Phillip Morales

I was a newbie technical writer at Information International, Inc. (triple-I), in California, when my genius friends clued me in to the cube. Soon I was twirling the cube along with the rest.

Two attributes I discovered I needed and advise new cube solvers to have (in addition to a good solution strategy) are: patience (and more patience!) and perseverance. The cube is fighting you every step of the way. You will get so far, then a false move and suddenly it goes haywire. Not only will it not solve then, but you usually have to start over from the beginning. But as you become familiar with the four formulas in this solution, you will discover how the colors predictably fall into place. A jumble of colors that seems totally random, becomes organized. Each of the four formulas enable the solving of a region or group in the cube. Together, they combine to let you solve the cube and say "gott'cha!"

I thank God, my mother and father, and friends. We never do truly succeed by ourselves. Patrick Canter and Tech/Data Publications brought the solution to a larger audience. It was Pat that thought of and enabled the making of a full color solution, something unheard of at the time. Thanks to Elsbeth Canter for believing in the project in the twenty-first century.

Check out the new Quick Start - Intense Cube Boot Camp section in the 4th edition to see how the formulas actually work. You need a solved cube, in its new state, to highlight the movement patterns. If you sequentially repeat any of the four formulas 3 times, starting from the solved state, the cube will go from solved, to unsolved, back to solved. And you can observe the effects of each formula transformation in isolation.

During the early days, Robert Smith designed a cube holster for me (pictured in the photo gallery). He also did some excellent promotional photography.

The original solution was simply called "How to Solve Rubik's Cube." It was mimeographed and bound together. All in black and white, and included drawings. The only color used was the red color paper for the cover. Copies were sold in Los Angeles during demonstration of the solution sessions.

Doug Sawin, when he was formulating the solution, called the first formula the "slice." And Turn the Corner was simply "corners."

Phil Morales graduated from Milwaukee Technical High School and Grinnell College.