Solve a Rubiks Cube in under 2 minutes

For a while I forgot all about 43Things. The other day I was thinking that my life goals aren’t clear enough. Then I remembered 43Things and realized that I should check back in. First on my list was this goal with the Rubik’s. My best recorded time was 2:13 (although I seldom record, so this was not likely my BEST time).

I haven’t been playing with the Rubik’s lately, so I feared that I’d be set way back on this goal. I just checked (without any warm up), and I got 2:43. So, I’d say I should still be able to conquer this within the next few months with only a little effort.

I got a Rubik’s for Christmas (‘07). Promptly used a Youtube tutorial to learn how to solve in the most basic way, with just a few algorithms. This took a little practice to memorize, but it’s not a monumental acheivement.

I arbitrarily selected two minutes as the time to beat. Now I realize that for it to be a really satisfying accomplishment it’ll have to be under one minute. Regardless, I’m still focusing on two for now.

I’ve changed my method from layer by layer to solving the first two layers simultaneously. This seems a little more efficient, and I’m using my understanding of the movement of the cubies rather than blindly plugging in algorithms. Last night I hit 2 minutes 55 seconds – pretty good!

As for the next step, I think I need to memorize about 43 algorithms to handle every possible configuration of the last layer. Then I should be able to consistently solve in under 70 moves. From there it’s just a matter of getting quicker at turning the thing. :)