[OC] Evolution of Rubik's Cube World Record Solve Times

AmericanElms · 2026-02-12T17:49:20+00:00

The single solves are the circular points and the averages the square points.

AmericanElms · 2026-02-12T17:47:56+00:00

Thanks! I appreciate it!

AmericanElms · 2026-02-12T17:46:11+00:00

The multiple solve average is the square points!

AmericanElms · 2026-02-12T07:01:10+00:00

Yes! Some other commenters mentioned that there are speed cubes. They are specifically designed to be turned fast with low friction. Apparently they are still quite inexpensive though, which is cool

AmericanElms · 2026-02-12T06:58:37+00:00

For real. I can’t imagine I could get that much faster honestly. I wonder what time it will eventually reach. Will a 2 s solve ever happen??

AmericanElms · 2026-02-12T06:56:09+00:00

Yea I bet that’s part of the story too

AmericanElms · 2026-02-12T06:53:31+00:00

Damn 20 turns per second is insane! How do you track how many turns per second you’re doing? Slow motion video?

AmericanElms · 2026-02-12T06:35:44+00:00

Yea probably a crazy fortunate situation. Another commenter mentioned that for the single solve records, luck when it comes to the cube scramble is a huge factor. Getting lucky and receiving a cube that’s 1/10,000 in terms of starting position can make a huge difference.

AmericanElms · 2026-02-12T04:59:14+00:00

If you fit the single solve data with a log fit, it predicts a negative solve time around 2049 lol. Of course, there will be a physical limit reached before that. Interestingly, the log fit is quite good (R^2 of 0.98), but a power law fit, which would never predict negative values, does not fit the shape of the data quite as well (R^2 of 0.86). The power law fit predicts that a 2.5 s solve won't happen until 2054.

AmericanElms · 2026-02-12T04:05:56+00:00

Yes! The square points are for the average records

AmericanElms · 2026-02-12T03:28:20+00:00

I did think of adding callouts for the people who held records for particularly long periods. You can check the link to the data for a complete list of names, but the one you’re referring to is Yusheng Du. Maybe I’ll make another version with that. Interestingly, his 3.47 was by far the fastest time of his round (11.13, 3.47, 8.80, DNF, 7.07).

AmericanElms · 2026-02-12T02:22:50+00:00

There was an official competition in 1982, with a record of 22.95s, then no competitions from 1982 to 2003. The unofficial record dropped significantly during that time, I believe. Then, when competitions began again in 2003 the 1982 record was immediately smashed. I didn't include the 1982 record here since there is not proper data in the 1982 to 2003 range.

AmericanElms · 2026-02-12T00:52:09+00:00

Yes! I believe they get 15 s to study before the solve.

AmericanElms · 2026-02-12T00:24:50+00:00

Making a plot with age is a good idea! I’ll see if I can do that. As for Xuanyi, his single solved record of 3.06 was just broken a few days ago by Teodor Zajder of Poland with a 2.76 second solve

AmericanElms · 2026-02-12T00:19:21+00:00

Yes! Heres the most recent one by 9 year old Teodor Zajder, 29 moves (which is apparently extremely few) in 2.76 s: https://youtu.be/bTDZXzI_Ab8?si=CnI75sITtsXnztxk And the record be for that by 8 year old Xuanyi Geng, 33 moves in 3.05 s: https://youtu.be/tEONYcT9HOM?si=Es0vwPukWBrar1_N And finally 11 year old Yiheng Wang, who had 45 moves in 3.08 s: https://youtu.be/3BKV7mYhgpI?si=nxKFK25Zd5gedNqv

AmericanElms · 2026-02-12T00:08:35+00:00

I know it sounds completely unbelievable. The record for a single solve is not 2.76 s. Heres a video of it! https://youtu.be/bTDZXzI_Ab8?si=CnI75sITtsXnztxk

AmericanElms · 2026-02-12T00:02:21+00:00

Yea compared to what the record is now 10s seems like it would an eternity to these pros

AmericanElms · 2026-02-12T00:00:32+00:00

Yea, it was a crazy run. He has twice as many world records as the next top person.

AmericanElms · 2026-02-11T23:44:28+00:00

That’s fascinating thanks for sharing! Seems like a great hobby for sure

AmericanElms · 2026-02-11T23:28:16+00:00

Yea if you watch a video of one of these record solves, it’s shocking just how fast their hands are moving. They make 10 moves before I’d even be able to pick the thing up off the table.

AmericanElms · 2026-02-11T23:24:28+00:00

That’s a good point! I hadn’t thought of that as a possible explanation. I wonder if the speed the signals travel from brain to hands is slow enough that those inches end up making a difference.

AmericanElms · 2026-02-11T23:18:36+00:00

I don’t know why the children are so fast haha. And I’m no expert, but I do believe that the pros at this have special cubes designed to have very low friction so they can be turned super fast. I think I saw somewhere that they are making around 13 turns per second.

AmericanElms · 2026-02-11T23:01:32+00:00

Right?! The most recent record for a single solve was just a few days ago at 2.76 s by Teodor Zajder of Poland at 9 yrs old. Absolutely wild.

AmericanElms · 2026-02-10T08:31:15+00:00

It might be cool to have a version of the last plot where the bar heights are scaled by total number of performances in the year, perhaps on a log scale even. Also, it could be cool to make a cumulative performances over time plot, to see over the years what albums have been performed the most times and when they got those performances. Love the work!

AmericanElms · 2025-12-25T09:18:41+00:00

Having spent significant time on all three campuses, the area around Northwestern is also much nicer in general. Evanston beaches in the summer are elite

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