Frequently Asked Questions

It'd be nice if you could look through these before sending me e-mails. I'll start with the most common questions.

What brand or type of rubik's cube would you suggest to use for speedcubing? Where do you get good stickers? Where do I buy puzzle X?

See Speedcubers' Shopping Guide.

Any advice for starters? Are there any methods that are easy to understand and remember? I tried the Fridrich method, but it seems really complicated.

Try Leyan Lo's Beginner's guide. It's a beginner's method, but a very good layer-by-layer method and a simplified version of Fridrich method. Sub-40 or even sub-30 average is very possible with this method (with practice, of course!). Once you've mastered this, you can advance to 3-step last layer and/or learn F2L. Several good links for that are provided in the final page of the document. The key is to not ever stop while solving. Especially in the first two layers, look for the next piece to solve as you're solving one. This technique is usually known as "looking ahead." Most people don't master it completely until they are near the 25 sec mark, but gaining a feel for this is definitely the fastest way to improve your times. (Note: PLL and F2L are enough for sub-30 average, and these days many people even manage sub-20 with just PLL and no F2L or OLL.)

It helps a lot to lubricate your cube. Gilles Roux has a guide with pictures. Another useful technique is finger tricks, which allow you to excute multiple moves in one quick motion. I recommend watching solving videos at strangepuzzle.com and at Joel's site.

Remember that even the fastest cubers don't do more than 4 turns per second on average. With Leyan's method, 3 moves per second should get you under 30 seconds. More important than speed is not stopping to look for pieces between algorithms.

Is it faster to cube with the cross on the bottom or on the left/right?

I don't have an answer. There are top cubers many cubers doing cross on D and also many doing cross on L. I don't know that there's an advantage to using either one. I do find that F2L can be done with less awkward regrips with cross on left (mainly using double layer turns Lw), but I'm not a fully left-cross cuber so I don't quite know how they really compare. It should probably be noted that there are lots of tricks for F2L that are especially nice for cross on D, but I think that's just because there are more fast cubers using cross on D.

I've been cubing for one month, and I average about 35 seconds. Is that good progress?

By my standard, yes, but I learned from Jessica Fridrich's site without all the help that you have now from optimized algorithms. People definitely learn a lot faster these days.

I'm averaging 1 minute right now, and I want to learn Fridrich to get faster. Any tips?

At 1 min average, there is absolutely no need to start on OLL. See Getting Fast with an Easy Method.

I only know about half of the OLL algorithms. Do you think that not knowing all of the OLL algorithms is holding me back?

I don't think that it's a problem as long as you can immediately respond to every single case. Especially if you know for every pattern what algorithm or pair of algorithms to use, there shouldn't be very much difference between 2 step and 1 step OLL. I think Harris Chen was getting sub-15 with 3-step last layer, and I doubt he's the only one.

How long does it take you to memorize new algorithms?

It can take several weeks before you can use algorithms without any thinking.

How long did it take you to finally memorize Fridrich's method and how? Do you memorize the notations of the cube first?

It took me 2 months to master two step F2L and OLL and average sub-40, 3 more months to memorize full Fridrich and sub-30, and another 3 more months to be able to "see ahead" and use finger tricks and finally average sub-20. Yes, I did memorize the notation first.

After starting to learn Fridrich, it took me about a year to get down to 20 secand another year to dip below 15. However, I wasted a lot of time by first learning F2L with cross on top and also by spending time optimizing last layer algorithms. With good algorithms and practice techniques, you can get sub-20 much faster than me.

Why don't you do 5x5?

With the mechanism of the Rubik's 5x5 now, it takes too much time to make a smooth 5x5. Each solve is also long and takes longer to practice. Finger tricks are more awkward. I might start if Rubik's drastically improves the design, but then I really don't have the time right now.

How do you gain your focus or "deep concentration" during a competition?

As Florida approachs I have been preparing my self for the pressure. I would really like to hit a good time that is easy to hit at my house. I fear that I won't be able to hit it in competition. However I noticed you are able to hit very similar times to what you would hit at home. For example hitting 12.XX times. I was wondering if you had any preperation strategies:

1) how you warm up for a solve. Like do you solve 50 cubes before each solve or are you talking with others. From when you wake up until your first solve, what would you do to prepare?
2) What is your technique for blocking out other distractions while solving.
3) Is there any other advice that I should know for going into my first competition?

1) I try to get as much rest as possible in between solves. Just find a silent spot in the venue and close my eyes for a bit. You'll need to warm up a bit, but there's not much you can do to change things on the morning of the competition. I expect Saturday to be a long day, so the first priority should be to get a lot of rest.
2) Looking ahead automatically forces you to concentrate. Other than that, be ready for distractions by other competitors putting down their puzzles. Some people are really rough with that.
3) Relax. Watching other people being nervous can sometimes calm you down. ;) Make sure that the timer is reset before each solve. If necessary, tell the judge to cover the cube right after it is put down after inspection. You really need to loosen up before you solve. Stretch, shake your hands, move around your neck...do whatever works to get your whole body ready for action.

Even though I often have several fast times, my competition averages are still often slower than those at home. I need to work on my concentration, too. =)

Will it really make a difference if I put the cross on the bottom/left instead of on the top? I don't feel like throwing away the algorithms I memorized.

Yes, it does make a huge difference. I use to do F2L with cross on U-face, but switched to D-face after getting sub-35. I got a sub-30 average within a week after making switching to cross on bottom. I would recommend doing every step of the method with the first layer on bottom. These are the two advantages of placing the cross on bottom:

  • It lets you use U and R turns, which allows you to execute algs quickly using finger tricks.
  • It gives you a much better view of what you're solving and lets you look ahead. "There are top cubers many cubers doing cross on D and also many doing cross on L. I don't know that there's an advantage to using either one. I do find that F2L can be done with less awkward regrips with cross on left (mainly using double layer turns Lw), but I'm not a fully left-cross cuber so I don't quite know how they really compare. It should probably be noted that there are lots of tricks for F2L that are especially nice for cross on D, but I think that's just because there are more fast cubers using cross on D."

    Where can I find a 5x5x5? A good 2x2x2? Other puzzles?

    You can buy a Professor Cube and many other twisty puzzles at Meffert's Puzzle. For a good 2x2x2, get an Eastsheen Junior Cube there.

    How do I assemble a Rubik's 2x2x2?

    Follow this thread.

    From the instructions I have seen for the Fridrich method I was "told" that I had to have a cube that had the green face opposite the blue face, the red face opposite the orange face, and the yellow face opposite the white face which can then be used to solve the UL cross, UL edges, middle layer edges, flip cube and solve second UL blue cross, and then second UL blue corners. Is this correct, in that one must have a standard Rubik's cube having faces of these orientations? If so what does one do for cubes that has faces that vary as to what colors are opposite each other? Or is it that one simply solves the system as UL cross, UL corners, middle edges, flip cube solve second UL cross, and finally second UL corners?

    No, there's no need to have a cube with the standard color scheme. I use Japanese color scheme, which has blue and yellow switched, because I first learned to solve with this orientation. Being familiar with the orientation certainly helps, but it is not necessary as one can always determine the colors by refering to the center pieces, which do not move.

    Did you get any money at World Championship 2003?

    No, only first place got the prize money, 1000 Canadian dollars (except for the winners of 3x3 speedsolve), but I did get a Toronto Winner Cube, a picture Professor Rubik, and a shield, all signed by Professor Rubik.

    Do you think it is possible that someone gets like 8 sec average in the future?

    Not very likely. It's impossible with any method known. Someone needs to develop a method that allows one to find a near-optimal solution in the 15 sec of pre-inspection, that doesn't seem possible.

    What type of unicycle to you use?

    My unicycle is an XL 20 inch from Semcycle, but it's a bit too small for me now. You can check here to decide which size you want to get.

    Was your 12.11 solve at Caltech Spring Tournament lucky?

    Technically it wasn't lucky (no stage skipped), but I did have a very easy last layer.

    How long do you practice cubing every day?

    In middle school, I used practiced at least 30 minutes a day and played around with it whenever I was bored, so maybe about two hours every day. I haven't practiced seriously since WC05, so maybe I get about 2 min a day on average now.

    What do you think is faster? Traditional cross or extended cross?

    Extended cross definately takes fewer moves, but should not be done unless you can completely see what to do.... The most important thing in cross and F2L is to not stop. After i memorized all f2l, oll, and pll, my avg was about 40 sec. And then in a month it was sub-30 and then after 2 more months, sub-20. I think you just get used to it gradually. In the meantime, there's not much you can do but to practice.

    I can do F2L intuitively all right, should I still learn the algs?

    Once your time plateaus, it might be a good idea to go through the algs. Learning the algorithms shouldn't be very difficult if you can already do it intuitively, but it will allow you to look ahead more easily).

    How far you can see in 15 seconds?

    Usually cross+first pair. I might do Xcross when I can.

    In your POPed sub-20 solve from Caltech Spring 2004, did you know whether you put the piece back in correctly?

    I don't really remember, but I believe I did. I had probably already paired up the first corner-edge pair when the edge piece of the pair popped. All I had to do was to put the piece back to recreate the pair (which is really obvious). Otherwise, I think I would have called it a POP and asked for another solve.

    Do you get money for this?

    I won a total of $2500 at the 2005 World Championship, but that's about how much I've spent so far on airfare to dozen or so competitions I've been to. There's no monetary prize for most competitions, so it's hard to make money speedcubing.

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