Impress fellow students and friends by solving Rubik's Cube -- or at least by appearing to solve it. Matt Parker's now-viral YouTube video guide shows how to fool others into believing that your puzzle acumen rocks. Parker's shortcut will enable you to quickly earn what he calls a math-world "nerd credential."
It isn't complicated. Basically, Parker teaches tricksters to begin with a completed Rubik's Cube, in which the colors match on all six sides. Begin a rotation pattern to give it that unsolved look. Leave it that way when you show your audience. Then continue the pattern, which which will inevitably lead back to a solved cube. Voila!
Parker shows one combination that takes 105 moves -- perhaps the right amount to amaze observers but not so long that they may take their cocktails elsewhere.
Parker, who dubs himself the "Stand-Up Mathematician," explains the process better than we do. And his authoritative British accent with light approach reinforces the instructions.
Those who would like to master Rubik's for real can start at Rubik's official website.
Anyone looking for more adventure might try Kleiner Ludewig's approach. In 2010 he solved a Rubik's Cube while skydiving in a rubber boat.
h/t Viral Videos