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Rubik Notes
by Mark Elsdon

$9

(1 review, 6 customer ratings) ★★★★

PDF | by download [1.72 MByte]  
Rubik Notes by Mark Elsdon

Following on from the success of his Rubik Remembered DVD, this is Mark’s brand new ebook: Rubik Notes.

The Notes contain Mark’s full solution for Rubik’s Cube (His version of the Layer Method, originally devised by Rubik-Guru David Singmaster. You can achieve solve times below one minute with this method.) and are fully colour-illustrated to make learning as direct as possible. The solution is completely self-contained and you don’t need to own the Rubik Remembered DVD or indeed anything else to learn to solve Rubik’s Cube – everything is right here in the Notes.

If however you do own Mark’s Rubik DVD you’ll be excited to hear that the Notes contain time-referenced illustrations of every single move on the DVD, so that students who require some additional help can have a written solution to hand. Simply match up the illustration to the exact time Mark does the move on the DVD and you have the full step-by-step explanation. Got a mental block about one particular sequence? Mark gives full permission to photocopy the relevant page so that you can carry the solution in your pocket.

You’ve already learned to solve the Cube? Great!

The Notes also contain three fantastic new presentations which turn solving the Cube into a piece of entertainment. Mark has been using these presentations for years – they are practical and engaging. This also makes them ideal for those performers who wear glasses, for whom the use of Mark’s original blindfold presentation is impossible.

Further, the Notes feature a chapter of interesting history, facts and figures to do with the Cube, which can help enhance the expertise of any performer who uses the Cube in their show.

Finally, the Notes contain a brand-new Rubik’s Cube effect which is perfect for anyone who already does or is learning to solve the Cube. This new effect can be used on its own or in tandem with Rubik Remembered - either way it’s a killer!

[For other magic tricks using a Rubik's Cube see Rubix Square by Luke Jermay.]

1st edition 2009; 34 pages.
word count: 4154 which is equivalent to 16 standard pages of text



Reviewed by Paul Shepley (confirmed purchase)
★★★★   Date Added: Thursday 07 April, 2016

Unnecessary repetition of diagrams, incomplete information, and dishonest description.

Pages 16 and 17 refer you to the DVD, so if you don’t have that, you cannot learn this method. Speaking of which, it does not have any apparent advantage over any other beginner method, and there is no information or discussion about how you might use it to accomplish a blindfold solve, genuine or otherwise. For example, you position middle layer edge cubies individually with an eight move algorithm, same as every other beginner method. Usually this is done from the top layer into the middle layer, while here you do the opposite.

So, what about the “effects”, and the “killer bonus”?

Basically, three of these “routines” consist of you solving the cube (very unlikely to be a sub 1-minute time, by the way) before a spectator can accomplish some task or the other. Where’s the magic? There is none. It might be impressive done blindfold, but there is NO information on how you might go about learning a blindfold solve, genuine or otherwise.

You also get a method for doing a bag solve effect. The method is truly awful. I don’t want to give anything away here, but it involves the use of dry wipe marker pens applied to the white face of your cube. This makes the cube look mixed up, when it’s not, see? The author suggests you be mindful of the lighting conditions! The author also recommends the use of a ridiculous gimmick for an instant solve effect.

There are other problems with this product, not least being priced at $9 when you can learn more useful information on the Rubik’s website for free.

My advice is:

If you want faster solve times, do online research into speed cubing.

If you want (no-gimmick superior method) effects, try Cube 3 by Steven Brundage.

This product is listed in the following categories:

Magic & Conjuring / Science & Math Tricks

Games / Puzzles, Logic & Brain Teasers