By Cameron Beltran
A satisfying sound of pieces swiftly falling into place infiltrate many memories I have with my little sister; her fingers moving in cadency stopping rarely and never for long. If you emptied her pockets or glanced into her silver, 2007 Saturn Ion car, fondly referred to as Bones, you would find at least one or two colorful, six-sided puzzles at any given time.
Sydney Beltran enjoys learning algorithms in order to quickly solve Rubik’s cubes along with other “twisty puzzles.” The Rubik’s cube has more than 42 quintillion possible arrangements and yet the current record for solving one is 3.47 seconds. This record could be broken tomorrow or it could remain unbroken for years.
Within the United States, there are roughly 21 thousand individuals registered to compete in speedcubing competitions. After practicing and perfecting her technique for four years, Sydney was recently able to achieve her personal record of solving a 3x3 cube in 27.7 seconds.
“Sub thirty, as they say,” she says. Her tone is full of sarcasm as she furrows her brows and curls her lips, as if she smelled something foul. Sydney is mocking herself. “Most people at competitions, they go sub twenty, but the good people are sub ten.”
A common theme I’ve noticed while delving into the bright world of speedcubing is humility. Individuals with world records are humble and gracious concerning their skill and consistently emphasize anyone can do it. Sydney is no different. She understands there are hundreds, possibly thousands of speedcubers, some younger than her, who are worlds ahead of her. There’s a boy in the United States who can solve a 3x3 cube five seconds faster than Sydney with his feet.
“I need to memorize about eighty more algorithms to go sub twenty,” she says. I ask her if she’ll begin to compete once she hits sub twenty, but she explains she would compete now if the opportunity arose. Competitions are the opportunity to experience the community and comradery associated with speedcubing.
Matthew McMillan, a Member of the World Cubing Association’s communication team and head of CubingUSA’s educational outreach team, entered his first competition in 2012 while he was still in middle school. Five years later in 2017, he broke his personal record and solved a 3x3 cube in 9.99 seconds. Since Matthew’s first competition, he’s met his current roommate and girlfriend through the speedcubing community; he’s also worked on programming projects currently used by the World Cubing Association.
When I ask him about his personal record, the disbelief is still evident in his voice despite the event occurring more than a year ago. As impressive as 9.99 seconds is, Matthew placed 24th. That means 23 individuals solved this puzzle faster than 9.99 seconds and a world record wasn’t even close to being broken at this competition. It was broken 27 days later a few states over.
Matthew became interested in solving Rubik’s cubes when he began middle school and by the time he started high school, he couldn’t put the puzzle down.
“Around then is also when I bought my first actual speed cube instead of a Rubik’s cube brand,” he says.
This is a common rite of passage, a fateful moment when an individual decides to commit to solving this handheld puzzle with agility. Speedcubers rarely use Rubik’s brand cubes. Most speedcubers would rather invest in cubes specially designed for speed. Sydney owns about thirty various cubes of different brands, shapes and sizes; the fastest with pieces magnetically held together.
Ernõ Rubik’s original Rubik’s Cube was created more than forty years ago, but the trend of speedcubing only began attracting considerable popularity in recent years. “We’ve seen a lot of competitor growth in recent years in the WCA, ” McMillan said.
“The availability of the internet has definitely made it easier to learn because a lot of people used to think you have to be some kind of a genius to solve a cube. But now, you can go online and figure out how to do it and it doesn’t take too long.”
Once again, a pillar of speedcubing philosophy is echoed- anyone can do it.
I ask Matthew if he has any advice for aspiring speedcubers.
“I don’t know if I’m the best person to be giving this advice,” he says. “There are certainly a lot of people must faster than me. But I think a lot of it is practice and putting time into it.”
McMillan finished his first competition in 2012 with a time of 27.31 seconds. He invested time-34 competitions worth-until he earned his personal record.
One may wonder how simple practice can result in the world record of 3.47 seconds. I asked whether it was finger exercises or one possessing the mind of a computer; I needed to know how it was humanly possible these speedcubers were solving puzzles at this rate. She lets me in on the secret-a great speedcuber knows every move they’re going to make before they touch the cube. When she tells me this, I immediately am reminded of chess. The same strategic mindset is required as well as the need for each move to be deliberate and calculated. Guess who was in their middle school chess club? Sydney.
I recently saw my little sister on her way to Cookeville to tour Tennessee Tech. Our parents, having driven the high school senior, accompanied us to a quaint bistro outside Murfreesboro. Joining the four of us was a cube resting toward the corner of our booth beside Sydney. A reliable telltale if Sydney would rather be talking about or doing something else is whether her hands make their way toward the six-sided puzzle that’s never far from her side. She barely touched the cube when I harassed and lovingly teased her. Her nimble fingers never made their way to our fifth lunch guest when she told me about her AP Research class during that rainy Sunday afternoon.
I comment on her cube joining us for lunch. She glances at the cube and smiles back at me before stating, “There are three more in the car.”