Introduction
This will be a comprehensive guide on how to solve the Rubik's Clock puzzle fast. It is aimed at people who already have a confident understanding of clock solving, and average anywhere between 9 and 15 seconds (maybe a little higher even).
Using the knowledge here, and with a good amount of regular practise, I managed to get to a global average of roughly 7.4. I think with better turning I could potentially improve on this!
In this guide, I will be assuming a few things:
With all that out of the way, lets begin!
Turning style
Clock turning style is something I hardly, if ever, hear about, and yet I think it is so crucial to be able to turn well if you want to be able to get good times.
There are four types of moves which you can do on the cogs – you can push or pull with your thumb, and your index finger. Each turn that you make should require only one of these moves, so you should figure out how far you can turn using each type of move. For example, I can do up to +5 with a right index pull, and -6 (sometimes 7) with a right index push. So if I need to do a 6 move with my right index, I need to make sure that I use a push move, as if I used a pull move, there is a chance I would not be able to do the whole turn in one motion, requiring me to do another move, which is ugly!
To do pin adjustments, I always use my thumbs to push pins down, and either my middle or ring finger to push pins up, and I suggest that you do the same, as this allows you to retain a fairly comfortable grip whilst solving.
To practise turning, I suggest the following turning exercises:
Efficiency
You should be able to recognise a lucky case already, and know to use the two different types of lucky case to skip moves. In this section, I'll be talking about how to make sure you use every scramble to its full potential.
Some useful techniques:
EXAMPLE 1:
Scramble: (-3, 6) / (4, 0) / (-4, 5) / (-4, 2) / (-3) / (1) / (-4) / (-3) / (4) / (-3) / ddUd
This scramble is perfectly set up for doing an x2 z' rotation to catch the center-edge lucky case on the back, whilst still being able to make use of the lucky case (and initial pin skip) on the front face. I would solve this scramble in the following way:
(ddUd) (4,0)
dUdd (-4,0)
UUdd (-5,0)
UUdU (5,0)
x2 z'
(Uddd) (6,0), etc.
EXAMPLE 2
Scramble: (-3, 4) / (-1, -2) / (-4, 0) / (1, 2) / (4) / (-4) / (2) / (-2) / (0) / (-1) / ddUd
As you can see, there is an centre-edge lucky case on the back. Keeping this on the back (so it can be solved following an x2 rotation), we can make use of the pin skip. Now, we see that we can build an L-shape in the upper left using the following moves
(ddUd) (4,0)
dUdd (1,0)
See that doing the (4,0) pushes the bottom edge clock up to 12 – now to use the AUF skip, the solve is continued in this way.
Uddd (-5,0)
UUdd (-5,0)
UUdU x2
(dUdd) (2,0) etc.
Now I have covered some techniques, I will talk about how to use inspection. For me, the inspection phase is the most important part of the solve – a poorly planned inspection can leave you with a solve which is awkward and slow to execute. As such, I think the most effective thing for me to do is to go through everything that I think about during inspection, to help me to choose the best starting orientation possible.
Sometimes you won't have time for all this – sometimes it won't really be necessary!
Lookahead
Lookahead on clock is really straightforward, as there is not much independent movement of the clocks, they tend to either stay a relative distance away from each other, or not move at all. Looking ahead will increase your solve fluency, like with any other puzzle, and so is strongly encouraged. My solving thought process is something like this:
First face: First moves planned in inspection. Whilst solving, track the other two edge clocks.
Second face: First moves planned in inspection. Whilst solving, track the other two edge clocks. Whilst solving the rest of the edge clocks, check for a corner skip on the bottom two corners.
Corners: Whilst solving one corner, look ahead to the next one, so you can skip it out if it is already solved.
Again, like with most puzzles, the most effective ways to practise looking ahead are to just do solves, and do some slower solves where you can track the clocks more easily.
Example Solves
Now, I will put everything I have written about into practise, by walking through a few example scrambles.
-----EXAMPLE SOLVE 1
(-2, -1) / (0, 5) / (-2, 1) / (-5, -1) / (-4) / (1) / (1) / (4) / (-2) / (3) / ddUd
This scramble has a centre-edge lucky case, and an edge-edge lucky case. In order to use both of these cases, I will start on the back face, with 12 pointing up. This way, both lucky cases can be used, if an x2 z' rotation is performed. Note that the first move on the first face will be a -1 turn with the lower left pin up, and the first move on the second face will be a 2 move (upper left pin will be up already). The solve will finish with 12 on the right.
Solution:
y2
ddUd (-1,0) // match centre to top and right edge
dUdd (5,0) // match to left edge
(Note: dUdd (1,0) to match to the bottom edge is shorter here, but will mess with the pin order, making the rotation a faff, so I take the longer way around)
UUdd (-4,0) // match to bottom edge
UUUd (-5,0) // auf
x2 z' (2,0) // rotation, match CE lucky case to right edge
dUdd (2,0) // match to left edge
UUdd (1,0) // match to bottom edge
UUUd (1,0) // bottom right corner
UUdU (-4,0) // bottom left corner
UdUU (5,0) // upper right corner
dUUU (3,0) // upper left corner
UUUU (-1,0) // AUF
----- EXAMPLE SOLVE 2
(5, -2) / (-2, 4) / (3, -5) / (4, 3) / (2) / (-5) / (-1) / (5) / (-5) / (2) / UddU
No lucky cases - I would start looking at the 4 possible rotations where the lower left pin is already up for potential AUF skips. Sadly, there are none, so I will just pick one which looks easy - front face with 12 on the right looks like the easiest one, as the first turn is short, and the bottom and left edge clocks are close together, so the face should be fairly easy. The first turns on the back are 3 and -2 following a y2 rotation, and 12 finishes on the left.
Solution:
z // inspection
ddUd (2,0) // match centre to top edge
dUdd (-5,0) // match to left edge
Uddd (1,0) // match to bottom edge
UdUd (6,0) // match to left edge
UUUd (2,0) // AUF
y2 (3,0) // rotation, match centre to top edge
dUdd (-2,0) // match to left edge
Uddd (6,0) // match to bottom edge
UdUd (-2,0) // match to right edge
UUUd (-2,0) // bottom right corner
UUdU (6,0) // bottom left corner
UdUU (-4,0) // upper right corner
UUUU (-3,0) // AUF (upper left corner skip!)
----- EXAMPLE SOLVE 3
(-2, 4) / (5, -1) / (2, -1) / (1, -1) / (6) / (3) / (-5) / (6) / (4) / (-4) / UUdd
Three edges on the back face are solved - this gives us the freedom of which pair to match the centre up to. As both pins are up for that group of pieces, I will start with them on the back. So my starting orientation should be the front face, with 12 pointing down. All the clocks on the left hand face are fairly close together, so there will be lots of short moves. The first moves on the front will be a 2 turn and a -1 turn, and after the y2 rotation, a -1 move will match the centre to the pair of edges at the top and right. This group can then be attached to the left edge with another -1 turn. 12 is on the bottom for the whole solve.
Solution:
z2 // inspection
ddUd (2,0) // match centre to top edge
dUdd (-1,0) // match to left edge
Uddd (-1,0) // match to bottom edge
UdUd (6,0) // match to right edge
UUUd (-2,0) // AUF
y2 (-1,0) // rotation, match centre to top and right edges
dUdd (-1,0) // match to left edge (short move)
UUdd (5,0) // match to bottom edge
UUUd (4,0) // bottom right corner
UUdU (4,0) // bottom left corner
UdUU (6,0) // upper right corner
dUdd (4,0) // upper left corner (AUF skip!)
----- EXAMPLE SOLVE 4
(-5, -2) / (-2, -2) / (1, -2) / (0, -4) / (-4) / (-3) / (-1) / (-1) / (-1) / (-1) / dddd
Now this is a nice scramble! The front face has a centre-edge lucky case, and the back has three solved edges. All the pins are down on the front face, so I would be more inclined to pass up on an easier x2 rotation, and start with 12 on the left, moving the lucky case to the top. Notice that, if we do a -1 move with the upper right pin up, not only to we solve the lucky case to the left edge, but the right edge is pushed to 12 - AUF skip time! So we know for that face, the right edge will be the last one to solve. On the back, after a y2 rotation a -2 move will solve the centre to 2 edges, and a -2 move with the upper right pin up will easily solve the left edge. 12 finishes on the right, this time.
Solution:
z' // inspection
dUdd (-1,0) // match CE lucky case to left edge
Uddd (3,0) // match to bottom edge
UdUd (2,0) // match to left edge, AUF skip
y2 ddUd (-2,0) // rotation, match centre to top and right edges
dUdd (-2,0) // match to left edge
UUdd (-2,0) // match to bottom edge
UUUd (-3,0) // bottom right corner
UUdU (6,0) // bottom left corner
UdUU (-5,0) // upper right corner
dUUU (-1,0) // upper left corner
UUUU (-2,0) // AUF
----- EXAMPLE SOLVE 5
(6, 0) / (5, -2) / (2, -2) / (4, 0) / (3) / (-1) / (-3) / (6) / (-4) / (-5) / dUUU
Super easy back face, in one move all the edges can be matched up! I would probably take advantage of the pin skip here and start on the back face. Although it is tempting to start an x2 away from here, doing a 6 move at the start of a solve is not so great. After a y2 rotation, the first moves are a -2 and a -5. 12 stays on top for the whole solve.
Solution:
y2 // inspection
(-2,0) // match solved L to left and bottom edges
UUUd (5,0) // AUF
y2 (-2,0) // rotation, match centre to top edge
dUdd (-5,0) // match to left edge
Uddd (-1,0) // match to bottom edge
UdUd (-1,0) // match to right edge
UUUd (4,0) // bottom right corner
UUdU (6,0) // bottom left corner
UdUU (-1,0) // upper right corner
dUUU (-3,0) // upper left corner
UUUU (-3,0) // AUF
So now, you know all the techniques you need, now it's a case of just doing lots of solves, so you can get comfortable with using these techniques!
I hope this guide has been useful – if you have any further questions, feel free to send me a message on SS forums (I am ryanj92 there), and we can talk some clock!
This will be a comprehensive guide on how to solve the Rubik's Clock puzzle fast. It is aimed at people who already have a confident understanding of clock solving, and average anywhere between 9 and 15 seconds (maybe a little higher even).
Using the knowledge here, and with a good amount of regular practise, I managed to get to a global average of roughly 7.4. I think with better turning I could potentially improve on this!
In this guide, I will be assuming a few things:
- That you solve a clock using a fixed pin order method, like the Pochmann method.
- That you know both standard types of 'lucky case'. If you don't know this, or would like a refresher, James Molloy has made a great video explaining lucky cases. Rubik's Clock - Fixed Pin Order & Lucky Cases
- You can solve from any orientation – that is, you can start your solve with 12 in any position. If you cannot do this already, I advise that you start learning how to do this immediately, as you will be missing out on a lot of good cases.
- That your hardware is good. With bad hardware, I feel that you will be limiting yourself more than you can realise. As a guide, you want to be able to comfortably perform a '6' move with one finger, so if this is impossible on your puzzle, either lubricate your puzzle if you have not already (Kit Clement's tutorial on Cubing World is a good place to start if you don't know how), or just replace it with a better one. The quality of clock puzzles is more inconsistent than other puzzles (even within the same brand, frustratingly), and getting a good one can be a case of trial and error, but sadly it is something which has to be endured if you want to be able to turn fast.
- That you can read standard clock notation (Jaap, concise).
With all that out of the way, lets begin!
Turning style
Clock turning style is something I hardly, if ever, hear about, and yet I think it is so crucial to be able to turn well if you want to be able to get good times.
There are four types of moves which you can do on the cogs – you can push or pull with your thumb, and your index finger. Each turn that you make should require only one of these moves, so you should figure out how far you can turn using each type of move. For example, I can do up to +5 with a right index pull, and -6 (sometimes 7) with a right index push. So if I need to do a 6 move with my right index, I need to make sure that I use a push move, as if I used a pull move, there is a chance I would not be able to do the whole turn in one motion, requiring me to do another move, which is ugly!
To do pin adjustments, I always use my thumbs to push pins down, and either my middle or ring finger to push pins up, and I suggest that you do the same, as this allows you to retain a fairly comfortable grip whilst solving.
To practise turning, I suggest the following turning exercises:
- Start with the upper left pin down, and all the others up. Do a (1,0) move. Now change the pin order to UdUU, and do another (1,0) move. Continue clockwise, and when you get back to the upper left, change to (-1,0) moves, and repeat. Repeat this entire process using 2 moves, then 3, then 4, then 5, and finally 6. It is easy to tell if you have done this exercise correctly because the clock will return to solved after each cycle, and should be solved at the finish. My PB for this exercise is 23.07 – I challenge you all to beat it!
(Notated: dUUU (1,0), UdUU (1,0), UUUd (1,0), UUdU (1,0), dUUU (-1,0), UdUU (-1,0), UUUd (-1,0), UUdU (-1,0), repeat with 2-6) - Do the same as 1), but instead start with the upper two pins up, and use the same clockwise cycle, so next do a turn on the right two pins, then on the bottom two pins, then the left two. This adds an extra element of difficulty as now one thumb turn is required.
(Notated: UUdd (1,0), dUdU (1,0), ddUU (1,0), UdUd (1,0), UUdd (-1,0), dUdU (-1,0), ddUU (-1,0), UdUd (-1,0), repeat with 2-6)
- Do the same exercise, but with only one pin up for each move. Now you need to do two thumb turns!
(Notated: Uddd (1,0), dUdd (1,0), dddU (1,0), ddUd (1,0), Uddd (-1,0), dUdd (-1,0), dddU (-1,0), ddUd (-1,0), repeat with 2-6)
Efficiency
You should be able to recognise a lucky case already, and know to use the two different types of lucky case to skip moves. In this section, I'll be talking about how to make sure you use every scramble to its full potential.
Some useful techniques:
- x2 z' rotations. Sometimes, an x2 or a y2 rotation does not allow you to utilise all the lucky cases that are available in a solve. In this case, you may want to consider using an x2 z' rotation, in order to make all the lucky cases useable. Normally, I would use this rotation as an alternative way of solving a centre-edge lucky case – that is, the rotation is done so after the rotation, the matching edge clock is at the top. With the standard Pochmann pin order, the upper-left pin is already up, so I use this to match the lucky case with the edge clock on the right.
EXAMPLE 1:
Scramble: (-3, 6) / (4, 0) / (-4, 5) / (-4, 2) / (-3) / (1) / (-4) / (-3) / (4) / (-3) / ddUd
This scramble is perfectly set up for doing an x2 z' rotation to catch the center-edge lucky case on the back, whilst still being able to make use of the lucky case (and initial pin skip) on the front face. I would solve this scramble in the following way:
(ddUd) (4,0)
dUdd (-4,0)
UUdd (-5,0)
UUdU (5,0)
x2 z'
(Uddd) (6,0), etc.
- Mirroring the Pochmann order. If an x2 z' rotation is not practical, an alternative way to utilise more lucky cases is to perform the first face using the mirror of your regular order, eg for the Pochmann order, your first turn would be with the bottom right pin up, followed by the upper left one. I don't do this very often as my right thumb turns are not very strong, but I may do this when I can use the technique to easily solve two edge-edge lucky cases.
- Skipping AUF. After the first two moves (or fewer with lucky cases) of the Pochmann order, you should have a solved L shaped group of pieces. The third move is to connect this L to one of the other two edge clocks. It is useful (and not too difficult) to determine where these edge clocks will move to whilst building the L. If, in the process of building the L, I see that one of the other edge clocks solves itself to 12, I will make sure that clock is the edge I attach to the centre. As this means when I attach the centre to that edge, the whole face will be solved, and I don't have to AUF, saving a move. I tend to look for these cases more on scrambles where there are no lucky cases, and so the choice of orientation is a little more free.
EXAMPLE 2
Scramble: (-3, 4) / (-1, -2) / (-4, 0) / (1, 2) / (4) / (-4) / (2) / (-2) / (0) / (-1) / ddUd
As you can see, there is an centre-edge lucky case on the back. Keeping this on the back (so it can be solved following an x2 rotation), we can make use of the pin skip. Now, we see that we can build an L-shape in the upper left using the following moves
(ddUd) (4,0)
dUdd (1,0)
See that doing the (4,0) pushes the bottom edge clock up to 12 – now to use the AUF skip, the solve is continued in this way.
Uddd (-5,0)
UUdd (-5,0)
UUdU x2
(dUdd) (2,0) etc.
Now I have covered some techniques, I will talk about how to use inspection. For me, the inspection phase is the most important part of the solve – a poorly planned inspection can leave you with a solve which is awkward and slow to execute. As such, I think the most effective thing for me to do is to go through everything that I think about during inspection, to help me to choose the best starting orientation possible.
- First of all, check the scramble for lucky cases. This way, you can normally restrict the number of 'good' starting orientations to 2-4. If there are no lucky cases, try and look for orientations which have short first moves on each face, in order to minimise the slower thumb turning.
- Choosing a convenient pin order. Try and minimise the number of pin adjustments you make at the start of a solve. For example, if you have a centre-edge lucky case at the top, but the pin order in this orientation is UdUU, this will require either you to reverse the pin order (to dUdd – 2 adjustments!), or drop the lower two pins and start with a lefty move, both of which are probably worse than starting the scramble from an x2.
- Determining what rotation to use. There's nothing worse than doing the wrong rotation on a good scramble – make sure you know for certain what rotation you are going to do!
- Plan the first one or two moves on each face. For the first face, this means you can check for a potential AUF skip, and for the second face, this means you can start turning as soon as you rotate. I find that memorising moves further than this doesn't really reap much rewards, for the amount of extra work you have to do, and if you can look ahead to a decent standard anyway, the difference it makes is negligible.
- Oh, and make sure you know where 12 is and will be after rotating, just to make sure that you don't accidentally solve to the wrong final orientation!
Sometimes you won't have time for all this – sometimes it won't really be necessary!
Lookahead
Lookahead on clock is really straightforward, as there is not much independent movement of the clocks, they tend to either stay a relative distance away from each other, or not move at all. Looking ahead will increase your solve fluency, like with any other puzzle, and so is strongly encouraged. My solving thought process is something like this:
First face: First moves planned in inspection. Whilst solving, track the other two edge clocks.
Second face: First moves planned in inspection. Whilst solving, track the other two edge clocks. Whilst solving the rest of the edge clocks, check for a corner skip on the bottom two corners.
Corners: Whilst solving one corner, look ahead to the next one, so you can skip it out if it is already solved.
Again, like with most puzzles, the most effective ways to practise looking ahead are to just do solves, and do some slower solves where you can track the clocks more easily.
Example Solves
Now, I will put everything I have written about into practise, by walking through a few example scrambles.
-----EXAMPLE SOLVE 1
(-2, -1) / (0, 5) / (-2, 1) / (-5, -1) / (-4) / (1) / (1) / (4) / (-2) / (3) / ddUd
This scramble has a centre-edge lucky case, and an edge-edge lucky case. In order to use both of these cases, I will start on the back face, with 12 pointing up. This way, both lucky cases can be used, if an x2 z' rotation is performed. Note that the first move on the first face will be a -1 turn with the lower left pin up, and the first move on the second face will be a 2 move (upper left pin will be up already). The solve will finish with 12 on the right.
Solution:
y2
ddUd (-1,0) // match centre to top and right edge
dUdd (5,0) // match to left edge
(Note: dUdd (1,0) to match to the bottom edge is shorter here, but will mess with the pin order, making the rotation a faff, so I take the longer way around)
UUdd (-4,0) // match to bottom edge
UUUd (-5,0) // auf
x2 z' (2,0) // rotation, match CE lucky case to right edge
dUdd (2,0) // match to left edge
UUdd (1,0) // match to bottom edge
UUUd (1,0) // bottom right corner
UUdU (-4,0) // bottom left corner
UdUU (5,0) // upper right corner
dUUU (3,0) // upper left corner
UUUU (-1,0) // AUF
----- EXAMPLE SOLVE 2
(5, -2) / (-2, 4) / (3, -5) / (4, 3) / (2) / (-5) / (-1) / (5) / (-5) / (2) / UddU
No lucky cases - I would start looking at the 4 possible rotations where the lower left pin is already up for potential AUF skips. Sadly, there are none, so I will just pick one which looks easy - front face with 12 on the right looks like the easiest one, as the first turn is short, and the bottom and left edge clocks are close together, so the face should be fairly easy. The first turns on the back are 3 and -2 following a y2 rotation, and 12 finishes on the left.
Solution:
z // inspection
ddUd (2,0) // match centre to top edge
dUdd (-5,0) // match to left edge
Uddd (1,0) // match to bottom edge
UdUd (6,0) // match to left edge
UUUd (2,0) // AUF
y2 (3,0) // rotation, match centre to top edge
dUdd (-2,0) // match to left edge
Uddd (6,0) // match to bottom edge
UdUd (-2,0) // match to right edge
UUUd (-2,0) // bottom right corner
UUdU (6,0) // bottom left corner
UdUU (-4,0) // upper right corner
UUUU (-3,0) // AUF (upper left corner skip!)
----- EXAMPLE SOLVE 3
(-2, 4) / (5, -1) / (2, -1) / (1, -1) / (6) / (3) / (-5) / (6) / (4) / (-4) / UUdd
Three edges on the back face are solved - this gives us the freedom of which pair to match the centre up to. As both pins are up for that group of pieces, I will start with them on the back. So my starting orientation should be the front face, with 12 pointing down. All the clocks on the left hand face are fairly close together, so there will be lots of short moves. The first moves on the front will be a 2 turn and a -1 turn, and after the y2 rotation, a -1 move will match the centre to the pair of edges at the top and right. This group can then be attached to the left edge with another -1 turn. 12 is on the bottom for the whole solve.
Solution:
z2 // inspection
ddUd (2,0) // match centre to top edge
dUdd (-1,0) // match to left edge
Uddd (-1,0) // match to bottom edge
UdUd (6,0) // match to right edge
UUUd (-2,0) // AUF
y2 (-1,0) // rotation, match centre to top and right edges
dUdd (-1,0) // match to left edge (short move)
UUdd (5,0) // match to bottom edge
UUUd (4,0) // bottom right corner
UUdU (4,0) // bottom left corner
UdUU (6,0) // upper right corner
dUdd (4,0) // upper left corner (AUF skip!)
----- EXAMPLE SOLVE 4
(-5, -2) / (-2, -2) / (1, -2) / (0, -4) / (-4) / (-3) / (-1) / (-1) / (-1) / (-1) / dddd
Now this is a nice scramble! The front face has a centre-edge lucky case, and the back has three solved edges. All the pins are down on the front face, so I would be more inclined to pass up on an easier x2 rotation, and start with 12 on the left, moving the lucky case to the top. Notice that, if we do a -1 move with the upper right pin up, not only to we solve the lucky case to the left edge, but the right edge is pushed to 12 - AUF skip time! So we know for that face, the right edge will be the last one to solve. On the back, after a y2 rotation a -2 move will solve the centre to 2 edges, and a -2 move with the upper right pin up will easily solve the left edge. 12 finishes on the right, this time.
Solution:
z' // inspection
dUdd (-1,0) // match CE lucky case to left edge
Uddd (3,0) // match to bottom edge
UdUd (2,0) // match to left edge, AUF skip
y2 ddUd (-2,0) // rotation, match centre to top and right edges
dUdd (-2,0) // match to left edge
UUdd (-2,0) // match to bottom edge
UUUd (-3,0) // bottom right corner
UUdU (6,0) // bottom left corner
UdUU (-5,0) // upper right corner
dUUU (-1,0) // upper left corner
UUUU (-2,0) // AUF
----- EXAMPLE SOLVE 5
(6, 0) / (5, -2) / (2, -2) / (4, 0) / (3) / (-1) / (-3) / (6) / (-4) / (-5) / dUUU
Super easy back face, in one move all the edges can be matched up! I would probably take advantage of the pin skip here and start on the back face. Although it is tempting to start an x2 away from here, doing a 6 move at the start of a solve is not so great. After a y2 rotation, the first moves are a -2 and a -5. 12 stays on top for the whole solve.
Solution:
y2 // inspection
(-2,0) // match solved L to left and bottom edges
UUUd (5,0) // AUF
y2 (-2,0) // rotation, match centre to top edge
dUdd (-5,0) // match to left edge
Uddd (-1,0) // match to bottom edge
UdUd (-1,0) // match to right edge
UUUd (4,0) // bottom right corner
UUdU (6,0) // bottom left corner
UdUU (-1,0) // upper right corner
dUUU (-3,0) // upper left corner
UUUU (-3,0) // AUF
So now, you know all the techniques you need, now it's a case of just doing lots of solves, so you can get comfortable with using these techniques!
I hope this guide has been useful – if you have any further questions, feel free to send me a message on SS forums (I am ryanj92 there), and we can talk some clock!