For some reason this reminded me of when I was a young shit and used to hustle people at bars and conventions with my Rubik’s cube.
At bars, I would lightly mix the cube in a specific way, then hold it in a particular way, and then bet people at the bar that could solve it in one move. It was technically four moves, but it was one swift motion so it looked like one turn, and boom, solved. Got a handful of free drinks that way lol.
But for the other hustle… I used to go to gaming and anime conventions when I was younger (used to sell games as a vendor), and without fail, if I was playing around with my scrambled Rubik’s cube in public, someone would eventually come up to me and say “hey, can I have a go?” and want to solve it.
I’d always respond with “okay, but these things are impossible, there’s no way you can solve it.” And of course they’d be like “oh yeah I can! Give it here!” I’d be like “Hah, I’ll bet you five bucks you can’t solve it. And no peeling the stickers or breaking it apart!” And they’d always agree, so I’d hand over the cube.
Little did they know, I’d have taken a piece out of the cube, rotated it, and put it back… which made the cube completely unsolvable lol.
They’d get to the of the solve, but it wouldn’t work, and I’d watch them struggle. They’d eventually give the cube back, defeated, saying something like “well your cube isn’t working right” or something. And I’d be like “hey man, no excuses, pay up!” And to add insult to injury, while talking, I’d slight-of-hand the piece back in the correct orientation when they weren’t looking, then proceed to mix and solve the cube in front of them. And I’d be like “see? The cube works fine, I knew you couldn’t solve it!”
Lol I was such a shithead in my early 20s.
