By J.C. Flores, Eagle’s Scream

Published November 9th, 1981 – Eagle’s Scream, Eagle Rock High School

Minh Thai did it in 32 seconds. Kevin Fong can do it in 50 seconds. Annette Bernadino’s average is 75 seconds. How fast can you do it?

The above Rubik’s cube masters are three of several here at Eagle Rock. Many friends who have spent frustrating hours working the cube are amazed at how the speedy solvers can do it with such ease.

“You have to have patience and a good memory,” says Annette Bernadino. She learned to solve the cube by “playing around with it.” Unlike Kevin Fong, who used a book as a

guide, she believes “If you use the books, it’s not challenging; it ruins the whole concept.”

Minh Thai just competed at Magic Mountain against 550 people to win the western Region Rubik’s Cube-A-Thon. He first saw the cube when friend Peter Valenzuela showed it to him. After a ten minute lesson in record room, taught by Valenzuela, he solved the puzzle within two class periods. Thai’s average is not forty seconds. His strategy, “I solve all eight corners first, then the eight opposite edges and the middle part.”