See the icebergs?
Yeah magnetic cubes!
They have little magnets in the corner pieces so when you push, it stops in the right place.
There’s also maglev cubes that have magnetic cores. I just have corner magnets ATM because EVRI ARE A DOGSHIT DELIVERY COMPANY but that’s another story for another time
I’m 39 and right there with you, although I can’t seem to get under 80 seconds for a solve yet. I’ve been cubing for a couple of months and have got the 2 look pll and oll down nearly now, just a couple of algorithms I’m struggling to remember. Love doing the last layer though, it’s like magic.
I’m at a point now where I’m solving faster than I was (it was around the 3 minute mark a couple of weeks ago but I’ve just got a RS3M) and it is starting to feel “easy” now.
I also have one in my pocket most of the time, it’s another hobby my wife hates lol “Do you HAVE to bring that thing with you?” YES I DO
When you look up how to solve them, it’s a white cross (so the white would be the first layer), making sure your middle tile of the cross pieces match the middle of the sides (red green blue orange), then you put the corners of the bottom (white) layer in, matching the colours. The middles don’t move so you then put in the corners of the middle layer, completing 2 layers.
The top layer is the yellow one, opposite the white layer.
It was my eldest that got me going actually. He came home from school with the old shit cube he had, did 3 turns on it and said “There, I solved it Dad.”
I said “Did you fuck. Who sorted that for you?” and he told me a kid at school was just asking everyone if they had a cube and to bring it in to school, so he did and the kid solved it for him.
I thought “If a 12 year old can do it, so can I” and used it to help with my Reddit withdrawals.
I’ve finally got a magnetic cube now and just have it in my pocket. I’m trying to improve my F2L speed where you put the corners in and the 2nd layer at the same time. I really like doing the last layer with algorithms, it’s like magic.
I think it’s just an age/wisdom thing. When I was younger I was all about “The Truth” and would fight to the bitter end for it. At some point down the decades I realised that sometimes it’s better to just know “The Truth” myself and not share it with people who would disagree and fight about it.
Now a lot of the time I find myself just observing something and smiling at the wrongness and walking away.
I’ve learned how to solve in 3 minutes or less since the Reddit blackout protests. I have a friend who said his personal best was a minute and 10 so that’s my target, and my personal best is a minute and a half as of last night.
It’s not 3.1 seconds like the WR but since nearly everyone I have come across in the last couple months can’t solve a cube at all, I’m quite impressive to them.
I sit and solve my cube on my break at work, it’s literally to stop me spending all my time on my phone. It’s a newish job so now everyone thinks I’m quite intelligent, which is nice.
I’ve been eyeballing the Tornado V3 Flagship myself. I do the cross on the bottom, but advanced f2l means adding the f2l while doing the cross and I’m not that good yet. I feel like this week I’ve just started getting a real feel for pairing up the blocks, and that’s lead to quicker solves. It’ll be a few more weeks of practicing to get it intuitive but I’m definitely on the right path.