Cube Competitions!?

I was walking around my obviously unfinished basement over the weekend when I stumbled upon none other than the infamous Rubik's cube. I was immediately captivated, since I had never really faced this puzzle. The Rubik's cube has been portrayed in dozens of movies, and like in "The Pursuit of Happyness" the actors always made the puzzle seem so simple.

However, after nearly an hour of twisting and yelling and getting completely frustrated, I had only completed a full red side of the cube. I deemed it hopeless and abandoned the mesmerizing activity.

And then when speaking to my friend Adeline about how frustrated I had been since I hadn't been able to complete it, she told me her brother used mathematical formulas to figure out the cube and was even in Rubik's cube competitions. I immediately understood that there would be a formula for solving the cube since it obviously has direct correlation to geometry.. but competitions?! There are competitions for Rubik's cubes?! That just seemed absurd.

So of course, I did some research.  And not only are there competitions but there is the WCA, the World Cube Association.  And this association is in charge in creating Rubik's cube competitions all over the world! I immediately envisioned a dark room with two people twisting away at the colorful puzzles. Ha! But after searching through the WCA website, I found there are some pretty intense regulations! For example, the audience (are there really crowds at these events?!) have to be at least one and a half meters away from the competitors. Also, lighting is extremely important. They must be white lights so the competitors can easily distinguish the colors of the puzzles! That is too intense for me. 

So I guess there are thousands of people around the world that find solving this infamous puzzle trivial and completely easy.... but for now I have given up and I am not eager to start twisting away again!