A speedcubing competitor attempts to solve his puzzle blindfolded. (Supplied)

By Ian Gustafson

Puzzle solving

Speedcubing event returns to Red Deer on Saturday

Sep 26, 2025 | 6:00 AM

Have you ever seen a Rubik’s Cube solved in less than 8 seconds?

If not, this Saturday, central Albertans can head to the Cenovus Energy Learning Common located on the second floor of Red Deer Polytechnic’s Four Centres building, to take in the action at Solved Central Alberta 2025.

From 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., 140 competitors from all over the province, as well as Saskatchewan and B.C., will take part in the World Cube Association-sanctioned event with five different competitions, including 3x3x3 cube, megaminx, pyraminx, skewb, and a variation called clock.

Event organizer Niels Nijstad said the most popular event is typically the 3x3x3 cube. Each competitor will be judged individually on how fast they can solve each puzzle.

“The biggest event we’ve had in Red Deer was 120 people, so we’re a little bit bigger this year,” he said.

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Among the competitors includes the national record holder in 3x3x3 cube, who has an average of 5.3 seconds. There will also be people who take about a minute, and others who only need 30 seconds.

“I think it’s a community that’s fun for all ages and skill levels. We have some people who are over 40-years-old and we have some kids who are less than 10-years-old… You can go quite far if you want to learn a lot, and you can start really basic. You can make a lot of progress in a short amount of time.”

Solved Central Alberta is a speedcubing competition that’s been held in Red Deer since 2019, due to its prime location between Edmonton and Calgary. It was first held in Parkland Mall, but has been held at RDP since 2023.

“I find as one of the event organizers, the Red Deer venue is quite popular, and geographically it works out quite well. We are able to create interest for the event,” he added.

“It’s been well attended, and I would say it’s grown. We had a bit of a waitlist, and we had to disappoint some people. We had to limit how many people because of seeding and how much we can schedule in a day… It’s great to see that people like to come to the venue and give it a try.”

The competition is free to attend, but Nijstad said people should be mindful that seating could be limited depending on how many show up.

Due to its popularity, a second annual event in Red Deer was added last year and called the Battle of Alberta, where they have a competition between those from the north and south.

“The last few years [the sport] has grown nationwide and worldwide as well,” Nijstad said, noting he began cubing in 2008 after learning how to solve it in the early days of YouTube. “Since then, the hardware available has been getting a lot better and more affordable, making it much easier for people to step into cubes. A lot of kids around the age of 10-14 pick it up and give it a try. They then find out about these competitions.”

For more information, visit the World Cube Association website.