#382 – Cubed

I was a kid during the Rubik’s cube craze of the 80’s. With the help from a book I got at the library I could solve it in about 20 minutes. I think I lost interest after I figured how easy it was to just take apart and put back together solved. Back in 2001 I got interested in the cube again and bought one to see if my adult brain would be better at it. I got my time down to under 2 minutes. It wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. Just some pattern memorization. Under 2 minutes was good enough for me though, trying to get faster than that seemed more like math homework than something fun to do while waiting for the stoplight to turn green.

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0 thoughts on “#382 – Cubed”

  1. the Scarf says:

    I love Rubix cubes! I once got a 5×5 one for my friend…

  2. the Scarf says:

    I found a ‘how to solve rubix cube easily’ on youtube…not the greatest, but it has some tips.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lss4rR8N8as&mode=related&search=

  3. SEA says:

    Oh, so that’s biff’s heart… o_o
    Rubix cube? Seen but not played.

  4. Brett says:

    So..what, he just cut out his heart? Might as well call him Biffy Jones…

    Or did he just take it out through the VCR slot? Has he upgraded since then?

  5. Sleepingorange says:

    Rubik’s cubes are not fun. What could be fun about Rubik’s cubes? Nothing.

    They’re not fun.

    Ever.

  6. cyber95 says:

    Sleepingorange just sucks at Rubik’s cubes.

    Well, I do too, but I make pictures with them!

  7. Chuck says:

    Give it to the Tinman. It’s the perfect holiday gift.

  8. Sleepingorange says:

    It’s not just that I suck (which I freely admit I do); it’s the fact that it’s like fighting with a plastic box, with no reward. Maybe if you got candy for solving it, but NO! They

    just

    suck.

    endtask:C:/rant.exe

  9. Bookfound says:

    I cant believe it! Blood! And here I thought that Biff was just ink.
    Hmm… Could it possible be red ink?

  10. cyber95 says:

    Oh, now I get it. You always buy those crappy dollar store cubes that break right away, is it? Only the real Rubik’s Cubes are any good.

  11. Nick Steele says:

    I eventually smashed mine “To see how it works”


    …”TAKE THAT YOU ******************************!”

  12. Sven says:

    I once solved a Square One, a hellishly difficult variant of the Rubik’s Cube: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Square_One_%28puzzle%29

    I haven’t dared touching it since. ๐Ÿ™‚

  13. RFPT says:

    I have two Rubik’s cubes: a smoothly jointed one with stickers and a cheap clunky one with fixed tiles. to choose between comfort or if people will believe me when I complete it.

  14. Buzzardo says:

    Biff will be the first to admit
    To trying many ways to stay fit
    But he wasn’t impressed
    about failing this test
    Guess his heart’s just not in to it

  15. dragonbrad says:

    My haerts stress test is to solve a 700 step equatio with variables, decimals, and power, withn 5 minutes, and still be able to keep my blood a flowin

  16. Chris says:

    dragonbrad – That’s also known as the Square 1. That one took me a few days to solve the first time.

  17. Seraphine says:

    I wish pattern recognition was
    that easy for the heart…

  18. MoosePhysh says:

    @dragonbrad
    Those Square Ones are great for keeping kids quiet. (=

  19. nemo says:

    u guys make me feel pathetic. Ive had rubix cubes b4, but ive never solved 1.

  20. Tyler says:

    I can’t even solve a Rubix cube jr. It’s like a Rubix’s cube, but with only four squares on each side instead of nine. ๐Ÿ™

  21. Gobbledegook says:

    I looked at the square one thingy just now and almost peed myself.
    It looks incredibly hard.
    I could never get the rubik’s cube…
    My classmates always made me feel stupid, because in grade school I was in gifted classes. The minimum IQ for entry was 140, (to set a baseline for the intelligence of my classmates) and I was the only one who couldn’t do it. I got teased mercilessly over it.
    Maybe looking at those youtube videos will give me some pointers… The 10-year reunion will be my time for revenge!!!
    MUAAAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!

  22. Envious Luna says:

    Aww, Gobbledegook, I have a high IQ and can’t solve Rubik’s Cube either.
    Only instead of merciless teasing I got the disappointed look from my dad. The “I though you were my smart child” look.
    ………..it was worse when my little brother solved the thing on his first try.

    Ah, well. I’ve never been good at patterns. So now I stick to sounding smart by being able to spell hard words and give definitions.
    The Rubik’s Cube is my dark secret……
    Shhhhhhhhhhh.

  23. Kanki-chan says:

    I have held a rubik’s cube, only get two sides the same color, and haven’t really had any trouble with it. I have however, tried a Rubik’s snake and found it more fun. Probably just because you don’t necessarily “solve” a rubik’s snake.

  24. steam punk says:

    This weeks theme seems to be childhood memories =o

    I have a rubik’s cube laying around in my bedroom somewhere. It’s really shoddy though and falls apart. Actually, the reason it falls apart is because the plastic on the inside is a little broken up. There’s this guy at one of the malls I go to who was usually there during my spare at school. he was Autistic and really good with rubik’s cubes. His hands would move so fast when he did it. So one day I brought mine so that he could do it. But he did it so quickly that it started to break in the middle lol. It was pretty amazing though!

  25. I was working my way through one, when one of my siblings decided to rearrange the coloured stickers. Thus I wound up with two sides that were supposed to be orange. Had to peel all the stickers off and ‘solve’ it that way if I ever wanted it to make sense again. Haven’t touched the thing in years.

  26. AG says:

    I’m one of the high IQ types myself, but I can never seem to pay attention long enough to actually figure it out. I suppose if I could pay attention for that long I’d probably say the hell with the cube and just go cure cancer or something instead.

  27. Robot Panda says:

    I was watching “The Pursuit of Happyness” a few weeks ago and they had a bit with the Rubik cube [it is set in the 80’s, after all], and all of a sudden they’re back. It’s almost alarming. I SET IT OFF! OH GODS!

    I can’t handle anything like Rubik cubes. We stare each other down until one of us explodes.

    Usually it’s me, and it involves throwing and a few choice expletives.

  28. A Captain says:

    I’m surprised that–in this day and age of ADD and ADHD–*anyone* bothers spending the time to finish these things, much less the time to find a solution themselves, rather than looking it up on the internet.

    When I was a kid I think the most I got was one side of a Rubik’s cube done, then I’d be too afraid to break it up and I’d leave it at that.

  29. A Captain says:

    Heheh, and to quote Tyler above:

    “I canโ€™t even solve a Rubix cube jr. Itโ€™s like a Rubixโ€™s cube, but with only four squares on each side instead of nine. :(”

    I bet both you and I could solve the Rubik’s Monkey Cube. It features only one square on each side!

  30. dragonbrad says:

    i have never solved one before, but i have solved one of those extreemly hard wooden puzzles

  31. Tyler says:

    Are you sure it isn’t a circle? I’m pretty sure it’s a circle.

  32. Warcrime says:

    I got one of the rubix pyramid things… the only one i can complete without breaking it and putting it back together.

  33. Radical Edward says:

    Okay Biff…PUT IT BACK IN!

    Seriously, it seems he’s more like Buster, the dummy on MythBusters.

  34. David says:

    Well.. I once manged to solve a 1x1x1 cube ๐Ÿ˜€

  35. Doc Spooky says:

    I have a Rubikโ€™s cube and I have tryed to solve it for about 4 years, still no progress…
    ๐Ÿ™

  36. Psymon says:

    To my discredit, I do not have the patience to figure out a solution to Rubik’s cube type puzzles on my own. I honestly don’t know whether or not I could develop a generalizable solve method on my own. To everyone’s annoyance, however, I found a “good enough” solution online, so I will get the cube solved. . .eventually. (estimated time: very roughly ten minutes cold, three minutes with recent practice) To my own annoyance because now I can’t leave a cube unsolved; to the cubers’ annoyance because they can do it soooo much faster; and to the non-cubers’ annoyance–probably because I come across as a bit of a show-off when I’m doing cerebral activities. Actually, there are some people I don’t annoy–those who just want the stupid thing solved because the mixed-up cube is ugly and they can’t figure it out themselves, but they can’t leave it alone, either, until it finally is solved.

  37. TheGSE says:

    I can do the rubiks revenge (4^3) and the pyramid, but with the cube I simply bash it until a corner piece pops off, then disassemble and reassemble it in its entirety.

  38. Deteramot says:

    I too lack the patience. I get two sides done, then throw it away with a F this.

  39. Alice Love says:

    I just liked tossing the rubix cubes at the people at my school. I later found out the science professor collected and kept all my rubix cubes. ๐Ÿ˜›

  40. Matt Lee says:

    @Chris

    You are a good man. You can do it. I myself have an extensive collection of different cubes. I can do the 3×3 in under a min. I have 4 or 5 3×3’s a 4×4 a 5×5 and a square one. I’m not good at the square one or the 4×4 but I can get the 5×5 in under 10 min.

  41. Pat says:

    oh my the table is floating!

  42. Jenny Creed says:

    I have a 1x1x1 Rubik’s cube I found at a garage sale. It’s the only one I’ve ever solved.

    But this doesn’t seem like a stress test as much as a problem solving test. I think Biff is testing the IQ of his heart. Hope to see a comic where he tests the EQ of his brain too. ๐Ÿ˜€

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