But that doesn't mean knew how to solve it.

帶這並不代表他知道要怎麼解魔術方塊。

It took him a few months to figure it out.

他花了幾個月才摸出一套方法。

By the time the first World Rubik's Cube Championships were held in 1982, the winner - he could solve the cube in a little less than 23 seconds.

第一屆魔術方塊世界大賽在 1982 年舉辦，當時的冠軍用了不到 23 秒解開魔方。

And these days? (news montage of Collin's record)

現在呢？ (Collin 打破紀錄的新聞合輯)

This is world record holder Collin Burns, and today, we find out how he did it.

這位是世界紀錄保持人 Collin Burns，今天我們要來看他是怎麼做到的。

It could last another week; it could last another few years.

這項紀錄可能會保持幾天或幾年。

The previous record lasted for just over 2 years.

上一個紀錄就維持了超過兩年多。

But with...especially with single solve, you just need to get lucky.

但是如果要達成最快解開單顆魔術方塊的成就，你會需要一點運氣。

Or at least that's a big part of it.

至少運氣是個很重要的成分。

Collin tends to downplay his skills but it's worth noting there are two types of world records.

Collin 不太看重自己的技巧，但魔術方塊的世界紀錄有兩種。

The way speedcubing competitions work is that volunteers scramble the cubes according to instructions that are generated by a computer, so competitors all get the same scramble.

速解魔方的比賽是由志工依照電腦產生的指示將魔術方塊打亂，所以每位參賽者拿到的魔術方塊都會一樣。

They do 5 solves and their three middle scores are averaged.

比賽中每個人要轉五顆魔術方塊，取其中轉得最快的三顆來平均。

So Collin holds the world record for a single solve.

所以 Collin 創的是最快解開單顆魔術方塊的世界紀錄。

But the world record for an average score is held by a 19-year-old in Australia.

平均最快解開魔術方塊的紀錄保持人是來自澳洲的 19 歲少年。

Still, Collin's record is a huge deal.

但 Collin 的紀錄仍然是一件大事。

At the competition where we met up with him, kids were asking him for his autograph.

我們在比賽現場遇到他時，許多孩子正在跟他要簽名。

Are you that famous cube guy?

你就是那個有名的魔方玩家嗎？

He's now being sponsored by a cube company and by a cube retailer, which are paying for him to travel internationally.

他現在接受魔術方塊公司和零售商的贊助到世界各地旅行。

And he wants people to know, you could do this too.

他想讓大家知道，自己也可以做得到。

The biggest misconception about cubing is that it's difficult, which it really isn't.

大家對魔術方塊最大的誤解就是它很難玩，但其實不然。

Pop culture treats the Rubik's cube like some sort of IQ test, but it's not.

大眾文化將魔術方塊歸類在智力測驗，但其實不是。

At least not anymore.

至少現在不是了。

I recently bought a cube online and it came with instructions for beginners.

我最近買了一個魔術方塊，它有附一份給初學者的說明書。

And if you memorize those, you can solve the cube in a couple minutes.

如果記下上面的公式，只要花個幾分鐘就可以解開它。

It helps to understand the design of the puzzle.

說明書能讓人了解這個難題的是設計原理。

At first glance, it looks like...it's a cube made out of cubes — right, three layers of nine.

第一眼看到魔術方塊，會覺得它是用很多小方塊組成的方塊，每層 9 個方塊，共有 3 層。

But if you look closer, you'll see there aren't actually any cubes here.

但仔細點看，你會發現其實它們根本不算是方塊。

So that tells you that the corners will always be corners, the edges will always be edges, and the middle pieces determine the color of that face.

因為角塊永遠都會在角落，邊塊永遠都會在邊邊，中間那塊則決定了那一面的顏色。

Speedcubers will buy special cubes.

速解魔方的玩家會買一些特別的魔術方塊。

They can lubricate them and adjust the tension.

他們可以將魔術方塊上油潤滑、調整鬆緊度。

But the real key to their speed is efficiency.

但他們的速度可以如此之快的關鍵在於「效率」。

They're looking several moves ahead, and they use fewer moves to get the same result.

他們會預想到後面的步驟，所以會思考如何用較少步數來達到一樣的結果。

So there are 43 quintillion possible arrangements for the cube.

魔術方塊大約有四千三百京種組合。

A few years back, some researchers borrowed computing power from Google to find out that any scramble can be solved in 20 moves or less.

幾年前，一些研究員借助 Google 的計算能力發現，任意組合的魔術方塊都能在 20 步之內被還原。

They call it God's Number.

它們稱之為「上帝之數」。

But humans just aren't that good.

但人類沒這麼厲害。

The beginners' method that I learned uses 100 to 200 moves.

我所學的初學者解法大約要轉 100~200 步。

Speedcubers use more around 50 to 60 moves.

速解玩家大約會花 50~60 步。

And they can do that, in part, because of the knowledge gained by the previous generation of speedcubers.

他們之所以可以做到這點，有一部份是因為他們已經吸收了上一代速解玩家的經驗。

When the cube first spread around the world back in the 80s, people had to learn through trial and error.

當魔術方塊在 1980 年代開始盛行時，人們必須要不斷地從嘗試和錯誤中學習。

This was happening in a lot of math departments and campus clubs.

當時許多數學系和學校的社團都在瘋解魔術方塊。

People were discovering the cube at the same time, and they were sharing what they learned.

人們一起研究魔術方塊的解法，並互相分享他們從中習得的技巧。

The method that Collin uses was developed by Jessica Fridrich.

Collin 採用的方法是由 Jessica Fridrich 發明的解法。

She's an engineering professor who was a college student at the time.

這位工程學的教授在當時也是學生。

It starts with a cross on one of the faces.

我們先從一面的十字開始解。

And that face becomes the bottom layer.

那一面就先當成底層。

Then what they do is solve the corners of the bottom layer and the middle layer simultaneously.

接著他們會同時解最底層的四個角塊和中間那層。

So, you can see now that all of this is solved.

你會發現下面兩層已經解好了。

And for the final layer, they're choosing from dozens of algorithms that they've memorized.

至於最後一層，則從他們記下的數十種公式解中挑出適合的來解。

And those are sequences of moves that will mess up the cube temporarily to move certain pieces into place.

在解最後一層時，原本已經整理好的方塊會暫時被打亂，讓其他方塊移動到正確位置。

And then put the rest of the cube back where it was.

最後再將打亂的方塊轉回原本的位置。

The Rubik's cube has made a comeback in recent years along with that same ethic of sharing tips and strategies.

魔術方塊近幾年又再次風行，互相交流訣竅、策略的風氣也隨之而起。

So all of resources you need are there.

你需要的資源都在這了。

There's just one other thing.

現在只剩最後一件事。

Practice!

練習！

This is Collin nearly 5 years ago.

這是五年前的 Collin。

World records are not built in a day.

世界紀錄的成就並非一蹴可躋的。