This section attempts to answer questions that you might have about the method, and also provide a framework within which to memorise the numbers.
Q: there must be an easier way to permute the corners than shown in the basic method
A: Well, yes there is. Okay its confession time - my method works fine but there are useful
shortcuts that I haven't put in the basic method up that would make life an awful lot easier for
anybody trying to blindfold cube (these shortcuts appear in the simplification section of
this site). I am yet another of those damn mathematicians so I was interested
more in how to do it elegantly than how to do it easily.
Q: I tried out the example but can't really get it to work for myself. Can you
explain again and give a few more eample?
A: Hmmm, I can try. Look in the simplifcation section, there are a few move
examples in there, and you might find the corners treatment a little simpler to use.
Q: I've tried another site and the way it explains the method seems to be different from yours, is that so? A: Not all methods for doing the cube blindfold will be the same. IF you find another site doing it another way then try what it has to offer.
Q: Is your method any good?
A: I guess you mean what are the good points and what are the bad points? Well, the good
points are that the method of learning the corners means you know before you tackle the
cube whether you will be able to skip STEP 3, or not. The bad point is that when permuting
corners it may take a lot of moves to place all the corners in one layer, and it is hard
to undo those moves later on because it is easy to forget exactly what you did to get them
all in the one layer. The good thing is that the Simplification section gets rid of most
of those problems with the addition of very few simple to understand algorithms.
Q: I have got the hang of the method and can do each phase, and use the simplifications
but can't remember all the information required to solve the entire cube whilst blindfold.
A: There is a reason so few people have ever done the cube blindfold, and that is
the amound of memorisation required is quite large. Myself, I forget the edges more
often than I remember them and the amount of time required is very large. To memorise
numbers I repeat them to their inherent rhythm, which means I need to reinforce them
after each new digit I have to memorise. There are better ways - look on the net for
memorisation techniques.
I don't use memorisation techniques, hence if I lose concentration on the cube or take too much focus off the string of numbers I am trying to recall then I completely forget the information. Using memorisation techniques is definitely a good idea unless you enjoy self torture!
I think the best way to memorise would be to apply a different memorisation technique to each of the set of numbers that you are trying to learn, the result being that it is harder to confuse numbers learnt for one phase of the solution with numbers learnt for another phase of that solution.
From the example,
Top band to flip has: 3 Middle band to flip has: 6,8 Bottom band to flip has: 12
Notice that there are 4 edges in each layer, and that each edge is either flipped or not-flipped ie a binary state. To mathematical people it is fairly obvious that the state of flippage of the edges in any one layer can be described by a number between 0 and 1+2+4+8=15.
For those who haven't worked this out already, here is how to determine the three numbers. Start with 0, and work from the lowest numbered edge in that layer. If the lowest numbered is flipped then add 1, if the next is then add 2, if the next is then add 4 and if the highest is then add 8. (The value of an flipped edge starts at 1 and doubles as you go to the next one).
The non-mathematically inclined (which if you got this far probably doesn't include you) may have a little difficulty working out which pieces are flipped given a single number like 13. With a little practise it is really quite easy. Start with the number, say 13. You compare that number with the numbers 1,2,4 and 8. Find the largest of those numbers that it is equal to or bigger than. In this case 8, and subtract that number from the starting number. This leaves 5. Compare this to 1,2,4 and 8. The biggest number it is equal to or bigger than is 4. Subtract from 5 leaves 1. Compare 1 to 1,2,4,8. The biggest number it is equal to or bigger than is 1. Subtract from 1 leaves 0, and once you have reached that you have finished. So, 13=8+4+1 which is the fourth, third and first edge in the layer. Notice that you determined the edges in the reverse order to that which you worked out the number in the first place.
In the example the top layer has a flippage number of 0+0+4+0=4, the middle layer has a number of 0+2+0+8=10, and the bottom layer has a number of 0+0+0+8=8.
So instead of remembering the numbers 3,6,8,12 in any order I'm asking you to remember the numbers 4,10,8 in that specific order? Not quite.
The first thing to realise is that the number of flipped edges is likely to be between 4 and 8, whereas here you always know you only have to remember three numbers. You now need to make these numbers easy to remember. The 4th, 10th and 8th letter of the alphabet are D,J and H. From a mindreading act I used to do (hi Martyn!), these letters are for me associated with the words DROWNED, JACKASS and HELP. I then put these in a story in that order. For example, a DROWNED JACKASS can't shout HELP. This is easy to remember when I come back to it later.
If there are a lot of edges that need flipping then you could alternatively remember which edges don't need flipping and flip those instead, then when at the end you have would normally have completed the cube you can do the superflip ie flip all the edges. This is a technique that Richard Carr uses, and is very workable. I don't like it because I feel that I am going away from the solution and that sets up an internal tension in my brain that makes me lose focus on what I am doing.
It is irrelevant in which order you do the pairs, just that you do the right pairs. For instance, to learn rotating pairs (21),(43),(56),(86) I would use a system whereby each number represented a person. For me this would be Mr.T (BA Barracas), Dwain Chambers, Edward Sissorhands and Homer Simpson. I would also remember that there are four pairs to learn by remembering the number 4 using the number shape system as a sail. I would then combine these all into some sort of coherent story such as Mr.T sailed past Dwain Chambers whilst Edward Sissorhands attempted to cut Homer Simpson hair. This is used by memory expert Dominic O'Brien.
Sometimes it is just easier to remember what you have to do. This phase is so short you don't really have much to remember. I would remember it by visualising which pieces it involves in my head.
The method has you remembering the separate cycles. Remembering the lengths of the cycles along with the corners involved in the cycle and the number of different cycles to recall is one way of tackling the memorisation. Another way is to remember all the cycles in any order so just as one string of numbers, but the trick is to remember say as (123) as (1231) and (1234) as (12341), so (12)(3456)(78) remember as (12134563787) and when you meet a number that you have already met you will know that you have reached the end of the cycle. This works very well in practise.
This requires you to remember a moderate number of digits. Maybe here would be a good time to associate each number with one or more consonants, and then by judicious use of vowels create words eg leopard sandals (a number from a memory book I read about 15 years ago and still remember) is LPRDSNDLS=594102150. This is known as the Major system and is esposed by memory expert Tony Buzan.
Remembering the edge permutations is more difficult then remembering the corner permutations for two distinct reasons. Firstly, there are more edges than corners so simply more to remember, and secondly there are corners numbered 1-8 which is less than 10, whilst there are edges numbered 1-12 which is more than 10. We work in a decimal system hence memory systems have been designed to work on data which is base 13; the problem is that we have no convenient way of representing each of 10, 11 and 12 with a single character (if we were going from 1-10 we could remember 10 as 0. A solution would be to have 11 as a and 12 as b). If we simply memorise as a string of numbers we have the problem of whether 112 is 11 followed by 2 or 1 followed by 12? Similarly is 123 12 followed by 3 or is it 1 followed by 2 followed by 3?
I remember cycles, but I think more efficiently you could remember which piece is initially at each of the locations 1-12. This seems ripe for using the journey system whereby you imagine a journey through somewhere you know well, and at each stop on the way you meet each of the numbers (you will need to associate each number with some type of object). When you replay this in your mind you will know what is at each stop and thus