[Member Intro] Wife of cube enthusiast would love suggestions!

[syhthpen]

Hi! I am Jennifer, and I am so happy to have found this community. You all seem to have a ton of knowledge and experience.

My husband picked up our son's Rubik's cube randomly last April and became adorably obsessed and determined to solve it. By June, thanks to YouTube videos and perseverance, he very proudly solved it, and immediately started making patterns (checkerboard, sunflower, etc), and now is always looking for a new challenge.

In the past 7 months he has acquired a 2x2, 4x4, 5x5, 6x6, 7x7, 9x9 and 2 recently acquired "snakes" (that are unfortunately Rubik's brand, but he loves making shapes with them nonetheless)

He prefers the ShengShou brand, because of the solid structure and ease of turning. He hates the few original "Rubiks" brand items he has, because they are so clunky and stiff.

I would appreciate any feedback you all have on where to steer him towards for his next challenge. The 9x9 was solved within a few hours, and he was disappointed that it wasn't as challenging as he expected.

I personally have enormous respect for my husband, and everyone in this community. I cannot grasp the algorithm and method for solving cubes. My brain apparently doesn't work that way. I suspect that you all are wizards playing a silly prank on the rest of us boring people. [emoji4]



Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

 

[bubbagrub]

Excellent! Welcome to the community, and thanks for being so supportive of your husband's interest. There are literally thousands of other puzzles that he might enjoy, and lots of online stores that you can get them from -- it depends on where you are in the world, but a lot of people seem to like thecubicle.us, among others.

Here are my (highly subjective) suggestions for next cubes:

• Megaminx: He'll be able to solve it just using what he knows, but it'll be more challenging than the 9x9.
• Skewb: A totally different kind of puzzle. It's quick and easy to solve once you know how, but it's mind-blowing when you first pick it up.
• Smaz Time Machine: It's quite expensive, but it looks great. It's probably no harder than the Megaminx to figure out how to solve.
• 4x4x6: Another expensive one. He may well find cuboids are an enjoyable way to go next. The 4x4x6 is my favourite cuboid, but they vary from fairly easy (e.g., 3x3x5) to super hard (e.g., 2x4x6 or 3x4x5). There's also a big range in price, so you can find some cheaper (but still fun) ones.
• If he wants *really* challenging, then there are loads of puzzles like Eitan's star, the Tuttminx and many more that are a real challenge. But still solvable without needing to look up tutorials. Actually, seemingly-simpler puzzles like the square-one and skewb might be harder to figure out from first principles, so if he's looking for that kind of challenge, they might be good options.

This forum is a great place to find out more about puzzles, but if he's more interested in the puzzles than in being fast, then he may also like to check out the twistypuzzles forum.

Hope this helps!

 

[shadowslice e]

I agree with bubbagrub- go for a speciality cube store and pick anything from there.

Personally, I think a megaminx (or any size minx tbh), a square-1 or a mirror block might be quite interesting challenges for him

 

[bcube]

Hello Jennifer,

my suggestions.

 

[syhthpen]

Thank you all so much for your suggestions. I understand about 57% of what you said.. it will take me awhile to learn the jargon and whatnot.

For the record, I find it amusing that husband thinks that I am super smart because I know random trivia and can sometimes answer his random questions like "What the heck is a philanthropist?", yet I cannot understand how to solve a cube.

He has suffered through many hours of trying to help me understand how to solve a 3x3 (when it is 10 turns away from being solved). I truly do NOT understand. It makes no sense to me (and neither does furniture assembly instructions.. it is gibberish to me!)

I love that I found a place to learn more about my husband's fascination with solving cubes.

I am excited, and look forward to learning more!



Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

 

[AlphaSheep]

The cubes that I find the most challenging and fun to solve are shape mods of the standard 3x3. They are puzzles which have exactly the same core as the 3x3, but the pieces are different shapes. Even though solution methods for the normal 3x3 should work, the different shapes make things unrecognisable, and challenges a lot of what you think you know about the puzzle.

Examples of my favourite widely available 3x3 shape mods are the Ghost Cube, the Axis Cube, and the Mastermorphix. The Axis Cube and Mastermorphix also have 4x4 variants which I'm sure your husband will really enjoy.

 

[mark49152]

I would agree with the cuboid suggestions. Cuboids are great because you can use some of your knowledge from regular cubes to get started, but then there are tricky differences to figure out.

Shapemods are also fun, like the Fisher cubes or Moyu YiLeng. Again they are close to the regular cube but require some new thinking and tricks to solve.

 

[syhthpen]

I would love to get him every cube that has been suggested! I am super excited for him to have more options, and more fun..

But unfortunately I cannot buy them all immediately. Bills outrank cubes in out budget [emoji28][emoji21]

Can you wonderful new friends help me narrow it down to *just one* to surprise him with?

Again, I am so glad I found this community. You are all so helpful and knowledgeable!

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

 

[bcube]

He has suffered through many hours of trying to help me understand how to solve a 3x3 (when it is 10 turns away from being solved). I truly do NOT understand. It makes no sense to me

There is a huge difference between intuitive and algorithmic solving, I would say. For algorithmic solving, you must memorize move sequences and blindly apply them without thinking. It makes no sense to me (for now) . I can imagine I wouldn´t truly understand it even if someone tried to explain it to me for many hours either.

Maybe he relies on algorithmic solving, while intuitive solving would fit better to you. When it is 10 turns away from being solved, only a small amount of people can solve it. Only a few of them could do it optimally. I know I couldn´t. By no means it is something you should find embarrassing.

(and neither does furniture assembly instructions.. it is gibberish to me!)

Haha, same here

 

[shadowslice e]

I would love to get him every cube that has been suggested! I am super excited for him to have more options, and more fun..

But unfortunately I cannot buy them all immediately. Bills outrank cubes in out budget [emoji28][emoji21]

Can you wonderful new friends help me narrow it down to *just one* to surprise him with?

Again, I am so glad I found this community. You are all so helpful and knowledgeable!

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

You could create a poll in a seperate thread with a few of these options and get the most voted one

 

[Dom]

a lot of people don't care about this event, or even think it's annoying, but the CLOCK is a lot of fun. I learned it the other day and it's ALL intuitive. No memorization needed. Just watch a tutorial by @DGCubes

 

[obelisk477]

He prefers the ShengShou brand, because of the solid structure and ease of turning. He hates the few original "Rubiks" brand items he has, because they are so clunky and stiff.

I would actually get him a really nice brand of 3x3 as well. Rubiks and Shengshou are not particularly "top of the line" in 3x3s (for the most part), and major brands like Moyu and Gans have much better feeling 3x3s. A good place to start would be with either the Moyu Weilong GTS, or Gans Air, as well as the Valk 3.

 

[SenorJuan]

If budget is a concern, these two get my vote: The 3x3x3 mirror-blocks shape-variation is most entertaining (there's a 2x2x2 version too) and Square-1 is something different with it's unique turning, but it's not unfathomable if you have the basic cubing skill-set.

 

[bubbagrub]

Here are my suggestions for a single cube in a few budget ranges:

< £10: Mirror blocks (if that's your budget, then that's almost definitely the one to go for).
£10 - £20: Megaminx (although there are cheaper versions too)
£20 - £30: 4x4x6 cuboid
£30 - £40: Tuttminx (or Lovebird, which is almost the same puzzle)
> £40: Eitan's star

(UK prices, but I guess you can roughly translate them into $$$. The links are to a UK store, but if you're based in the US or elsewhere, there are plenty of other options).

Personally, I would not recommend the clock (sorry, Dom!) It's a fun puzzle, sure, but it's so different from other twisty puzzles that many people question why it's included in the same category at all. Plus it's super easy.

 

[newtonbase]

My recommendation is the master pyramorphix. It's a 3x3 shape mod so is a variation on a regular cube but is a proper challenge and Shengshou make a nice stickerless version that is inexpensive. My favourite shape mod is the mirror blocks but it's quite easy.

 

[mark49152]

Can you wonderful new friends help me narrow it down to *just one* to surprise him with?

You're not going to get a consensus here, but don't worry, you can pick anything that's been mentioned more then once on this thread and you can't go far wrong. They are all fun.

 

[Loiloiloi]

I think a square-1 would be a great pick for someone like him who likes picking up new puzzles and new concepts.

 

[DGCubes]

I agree with @AlphaSheep that shape mods are especially cool for someone who wants a challenge. They're nice because you can solve them without learning any new algorithms or watching any tutorials, but they still take some time to wrap your mind around. One of the most challenging shape mods in my opinion is the Ghost Cube. Even after solving it multiple times, it still takes me upwards of 10 minutes to solve it.

Another puzzle that I think is often overlooked but quite difficult (most likely more difficult than the Ghost Cube, as it restricts some of your moves) and really fun is the Siamese Mirror Blocks. It basically takes the idea of a Siamese cube (as in two 3x3s conjoined together), and mixes it with the Mirror Cube, which I personally think is kind of genius. It looks awesome when scrambled too.

It'll be hard for everyone to come to a consensus, but my personal top picks would be these two, and perhaps the Megaminx and Square-1 as far as more traditional puzzles go.

 

[Silverback]

I truly do NOT understand. It makes no sense to me

First you have to understand, that the center pieces cannot change places. If you hold the white center on top and the green center in front, you will have blue in the back, yellow on the bottom, red on the right and orange on the left. No matter if or how the cube is scrambled.
All the other pieces have to be solved in relation to the centers.
Edge pieces have two colors and they fit between two center pieces. So to solve say the green-red edge piece, you have to put it between the red and the green center piece.
Corner pieces have three colors and are diagonally next to three center pieces. Here as well the colors tell you where the piece belongs.
As soon as you understand that, you will have a general understanding of what solving the cube means. If you don't get it, disassemble a cube and reassemble it to its solves state.
Then try to solve the cube on your own and let your husband help you if you get stuck.

I got a heart shaped 3x3 shape mod from my wife. Very romantic and quite a challenging puzzle.
https://thecubicle.us/heart-cube-p-3869.html

 

[syhthpen]

First you have to understand, that the center pieces cannot change places. Of you hold the white center on top and the green center in front, you will have blue in the back, yellow on the bottom, trees on the right and orange on the left. No matter of our how the cube is scrambled.
All the other pieces have to be solved in relation to the centers.
Edge pieces have two colors and they fit between two center pieces. So to solve say the green-red edge piece, you have to put out between the red and the green center piece.
Corner pieces have three colors and are diagonally next to three center pieces. Here as well the colors tell you where the piece belongs.
As soon as you understand that, you will have a general understanding of what solving the cube means. If you don't get it, disassemble a cube and reassemble it to its solves state.
Then try to solve the cube on your own and let your husband help you if you get stuck.

I got a heart shaped 3x3 shape mod from my wife. Very romantic and quite a challenging puzzle.
https://thecubicle.us/heart-cube-p-3869.html

I appreciate your explanation very much.

I know that you meant well, and to you that was a simplification for beginners.

That is exactly why I am in awe of my husband, and all of you that understand how to solve even the simplest of cubes.

There is something different about my brain vs yours, which is fascinating to me! I cannot comprehend the algorithms or the logic of how to solve it, even after months of my husband patiently trying to teach me.

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk