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Well I'm officially a geek, I can solve a Rubik's cube.

Can anyone else do it?, and anyone for speed?
I'm just using the most basic, layer by layer method. And my best time is 55 seconds.

Nice one... did you know that a Rubiks Cube has something like forty-two trillion permutations? And that's just given the way in which the cube allows you to rotate it - if you were to take it apart you would have about 519 trillion ways of putting it back together!

Mind-boggling

I tried a speed attempt at solving it once. Given that I'm hopeless enough at it with days to solve it I didn't have much hope. The thing exploded in my hands anyway. (It was a cheap one.)

I wouldn't knock these geeky feats - they're can be a good supplement to your act - all part of proving your 'special' powers.

I'm developing my 'knights tour' at the moment.

My brother taught me how to do it in 45 seconds!!

Hes the Geek i just stole his secret

Well once upon a time I could complete the Rubik's cube - that was aaaages ago I prob wouldn't even know where to start now

stepSeven wrote:I'm developing my 'knights tour' at the moment.

Do you mean something like this - or am I miles off what you're on about

stepSeven wrote:I'm developing my 'knights tour' at the moment.

There are two versions of Knight's Tour in Paul Daniels' Adult Magic book. Both cover all squares on the board but use different routes. If you feel that specs may have seen the first version you can use the other one.

There's a good on in 13 Steps too.

I'm working with a method that doesn't just use rote memory of a particular tour (or two) - I actually develop the tour as I go. It is possible to do this where a spec decides the start and end squares.. this is the part I am developing at the mo.

Anyone aware of any other 'geek-feats' that can be put across in performance?

I like 'rainman' type demonstrations where you shuffle a deck, quickly scan all the cards face up, pass them to a spec. face down and then call out correct colours, suits, values, total number of pips so far etc. as the spec deals them off one at a time.

what happened to the call for cubists?

A long time ago I could do it consistently under a minute but not by the layer method. I'm impressed.

The only time I've managed to do it was when I pulled all the stickers off and put them back on again in the right order

If your cube explodes then it is possible to put it back together, but you should do it so it is in a 'solved' position, otherwise the chances are it will not be solveable.

I can do it in about 40 secs, but not using the face by face method. 55 seconds is really good for that way. Well done!

Does anyone remmeber the Rubiks Snake?

It was his follow up to the cube. Ideal Toys had the cube, the company I worked for at the time, Action Games and Toys got the snake. It was never as big as the cube and seem to have disappeared without a trace but we did some serious business with it for a couple of years.

Rubik came over for a toy fair at the top of the craze and somewhere in my attic I have an unopened Snake, it its clear plastic globe, autographed by Rubik. Why I kept this which is probably worth all of 35p today and let all of those Dinky cars which sell at obscene prices today, go is one of those totally naff decisions that probably mean I will never be rich!

I have a boring fact (I work in an Architects) that the Ribik's cube was invented by an Architect who was trying to resolve a structural design problem. After using it a few times Rubik realised that it could be made into a puzzle and began the process of selling it.

When I was a kid I could do it, I dont remembr how fast but I was good.

Then a few months ago I saw a guy at a trade show. He was taking bets on his speed. had both hands on a touch pad, the clock started the moment his hands lifted off the touch pad. He asked me to give him a time to beat, if he couldn't do it I got a free Cube keyring.

I said 25 seconds. he did 22. if you see this guy... he looks a little like Wayne Houchin (but it's not Wayne) make sure you go with 21 seconds or less...

This little gem kept me amused for 1/2 an hour..

http://www.grand-illusions.com/articles/russian_puzzle
(Requires Flash).

If you're stuck I'm sure the originator (Dr Vladimir Krasnoukhov) will help you out for a small fee.

You can buy a nice wooden version of the beastie from this site too!

I'm going to get a stainless steel one machined - this will bug every pub genius I come across. Might even keep a gaffed piece up my sleeve for the really clever ones