The Rubik's Clock is a mechanical puzzle invented and patented by Christopher C. Wiggs and Christopher J. Taylor.[1] The Hungarian sculptor and professor of architecture Ernő Rubik bought the patent from them to market the product under his name. It was first marketed in 1988.
The Rubik's Clock is a two-sided puzzle, each side presenting nine clocks to the puzzler. There are four dials, one at each corner of the puzzle, each allowing the corresponding corner clock to be rotated directly. (The corner clocks, unlike the other clocks, rotate on both sides of the puzzle simultaneously and can never be operated independently. Thus, the puzzle contains only 14 independent clocks.)
There are also four pins which span both sides of the puzzle; each pin arranged such that if it is "in" on one side, it is "out" on the other. The state of each pin (in or out) determines whether the adjacent corner clock is mechanically connected to the three other adjacent clocks on the front side or on the back side: thus the configuration of the pins determines which sets of clocks can be turned simultaneously by rotating a suitable dial.
The aim of the puzzle is to set all nine clocks to 12 o'clock (straight up) on both sides of the puzzle simultaneously. A method to do so is to start by constructing a cross on both sides (at 12 o’clock) and then solving the corner clocks individually.
The Rubik's clock is listed as one of the 17 WCA events, with records for fastest time to solve one puzzle, and the fastest average time to solve 5 puzzles (discarding the slowest and fastest times). The puzzle is unique in the WCA in that it is the only puzzle for which viable speedsolving methods have been devised that always solve it in God's number moves (14 for the clock) or less; an example is "7-Simul", which involves performing seven pairs of moves on the front and back of the clock simultaneously and requires mental calculation from the puzzle's initial position to determine some moves.
Since there are 14 independent clocks, with 12 settings each, there are a total of
1214
The puzzle is oriented with 12 o'clock on top, and either side in front. The following moves can be made:[2]
The world record for single solve is held by Brendyn Dunagan of the United States with a time of 1.97 seconds, set at La La Land 2024. The world record for Olympic average of five solves is held by Volodymyr Kapustianskyi of Ukraine with an average of 2.39 seconds, set at Grand Forks 2024.
| Name | Result | Competition | |
|---|---|---|---|
 Brendyn Dunagan | 1.97s | La La Land 2024 | |
 Lachlan Gibson | 2.00s | Max Speed Milford 2024 | |
 Volodymyr Kapustianskyi | 2.10s | Minnesota Championship 2024 | |
 Niklas Aasen Eliasson | 2.25s |  Vännäs & Friends 2024 | |
| Jaidon Poraminthara Lin | 2.27s | UCSB Cubing 2024 | |
| Carter Thomas | 2.29s | Pyraminx in Pewaukee 2024 | |
 Lachlan Adams-Romyn | 2.30s | Queensland Open 2024 | |
 Antoni Stojek | 2.31s | Polish Championship 2024 | |
| Eryk Kasperek | No Triangle in Rzeszów 2024 | ||
| Anatolii Turenko | 2.33s |  Rubik's WCA Asian Championship 2024 |
| Name | Average | Competition | Times |
|---|---|---|---|
| Volodymyr Kapustianskyi | 2.39s | Grand Forks 2024 | (2.96) 2.46 (2.24) 2.29 2.43 |
| Eryk Kasperek | 2.52s | Cube4fun Lublin on WEII 2024 | 2.44 (3.36) 2.59 (2.40) 2.52 |
| Lachlan Gibson | 2.64s | Hasty Hastings 2024 | (7.67) 3.17 2.42 2.32 (2.17) |
| Brendyn Dunagan | 2.69s | UCSB Cubing 2024 | 2.92 (2.04) 2.62 (2.95) 2.52 |
| Carter Thomas | 2.82s | Pyraminx in Pewaukee 2024 | (4.77) (2.45) 3.52 2.47 2.46 |
| Niklas Aasen Eliasson | 2.93s | 24 Hours in Åker 2024 | 3.05 (3.98) 2.98 2.76 (2.70) |
| Caleb Wolf Dunn | 3.00s | Rubik's UK Championship 2024 | (2.70) 2.88 (4.18) 3.04 3.07 |
| Danny Morgan | 3.04s | Stevenage October 2024 | (3.42) 2.96 2.84 3.31 (2.70) |
| Greyson James | 3.06s | Indiana Championship 2024 | 3.16 2.97 (3.87) 3.04 (2.90) |
| Alessandro Diomampo | 3.07s | UCSB Cubing 2024 | 3.09 (6.18) (2.86) 3.02 3.10 |
| Lachlan Adams-Romyn | Chilling in Toowoomba 2024 | 2.75 (3.71) 3.32 3.13 (2.65) |