"Dig deep and think as hard as you can" - secrets to success in Scrabble, Sudoku, Jenga and more
Rubik's Cube
First time I speak to George Scholey in October he is on the train for the UK Rubik's Cube Championships in Coventry. The 20-year-old English student from Queen Mary University of London won the title in 2019 and, with subsequent competitions having been postponed due to the pandemic, he has been defending champion for three years. "That's really nice, but undeserved," he laughs.
For anyone hoping to solve a Rubik's Cube - it has 43 quintillion possible combinations - Scholey has a simple advice: get started on Youtube. Scholey solved his first cube in 2015 using online videos. He memorized the steps and practiced them for hours: "I was 13, so I had a lot of free time."
It's a mistake to try to solve the cube side by side, says Scholey Instead, do it layer by layer, focusing on changing the edges and side pieces. To do this, you'll need to learn "algorithms" - that's where YouTube comes in. These are sets of moves that will temporarily shuffle a cube and then allow you to put it back in place. place after changing a few parts. You'll probably only need to know five algorithms, but a beginner will make about 200 moves using them for one solve (Scholey can do it in 60).We're catching up a week later. Scholey failed to reclaim his title, but still walked away with a first place trophy for the Skewb Division (a different puzzle in the style of the Rubik's Cube). He later broke a world record for solving 6,931 rubik's cubes in 24 hours, and another for solving the most puzzles while riding a skateboard.
Go
First time I speak to George Scholey in October he is on the train for the UK Rubik's Cube Championships in Coventry. The 20-year-old English student from Queen Mary University of London won the title in 2019 and, with subsequent competitions having been postponed due to the pandemic, he has been defending champion for three years. "That's really nice, but undeserved," he laughs.
For anyone hoping to solve a Rubik's Cube - it has 43 quintillion possible combinations - Scholey has a simple advice: get started on Youtube. Scholey solved his first cube in 2015 using online videos. He memorized the steps and practiced them for hours: "I was 13, so I had a lot of free time."
It's a mistake to try to solve the cube side by side, says Scholey Instead, do it layer by layer, focusing on changing the edges and side pieces. To do this, you'll need to learn "algorithms" - that's where YouTube comes in. These are sets of moves that will temporarily shuffle a cube and then allow you to put it back in place. place after changing a few parts. You'll probably only need to know five algorithms, but a beginner will make about 200 moves using them for one solve (Scholey can do it in 60).We're catching up a week later. Scholey failed to reclaim his title, but still walked away with a first place trophy for the Skewb Division (a different puzzle in the style of the Rubik's Cube). He later broke a world record for solving 6,931 rubik's cubes in 24 hours, and another for solving the most puzzles while riding a skateboard.
GoWhat's Your Reaction?
