Every cuber has heard of Feliks Zemdegs and Max Park and many others with multiple amazing world records in speedcubing events. These are the records the World Cube Association keeps when broken during any official competition. But speedcubing is not the only skill one can perform with a Rubik’s Cube. This blog is about some of the most extraordinary Guinness World Records involving Rubik’s Cube which is not speedcubing events.
The Largest and Smallest Rubik’s Cubes
Let us start with amazing puzzle sizes: the records for the largest and smallest Rubik’s Cubes ever made are held by the same person. Tony Fischer is a well-known British puzzle designer who created the world’s largest Rubik’s Cube in 2016-2017, standing at 1.57 meters tall and weighing over a hundred kilos. He topped his own record in 2020 when he made another massive puzzle that stood at over 2 meters. He was also the designer for the world’s smallest cube, coming in at just 5.6 millimeters! Despite its minuscule size, it is fully functional, requiring delicate tweezers to move the layers.
Solving Rubik’s Cubes Underwater
This record has a long history, as it has been attempted many times by different people and broken over the years. It started with Kevin Hays, an American speedcuber, who is well-known for his prowess in big cubes such as 6x6 and 7x7. The record was more regularly broken than most, with people solving more than 6 cubes underwater in one breath. However, this was smashed in 2021 by Daryl Tan Hong An, who was able to solve 16 cubes underwater at once, after training his breathing techniques for months.
Solving Rubik’s Cubes and Juggling
Solving cubes and learning to juggle objects are hard enough on their own, but there is actually a Guinness World Record for solving Rubik’s cubes while juggling them in the least amount of time. This record was set by thirteen-year-old Que Jianyu in 2018, and he was only given 15 seconds to inspect all three cubes. He was able to solve all of them simultaneously while juggling them in front of a live audience and completed all three in just over 5 minutes.
Hands and Feet Record
Speedcubing using your hands and 3x3 with Feet were two official events under the WCA for a long time until 3x3 with Feet was removed. There is, however, a Guinness World Record, for solving 3 Rubik’s cubes with both hands and feet at the same time, set in 2018. This is the same person who placed the record for solving while juggling too! He solved one cube in each of his hands and the third using his feet simultaneously in just 1.5 minutes.
The Largest Mosaic
There are many stories and records of mosaics built with Rubik’s cubes around the world, representing many images such as famous people and symbols. However, the world’s largest mosaic was built in China by Josh Chalom, at a whopping area of 277 square meters. It depicted famous scenery in the city of Macau where it was created. There are many other mosaic records, like the most number of contributions to a mosaic or the most number of cubes, but this one is specifically the largest by area and has not been broken since 2012.
Cubing on Cycles
The last records in this list are about the most number of cubes solved while riding a cycle. There is the unicycle record, where Canadian Jesse Bradford solved 300 Rubik’s cubes while on a single-wheeled cycle in 2021. A similar record on a bicycle is held by Indian PK Arumugam, who was able to complete solving more than a thousand cubes while continuously riding a bicycle in 2017. This attempt even took over 6 hours of pedaling!
Conclusion
This list is only a sample of the many extraordinary Guinness World Records involving Rubik’s Cubes. There are many more, such as solving the most number of cubes one-handed in 24 hours straight! All these lies outside the official speedcubing record of the World Cube Association and are ways to spread cubing to a broader audience and celebrate the hard work of the record holders, who had to train extensively to set many of these records.
About the Author
Pranav Prabhu
Pranav Prabhu is the current 3x3 Fewest Moves (Single) National record holder from Chennai. He started cubing when he was 14 and has 5 years of cubing experience. Besides cubing, Pranav enjoys reading books, writing, and playing the piano. He has participated in 36 competitions and won 30 podiums including 8 gold medals and 1 National record.
