Rubik’s Cube is cool again

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Matt Cline wasn’t even born when the Rubik’s Cube hit the market in 1980 and became a worldwide fad. But the multicolor toy is the 20-year-old’s constant companion, giving him a way to pass the time or compete with his friends.

“If I’m on an airplane and doing it, I almost always have somebody next to me ask about it,” said Cline, a student at Brown University, whose best time is 53 seconds. “From one side, it’s this completely mystical, genius thing. Once you figure it out, it’s totally uncovered.”

Cline and other 20-somethings and teens are fueling a 21st century revival of the puzzle that flummoxed 1980s gamers, making it a top-selling toy and earning it a role in a hit movie. More serious fans, called “speedcubers,” are obsessed with solving the puzzle at lightning speed and travel around the world to compete.

The classic 3-by-3 cube consists of nine colored squares on each of its six sides. It was invented by Erno Rubik, a college lecturer in interior design in Budapest, Hungary. For most people, the trick is to get all the sides the same color.

For speedcubers, that’s only the first step in a much more difficult challenge. They aim to break certain benchmarks — solving the puzzle in 1 minute, 30 seconds, 20 seconds, 15 seconds.

The world record is 9.77 seconds.

But elite cubers like to mix things up, solving the puzzle one-handed (record: 15.81 seconds) or even blindfolded (54.83 seconds, including memorization time). There are also 4-by-4 cubes known as “Rubik’s Revenge,” 5-by-5 ones called “Professor’s Cube” and others.

The resurgence started after cubers set up international rules for competitions several years ago. Clubs sprung up at schools, people posted videos of themselves cubing on the Web site YouTube and cubers began swapping secrets online about how to keep their cubes in fighting form.

A few tips: take it apart to clean it periodically, lubricate it with silicone spray and replace the colored stickers that come with the cube with tiles that stand up to repeated use.

Hasbro Inc., based in Pawtucket, one of three companies licensed to sell Rubik’s Cubes in the U.S., has seen sales triple since 2002, with a huge spike last Christmas, said Matt Collins, vice president of marketing for Hasbro Games. He attributes the increase to ’80s retro chic, young men who like to compete and a demand for “brain training” games that keep the mind sharp.

“It is one of the No. 1 games, period, in the marketplace,” Collins said. “It’s caught some of our retailers by surprise.”

Pop culture is catching on. The cube was featured in an ad for Sony Corp.’s PlayStation 3 game console and in Will Smith’s movie “The Pursuit of Happyness,” in which Smith’s character, homeless and trying to get his foot in the door as a stockbroker, solves a Rubik’s Cube and impresses a company executive.

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