Skip to content
Spark & Whetstonethe grown-up commons

← Learn

Thinking in Turns

Three short lessons on the puzzle cube, for anyone who never got past one face: what a turn is and how to undo it, why four turns bring you home, and why the order of moves matters.

For grown-ups, from what CubeSensei teaches children at Spark & Anvil.

  1. Lesson 1A turn and its undo
  2. Lesson 2Four turns home
  3. Lesson 3The order matters
At the table · two people and one real cube

Read me the moves

You'll need: a puzzle cube, or the cube page on one device.

  1. One person reads a short scramble aloud from the cube page; the other turns the cube.
  2. Swap: the turner now reads the undo, last move first, and the reader turns it home.
  3. Try R U R′ U′ six times together, counting aloud.
  4. Stop when it stops being fun. Nobody times anything.

Open Read me the moves: run it, or print the seat sheets →

Print the guidebook (all lessons + the table activity) →