How much of the Rubik's cube could you solve before you learned how to solve it?

The method I used in 1982 that requires no algorithms:
- Solve the top slice/layer intuitively minus one edge
- Next you must solve the bottom corners, with no algorithms
- In order to do this, break off one of the top corners and put it back in a different way
- This will change the configuration of the bottom corners randomly
- Repeat this step approximately 100 times until the bottom corners are randomly solved; takes about half an hour
- Next, rotate the cube so the solved slice is on L and the empty L edge is at UL (keyhole)
- Solve the edges on the R face using keyhole intuitively (i.e. corners first style) by pushing M slices edges into UR, via U/M'/U'
- On the last R edges you first push the UL edge inverted into UR then solve UR/UL at the same time
- Now, all that remains is the M slice which will have disoriented edges
- Next break off the UR/UL edges and put them back keyhole in a different way
- Keep doing this until you get lucky and the M slice is oriented
- Next permute the M slice intuitively using 3/4 move sequences
- DONE!

NOTE: As a beginner if you do not know how to recognize if the M-slice is oriented, then each time you are trying for the M-slice completion, you can permute the M-slice and attempt to solve it, at which point, one permuted, you will have 0, 2 or 4 flipped edges which will be obviously disoriented, then you again break off UR/UL and put them back in a different way, each time also permuting the M-slice to see which edges are disoriented.

I would also comment that I learned how to solve Rubik's Revenge (4x4) in 1983 also without algorithms. The method was fairly similar; except I could not solve parity and if I ended up with parity I had to fully re-scramble the cube and re-solve it until I got lucky and didn't get parity.
 
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- Repeat this step approximately 100 times until the bottom corners are randomly solved; takes about half an hour
I could not solve parity and if I ended up with parity I had to fully re-scramble the cube and re-solve it until I got lucky and didn't get parity.
O_O
brute force method

congrats on finding it on your own tho
 
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I solved a skewb on my own, along with a megaminx. The pyraminx was terrible, which is probably why I despise the event.
My first pyraminx that I solved was virtual and I did it in under a minute with inspection. I just did LBL and got an antisune case (I didn’t know that at the time) but I figured that sune might solve it so I just did sune twice and boom.
 
Megaminx gave me the most problems in the early 1980's. Unlike the 3x3 and 4x4, I could not find ANY way to solve it without algorithms. In the end I would solve most of the last layer, leaving a 'tripod' unsolved. I then would write down the state of the tripod, try a random sequence, and check what effect it had on the tripod. Once I 'developed' about 10-12 tripod algorithms I was able to solve it, but this was around 1988. In another thread I posted a picture of a piece of paper with those tripod algorithms from way back when.
 
Megaminx gave me the most problems in the early 1980's. Unlike the 3x3 and 4x4, I could not find ANY way to solve it without algorithms. In the end I would solve most of the last layer, leaving a 'tripod' unsolved. I then would write down the state of the tripod, try a random sequence, and check what effect it had on the tripod. Once I 'developed' about 10-12 tripod algorithms I was able to solve it, but this was around 1988. In another thread I posted a picture of a piece of paper with those tripod algorithms from way back when.
Wait, Megaminx existed in the 1980´s?
 
My first pyraminx that I solved was virtual and I did it in under a minute with inspection. I just did LBL and got an antisune case (I didn’t know that at the time) but I figured that sune might solve it so I just did sune twice and boom.
I tried to solve a pyraminx. It took me 10-20 minutes. My method is to solve 1 layer and get lucky on the second.
 
I tried to solve a pyraminx. It took me 10-20 minutes. My method is to solve 1 layer and get lucky on the second.
When I tried to solve a pyraminx my method was to solve a layer and then solve the back edge on the top layer and then do a sexy insert and then do an intuitive edge flip algorithm. This can be done by doing moves to flip one edge without disturbing the other edge, then you would move the other edge into the first edge's spot without destroying any other disturbed pieces, and then you would undo the moves. It is like a commutator.
 
Yes, Megaminx existed in the 1980's. I think I got my first Megaminx for Christmas in 1983 when I was 8 years old.
My elementary school had a problem with big kids beating up little kids at random. One day in 1982 (in grade 2) it was my turn to get beat up. One of the thugs recognized me and said 'we can't beat this kid up, he knows how to solve the cube!' The other thugs were skeptical. They gave me a scrambled cube at the start of lunch hour while two thugs watched me constantly to make sure I didn't take the stickers off. If I couldn't solve it by the end of lunch hour I would get beat up. With my 'brute force' method that I posted earlier in this thread, trying to get a random skip on the bottom corners could take 5 minutes or 1.5 hours based on luck. I was shaking and sweating as I tried and tried to get a random skip on the bottom corners while the thugs watched for more than half an hour. Finally with less than 10 minutes left in lunch hour I got the skip and managed to finish the cube shortly before the end of lunch hour and I avoided getting beat up. It wasn't too long after that, that I signed up for martial arts classes to learn how to defend myself 'the hard way.'
 
Yes, Megaminx existed in the 1980's. I think I got my first Megaminx for Christmas in 1983 when I was 8 years old.
My elementary school had a problem with big kids beating up little kids at random. One day in 1982 (in grade 2) it was my turn to get beat up. One of the thugs recognized me and said 'we can't beat this kid up, he knows how to solve the cube!' The other thugs were skeptical. They gave me a scrambled cube at the start of lunch hour while two thugs watched me constantly to make sure I didn't take the stickers off. If I couldn't solve it by the end of lunch hour I would get beat up. With my 'brute force' method that I posted earlier in this thread, trying to get a random skip on the bottom corners could take 5 minutes or 1.5 hours based on luck. I was shaking and sweating as I tried and tried to get a random skip on the bottom corners while the thugs watched for more than half an hour. Finally with less than 10 minutes left in lunch hour I got the skip and managed to finish the cube shortly before the end of lunch hour and I avoided getting beat up. It wasn't too long after that, that I signed up for martial arts classes to learn how to defend myself 'the hard way.'
top 10 anime moments
 
When I tried to solve a pyraminx my method was to solve a layer and then solve the back edge on the top layer and then do a sexy insert and then do an intuitive edge flip algorithm. This can be done by doing moves to flip one edge without disturbing the other edge, then you would move the other edge into the first edge's spot without destroying any other disturbed pieces, and then you would undo the moves. It is like a commutator.
Whats a commutator?😅
 
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