Day 74 / 101 - Rubik's Cube

Technically, my son learned how to solve a Rubik's Cube during the 2010 - 2011 school year.  However, it still remains one of his 'toys' of choice, and he has mastered even new techniques on the cube that make it worthy of a blog post for this academic year.

Last winter, after some practice, he mastered the solution to the cube.  This always remains a most excellent party trick, especially for a 10-year-old.  When I was a child, I didn't even know there was a solution.  I really thought the only way to solve the puzzle was to take the individual squares out of the centerpiece and then rebuild it.  Or, remove the stickers, and then replace them.  But, there is a solution.  And, it's feasible to arrive at the solution even though there are 43 quintillion potential starting positions!

This year, my son can now solve the cube in under 2 minutes.  More importantly, he could walk you through how to solve one.  He has given a few 'How To' presentations on this topic this year.  He has learned short-cuts to best his time.  He has learned how to create fun pictures in the cube like the checkerboard (pictured above) or spelling out O-H-I-O on the sides.  Finally, he also can solve the cubes that have pictures printed on the sides.  This is near impossible, because not only do you have to have all the colors match, you need to make sure within each color, the squares match horizontally and vertically, too.