JMA-PSOS

Long, long ago, in primary school, I saw and put my hands on Rubik's Original Cube. I learned how to solve it with formulas from a classmate (SM) and my record is two minutes, but my average is much longer. Today I learned that a six-year old girl solved it in 4.5 secs. The world record is under 3 secs.

I toyed around with 2x2x2 and bigger cubes up to 5x5x5 which I own. I even solved the 4x4x4 once many years ago with a lot of luck involved. Someone at work had a 3x3x3 on their desk for years, it was usually scrambled, I would solve it only for it to be scrambled again by the next day :) This reminds of a classmate of mine that "solved" the cube by peeling off the stickers and repasting them. He is a cop now.

Related to Rubik's, long ago I once owned an Earth globe Rubik knock-off. Here are most of my Rubik-related puzzles and games:

• Rubik's Pocket Cube (2x2x2)
  
• Rubik's Cube Clone (3x3x3)
  
• Rubik's Revolution
  
• Rubik's Revenge (4x4x4)
  
• Professor's Cube (5x5x5)
  
• Square-1 (similar to Rubik's cube)
  
• Rubik's Link the Rings Magic Puzzle (1986)
  
• Rubik's Create the Cube! Magic Puzzle (1987)
  
• Rubik's Twist
  
• Rubik's Magic Strategy Board Game
  
• Rubik's Race (1982 - Ideal Toy)
  
• Cube Twister (jigsaw puzzle 500+ pieces 16"x20" by Nordevco 1981)
  

1. Even if you fail often, you do suceed once in a while. The persistent simply take more chances and win more times than those that don't.
2. Some crutches are only slowing you down (i.e. marking bombs instead of keeping a mental count of bomb placement), but in a few cases they can save you (e.g. getting an estimate of remaining bombs can help one play odds in her/his favor). Lean on friends and family once in while.
3. In some cases, you keep getting the same scenario (either at local level or at a grander scale), so by playing a lot you might get to recognize them and make the right move.
4. Sometimes you keep repeating your mistake even when you know better (e.g. uncovering bomb instead of marking it when rushing it and not paying close attention, or when miscounting adjacent bombs). Make sure to slow down, pay attention and double count before making important decisions.
5. It is always better to eliminate guessing if possible, but there will always be times when guessing is unavoidable. Make pure guesses earlier if possible to avoid the dissappointment when you are wrong (instead of later after much time and sweat was already invested).