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Rubik's Clock

{{Short description|Rubik's puzzle}}

Image:Rubiks-clock.jpg

The Rubik's Clock is a mechanical puzzle invented and patented by Christopher C. Wiggs and Christopher J. Taylor.Patents [http://v3.espacenet.com/origdoc?DB=EPODOC&IDX=EP0322085&F=0&QPN=EP0322085 EP0322085] (1989-06-28), [http://v3.espacenet.com/origdoc?DB=EPODOC&IDX=JP1171588&F=0&QPN=JP1171588 JP1171588] (1989-07-06), [http://v3.espacenet.com/origdoc?DB=EPODOC&IDX=GB2213739&F=0&QPN=GB2213739 GB2213739] (1989-08-23), [http://v3.espacenet.com/origdoc?DB=EPODOC&IDX=US4869506&F=0&QPN=US4869506 US4869506] (1989-09-26) The Hungarian sculptor and professor of architecture Ernő Rubik bought the patent from them to market the product under his name. It was first marketed in 1988.

The Rubik's Clock is a two-sided puzzle, each side presenting nine clocks to the puzzler. There are four dials, one at each corner of the puzzle, each allowing the corresponding corner clock to be rotated directly. (The corner clocks, unlike the other clocks, rotate on both sides of the puzzle simultaneously and can never be operated independently. Thus, the puzzle contains only 14 independent clocks.)

There are also four pins which span both sides of the puzzle; each pin arranged such that if it is "in" on one side, it is "out" on the other. The state of each pin (in or out) determines whether the adjacent corner clock is mechanically connected to the three other adjacent clocks on the front side or on the back side: thus the configuration of the pins determines which sets of clocks can be turned simultaneously by rotating a suitable dial.

The aim of the puzzle is to set all nine clocks to 12 o'clock (straight up) on both sides of the puzzle simultaneously. A method to do so is to start by constructing a cross on both sides (at 12 o’clock) and then solving the corner clocks individually.

The Rubik's Clock is listed as one of the 17 WCA events, with records for fastest time to solve one puzzle, and the fastest average time to solve 5 puzzles (discarding the slowest and fastest times). Viable speedsolving methods have been devised that always solve it in 14 moves or less. An example is "7-Simul", which involves performing seven pairs of moves on the front and back of the clock simultaneously and requires mental calculation from the puzzle's initial position to determine some moves. God's number for Clock is 12.{{Cite web |date=March 4, 2025 |title=Rubik's Clock has now been solved! |url=https://www.cube20.org/clock/ |access-date=2025-03-04 |website=www.cube20.org}}

Combinations

Since there are 14 independent clocks, with 12 settings each, there are a total of 12^{14}=1,283,918,464,548,864 possible combinations for the clock faces. This does not count for the number of pin positions.

Notation

The puzzle is oriented with 12 o'clock on top, and either side in front. The following moves can be made:{{Cite web |date=February 1, 2023 |title=WCA Regulations {{!}} World Cube Association |url=https://www.worldcubeassociation.org/regulations/#12g |access-date=2023-04-24 |website=www.worldcubeassociation.org}}

= Pin movements =

  • UR (top-right): Move the top-right pin up.
  • DR (bottom-right): Move the bottom-right pin up.
  • DL (bottom-left): Move the bottom-left pin up.
  • UL (top-left): Move the top-left pin up.
  • U (both top): Move both top pins up.
  • R (both right): Move both right pins up.
  • D (both bottom): Move both bottom pins up.
  • L (both left): Move both left pins up.
  • ALL (all): Move all pins up.

= Wheel movements =

  • X+ (X clockwise turns): Turn a dial next to an up-position pin clockwise X times, then move all pins down.
  • X− (X counter-clockwise turns): Turn a dial next to an up-position pin counter-clockwise X times, then move all pins down.

= Puzzle rotation =

  • y2: Flip the puzzle, then move all pins down.

Records

The world record for single solve is held by Volodymyr Kapustianskyi of the United States with a time of 1.64 seconds, set at Moorhead Madness 2025 in Moorhead, Minnesota.

The world record for Olympic average of five solves is held by Lachlan Gibson of New Zealand with an average of 2.28 seconds, set at Puzzling Papatoetoe 2025 in Auckland, New Zealand with times of (2.20), 2.22, 2.26, 2.36, and (2.65) seconds.World Cube Association [https://www.worldcubeassociation.org/results/records - Records]

= Top 10 solvers by single solve<ref>[[World Cube Association]] [https://www.worldcubeassociation.org/results/rankings/clock/single Official Clock Rankings - Single]</ref>=

class="wikitable"

! Rank !! Name !! Result !! Competition

1{{flagicon|USA}} Volodymyr Kapustianskyi1.64s{{flagicon|USA}} Moorhead Madness 2025
2{{flagicon|NZL}} Lachlan Gibson1.82s{{flagicon|NZL}} Puzzling Papatoetoe 2025
3{{flagicon|USA}} Brendyn Dunagan1.90s{{flagicon|USA}} Agoura Side Events Day 2025
4{{flagicon|AUS}} Kyle Jones1.99s{{flagicon|AUS}} Don't Inverloch Up 2025
5{{flagicon|NDL}} Mick Boekema2.00s{{flagicon|NDL}} Lente in Lent 2025
6{{flagicon|POL}} Eryk Kasperek2.11s{{flagicon|POL}} Energy Cube Tomaszów Mazowiecki 2025
7{{flagicon|POL}} Antoni Stojek2.14s{{flagicon|POL}} Cube4fun Cubers Eve Żyrardów 2024
8{{flagicon|PHL}} Karl Liam L. Abarquez2.22s{{flagicon|PHL}} Luzon Multi-Mega Madness 2025
9{{flagicon|NOR}} Niklas Aasen Eliasson2.25s{{flagicon|SWE}} Vännäs & Friends 2024
10{{flagicon|USA}} Drake Denton Richard2.26s{{flagicon|USA}} Charlotte Winter 2025

= Top 10 solvers by [[Olympic average]] of 5 solves<ref>[[World Cube Association]] [https://www.worldcubeassociation.org/results/rankings/clock/average Official Clock Rankings - Average]</ref>=

class="wikitable"

! Rank !! Name !! Result !! Competition !! Times

1{{flagicon|NZL}} Lachlan Gibson2.28s{{flagicon|NZL}} Puzzling Papatoetoe 2025(2.20), 2.22, 2.26, 2.36, (2.65)
2{{flagicon|USA}} Volodymyr Kapustianskyi2.31s{{flagicon|USA}} Moorhead Madness 20252.35, 2.40, 2.18, (3.71), (1.64)
3{{flagicon|POL}} Eryk Kasperek2.52s{{flagicon|POL}} Cube4fun Lublin on WEII 20242.44, (3.36), 2.59, (2.40), 2.52
4{{flagicon|USA}} Brendyn Dunagan2.64s{{flagicon|USA}} Nub Open Mission Viejo Spring 2025(2.36), 2.46, (DNF), 2.86, 2.61
5{{flagicon|USA}} Carter Thomas2.82s{{flagicon|USA}} Pyraminx in Pewaukee 2024(4.77), (2.45), 3.52, 2.47, 2.46
6{{flagicon|NOR}} Niklas Aasen Eliasson2.83s{{flagicon|NOR}} Kristiansand Open 20253.13, (2.59), 2.59, (3.36), 2.78
7{{flagicon|USA}} Fiona Bao2.93s{{flagicon|USA}} American Dream NJ 20252.97, 2.85, (2.68), (5.26), 2.96
8{{flagicon|AUS}} Kyle Jones2.94s{{flagicon|AUS}} NSW Side State Championship 2025(3.02), 2.99, 2.99, (2.68), 2.83
9{{flagicon|POL}} Filip Brokos2.99s{{flagicon|POL}} Cube4fun Biała Rawska Spring 2025(2.54), 2.83, (3.63), 3.02, 3.11
10{{flagicon|GBR}} Caleb Wolf Dunn3.00s{{flagicon|GBR}} Rubik's UK Championship 2024(2.70), 2.88, (4.18), 3.04, 3.07

= Non-human solving =

On Nov 21, 2024, a robot developed by Erez Borenshtein achieved a Guinness World Record by solving a Rubik's Clock in 0.443 seconds. This accomplishment was officially recognized by Guinness World Record as the fastest time for a robot to solve a Rubik's Clock. The record is documented on the Guinness World Records website.

References

External links

  • [https://www.speedsolving.com/wiki/index.php/List_of_Unofficial_World_Records#Other_Official_events Unofficial Records] Speedsolving.com's page of unofficial records for many puzzles including Rubik's Clock
  • [http://hol.abime.net/4661 Real Genius] Computer game implementation of Rubik's Clock for the Commodore Amiga, released in 1989
  • https://www.worldcubeassociation.org/results/rankings/clock/average
  • https://www.worldcubeassociation.org/results/rankings/clock/single?show=100+persons
  • https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/649381-fastest-robot-to-solve-a-rubiks-clock Non-Human Solving, By Erez Borenshtein

{{Rubik's Cube}}

Category:Mechanical puzzles

Category:Combination puzzles

Category:1988 works

Category:1988 introductions

Category:1980s toys