.

Daddy said, "The only way you can get faster is to keep practicing, practicing, practicing."

Erika was obsessed. She really wanted to be the fastest cuber in the world. She said, "I want to be the fastest!"

Daddy said, "Do you know what the world record is? Twenty-two seconds."

Erika gasped. "How can anyone do it in twenty-two seconds? I can't even do one side that fast!"

"That's why you have to practice," Daddy said.

So Erika started practicing. She learned how to do the first layer on her own. She memorized all the algorithms so she didn't have to look at any paper. She must have solved the cube 100 or 200 times before she had it all memorized. Sometimes she made mistakes, but she never got frustrated.

Now she could solve the cube on her own in about 4 to 5 minutes. But she kept asking, "How do I reduce my time? How do I go faster?"

She went to her school's Rubik's Cube competition. Not many people knew how to solve it, so she came first easily. She got a prize and was very proud.

Then she went to the All-Singapore competition. She tried to do it in 4 minutes, but she didn't even make it to the first round! Everyone there could do it in less than 2 minutes.

"What am I doing wrong?" she wondered. "How can I go faster?"

Daddy looked it up on the internet and YouTube. He found that speed cubers don't waste time moving pieces—they use all ten fingers to move the cube efficiently. They use their pinky to twist one side, their thumb to twist another, their index finger for the right side, and so on. That way, they're not wasting any time, and their fingers learn to move based on the colors.

Erika started practicing this way. She said, "I'm not going to use just one hand leisurely. I'm going to use all my fingers!" She practiced and practiced, and she brought her time down to 2 minutes and 30 seconds simply by memorizing the algorithms and moving faster.

But it still wasn't fast enough. To make it into the finals, you had to solve it in less than 2 minutes.

Then they discovered something important: to solve the cube faster than 2.5 minutes, you can't just follow the algorithms step by step. You have to use intuition. You have to look at the pattern and recognize shortcuts. For example, if you see an orange piece on top and a green piece on the left, you should realize you can move that into place in just three moves: up, down, right. This kind of pattern recognition only comes with practice.

Erika slowly memorized which colors were on which sides of the cube. She learned to see the patterns instantly.

By this time, Erika could solve the cube in less than 2 minutes because she had memorized all seven algorithms and could use all her fingers efficiently. But she still wanted to go faster.

Usually, the first face and first layer took her the most time—about 50 seconds. After that, she could do the rest in about 70 seconds.

She didn't know how to cut her time further. Daddy said, "There's no other way—just keep practicing."

By now, Erika knew exactly which colors went where: green is opposite blue, white is opposite yellow, and red is opposite orange. She knew which edge pieces went where, and every time she practiced, she shaved off half a second.

Then somebody told her about a small group of speed cubers who could solve the cube in less than 30 seconds. They had found other algorithms—advanced shortcuts that let them skip steps.

Rather than going step by step, they could look at the cube and figure out the smallest number of moves needed to solve all six sides. They didn't have to follow the rigid pattern of one side, one layer, second layer, make the cross, swap edges, position corners, and so on.

Erika said, "I want to learn that!"

But to do it, she had to learn 57 new algorithms. She was shocked. "How will I learn 57 algorithms? It took me almost 6 months just to learn the 7 basic ones!"

But they told her, "You already know the cube. You already know the patterns. You know R, L, U, U-clockwise, U-counterclockwise—they're all similar moves. You'll pick it up faster than you think."

So slowly, slowly, Erika started learning the advanced algorithms. She practiced day and night. She would solve cubes after dinner for 3 hours, then get up in the morning and practice more. Even while sleeping, she dreamed about the cube. She practiced the algorithms day in and day out.

Then something amazing happened. Suddenly, whatever the cube looked like, she could just glance at it, close her eyes, and solve it. The cube had gotten into her head—every side, every edge, every corner, every color, every pattern was imprinted in her mind.

She could solve it so quickly! For the first time, she broke the 1-minute mark. She could now solve the whole cube in 1 minute because she was no longer going back to the rigid pattern of one side, one layer, second layer.

She kept practicing and even discovered some of her own algorithms. She figured out shortcuts like, "If red is on the bottom, white is on the left, and green is on the right, what can I do to solve it faster?" She kept experimenting.

She became a magician with the cube. Now she could solve it from any scrambled state in just 15 seconds.

She went to the World Speed Cubing Competition, and she came in third place! First, second, third—she was so ecstatic! She had gone from taking 10 minutes to solve the cube to solving it in just 15 seconds.

This is the story of Erika, who was so passionate and so interested in the Rubik's Cube that she nearly broke the world record. That's the story.