- 1. What is a memorized sequence of moves with a desired effect called in Rubik's cubers' parlance?
A) Formula
B) Pattern
C) Algorithm
D) Technique
- 2. From what field is the term 'algorithm' derived?
A) Computer science
B) Physics
C) Mathematics
D) Engineering
- 3. What does the mathematical term 'algorithm' imply?
A) A shortcut for solving puzzles
B) A list of well-defined instructions
C) An optional guide for players
D) A random sequence of steps
- 4. What do Rubik's cube solving methods provide along with their set of algorithms?
A) A list of suggested competitors
B) A list of history of the cube
C) The manufacturing date of the cube
D) Descriptions of the algorithm's effect
- 5. Why are many algorithms designed to affect only a small part of the cube?
A) To make the cube rotate faster
B) To make the algorithm look more impressive
C) To avoid interfering with already solved parts
D) To reduce the number of moves required
- 6. What is an example of an algorithm that leaves the rest of the puzzle unchanged?
A) Resetting the cube to solved
B) Swapping the center pieces
C) Rotating the entire cube
D) Cycling three corners
- 7. Which pieces can be flipped using algorithms without disturbing others?
A) All corners
B) A pair of edges
C) Every side of the cube
D) The core mechanism
- 8. Why are some algorithms allowed to have side effects during early stages of the solve?
A) Because the cube is easier to hold
B) Because side effects are not important when most of the puzzle is unsolved
C) Because they are faster to learn
D) Because they are the only algorithms available
- 9. What is a common characteristic of algorithms that have side effects?
A) They require more finger tricks
B) They are often simpler
C) They are always longer
D) They are more complex
- 10. Which type of algorithms are typically used toward the end of a solution?
A) Random sequences
B) More specific and complicated algorithms
C) Algorithms with many side effects
D) Simple and generalized algorithms
- 11. Did the original Rubik's Cube have orientation markings on the centre faces?
A) Only on the red face
B) Yes
C) No
D) Only on the white face
- 12. What is a cube with four coloured marks on each edge of the central squares called?
A) A master cube
B) A supercube
C) A standard cube
D) A pro cube
- 13. What is an example of a commercially produced cube with markings on all squares?
A) Standard square
B) Luoshu Square
C) Minimal square
D) Rubik's square
- 14. Does marking the centres of a Rubik's Cube increase its difficulty?
A) It has no impact on difficulty
B) It decreases difficulty
C) Yes
D) No
- 15. How many ways are there to orient the centres of a supercube?
A) 2,048
B) 1,024
C) 512
D) 4,096
- 16. What happens to the number of permutations when center orientations are counted?
A) It increases
B) It becomes zero
C) It decreases
D) It remains the same
- 17. How many centre face arrangements are achievable on a cube without disassembly?
A) 24
B) 6
C) 120
D) 720
- 18. When center orientation is counted, what is the new total number of permutations?
A) 8.9×1022
B) 2.1×1024
C) 1.2×1021
D) 4.3×1019
- 19. How many corners does a standard 3x3x3 Rubik's Cube have?
A) 12
B) 24
C) 6
D) 8
- 20. How many edges does a standard 3x3x3 Rubik's Cube have?
A) 8
B) 6
C) 12
D) 24
- 21. What is the total number of possible arrangements of a Rubik's Cube?
A) 519 quintillion
B) 43 quintillion
C) 40 thousand
D) 3 billion
- 22. How many ways can the corner cubes be arranged?
A) 2,048
B) 239,500,800
C) 40,320
D) 2,187
- 23. How many times could the Earth's surface be covered by cubes representing all permutations?
A) 275
B) 12
C) 24
D) 261
- 24. What is the height of a tower of all possible cube permutations in light-years?
A) 261
B) 519
C) 275
D) 43
- 25. What fraction of the total possible arrangements (including disassembled states) is solvable?
A) One-eighth
B) One-twenty-fourth
C) One-half
D) One-twelfth
- 26. When did interest in the Rubik's Cube begin to increase again after the 1990s?
A) 2010
B) 1995
C) 1985
D) Early 2000s
- 27. In which US city was the 2003 Rubik's Cube World Championship held?
A) Boston
B) Toronto
C) New York
D) Chicago
- 28. How many participants attended the 2003 Rubik's Cube World Championship?
A) 50
B) 200
C) 83
D) 100
- 29. What organization was formed in 2004 as a result of the 2003 tournament?
A) Cube Manufacturers Association
B) Global Rubik Federation
C) International Speedcubing Union
D) World Cube Association
- 30. What was a major factor in the renewed appeal of the Rubik's Cube?
A) School curriculum inclusion
B) Television commercials
C) Lower retail prices
D) Internet video sites like YouTube
- 31. When did Rubik's patent expire?
A) 2000
B) 2010
C) 2005
D) 1990
- 32. How much did Spin Master agree to pay to buy the Rubik's Cube brand in 2020?
A) $100 million
B) $50 million
C) $500 million
D) $10 million
- 33. Who did Nichols assign his patent to?
A) Ideal
B) Spin Master
C) Rubik's Brand Ltd.
D) Moleculon Research Corp.
- 34. In the 1986 appeals court judgment, which cube was found to infringe on Nichols's patent?
A) 4x4x4 Revenge Cube
B) 3x3x3 Cube
C) 2x2x2 Pocket Cube
D) 5x5x5 Professor's Cube
- 35. Who filed for a Japanese patent for a mechanism nearly identical to Rubik's in 1976?
A) Larry Nichols
B) A German toy manufacturer
C) Terutoshi Ishigi
D) Erno Rubik
- 36. Which of the following puzzles is specifically mentioned as being allowed to exist despite trademark restrictions?
A) The original 3x3x3 Rubik's Cube
B) 2x2x2 Rubik's Cube
C) Pyraminx
D) Standard Rubik's branded puzzles
- 37. In what year did annual sales of Rubik branded cubes reach 15 million worldwide?
A) 2008
B) 2005
C) 2003
D) 2015
- 38. What was the date of the Spin Master acquisition announcement?
A) 29 March 1983
B) 10 November 2016
C) 25 November 2014
D) 27 October 2020
- 39. Who invented the Rubik's Cube in 1974?
A) Frank Fox
B) Larry D. Nichols
C) Ernő Rubik
D) Tibor Laczi
- 40. In what year was the Rubik's Cube released internationally?
A) 1978
B) 1974
C) 1988
D) 1980
- 41. In which year was the Rubik's Cube inducted into the US National Toy Hall of Fame?
A) 1980
B) 2014
C) 1979
D) 2003
- 42. How many stickers are on each face of a classic Rubik's Cube?
A) Nine
B) Eight
C) Six
D) Twelve
- 43. What colour is opposite white on a standardised Rubik's Cube?
A) Green
B) Blue
C) Yellow
D) Orange
- 44. Who invented a 2x2x2 puzzle held together by magnets in 1970?
A) Larry D. Nichols
B) Ernő Rubik
C) Frank Fox
D) Tom Kremer
- 45. How long did it take for Ernő Rubik to solve his own creation the first time?
A) One week
B) One day
C) One year
D) About a month
- 46. Which company released the Magic Cube in the UK in 1978?
A) Seven Towns
B) Pentangle Puzzles
C) Ideal Toy Corp
D) Rubik's Global
- 47. What mechanism allows the layers of the cube to turn?
A) Magnetic attraction
B) Interlocking plastic magnets
C) Sliding spherical grooves
D) Internal pivot mechanism
- 48. What is the Hungarian name for the Rubik's Cube?
A) Magyar Kocka
B) Rubik-kocka
C) Budapest Kocka
D) Bűvös kocka
- 49. What colour is opposite blue on a standardised Rubik's Cube?
A) Red
B) Yellow
C) White
D) Green
- 50. Which company began a television advertising campaign for the cube in 1980?
A) Ideal
B) ABC Television
C) Scientific American
D) Guinness
- 51. Which country gave the Rubik's Cube a Game of the Year special award at the end of 1980?
A) UK
B) Germany
C) Hungary
D) USA
- 52. In what city was the speedcubing championship held in March 1981?
A) New York
B) Budapest
C) Munich
D) Knoxville
- 53. What magazine featured the Rubik's Cube on its front cover in March 1981?
A) New Scientist
B) The Washington Post
C) The New York Times
D) Scientific American
- 54. Which newspaper compared the Rubik's Cube to a Hoola Hoop or Bongo Board?
A) Scientific American
B) The New York Times
C) New Scientist
D) The Washington Post
- 55. Who wrote 'Notes on Rubik's "Magic Cube"' in 1980?
A) Patrick Bossert
B) James G. Nourse
C) David Singmaster
D) Erno Rubik
- 56. Where was a six-foot Rubik's Cube displayed in 1982?
A) Museum of Modern Art
B) World's Fair in Knoxville
C) Budapest championship
D) ABC Television studio
- 57. When did the first official Rubik's Cube World Championship take place?
A) June 1982
B) 1983
C) March 1981
D) October 1982
- 58. What city hosted the first Rubik's Cube World Championship?
A) Knoxville
B) Munich
C) New York
D) Budapest
- 59. In what year was the official World Championship revived after the 1982 event?
A) 1990
B) 1985
C) 1983
D) 2003
- 60. What is the size of a standard Rubik's Cube on each side?
A) 4.8 centimetres
B) 6.2 centimetres
C) 5.6 centimetres
D) 5.0 centimetres
- 61. How many unique miniature cubes, or cubies, are in a Rubik's Cube?
A) 21
B) 28
C) 24
D) 26
- 62. What part of the Rubik's Cube is held by the core mechanism?
A) The edge pieces
B) The corner pieces
C) The entire assembly of 26 cubies
D) The six centre squares
- 63. What keeps the centre pieces of inexpensive clones in place?
A) A spring
B) A rivet
C) A plastic clip
D) A screw
- 64. Who suggested alternative colourings for the Rubik's Cube in 1982?
A) Erno Rubik
B) Scientific American editorial board
C) Douglas Hofstadter
D) The puzzle manufacturer
- 65. What mathematical field is used to deduce algorithms for the Rubik's Cube?
A) Number theory
B) Topology
C) Linear algebra
D) Group theory
- 66. What is a conjugate structure (XYX−1) colloquially called by speedcubers?
A) Algorithm
B) Generator
C) Commutator
D) Setup move
- 67. Who developed the computer cubing method that reduces the cube to subgroups?
A) Thistlethwaite
B) Waterman
C) Singmaster
D) Rubik
- 68. In unitary representation, the rotations of the cube faces act as generators of what?
A) Abelian group
B) Finite field
C) Symmetric group
D) Lie group
- 69. In Singmaster notation, what does a prime symbol (′) indicate?
A) Clockwise turn
B) Anticlockwise turn
C) 180-degree turn
D) Rotate whole cube
- 70. What is the modern standard way to denote wide moves of two layers?
A) Using parentheses
B) Using an asterisk
C) Using 'w'
D) Using lowercase letters
- 71. Which letter in the MES extension denotes the middle layer between F and B?
A) S
B) E
C) M
D) L
- 72. In the 1981 book The Simple Solution to Rubik's Cube, what letter represented the posterior face?
A) U
B) P
C) B
D) F
- 73. In 'The Ideal Solution' notation for Rubik's Revenge, what were vertical front to back planes called?
A) Windows
B) Books
C) Tables
D) Layers
- 74. What does a letter followed by a 2 indicate in Singmaster notation?
A) A 180-degree turn
B) A square turn
C) Two layers at once
D) Two separate turns
- 75. What letter denotes the layer between L and R in the MES extension?
A) M
B) E
C) S
D) U
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