How do you use the cube timer?
Scramble your cube with the moves shown, then hold the Space bar, or press and hold on the timer, until the time turns green. That takes 0.3 seconds and means you are ready. Let go to start the clock, solve, and press any key or tap to stop. A new scramble appears after every solve.
How do you read the scramble?
Each letter is a face, seen with the cube held still: U up, D down, L left, R right, F front and B back. A letter alone means turn that face a quarter turn clockwise, as if you were looking straight at it; a letter with ' means anticlockwise; and a 2 means a half turn. The 20 moves never turn the same face twice in a row, which would waste a move.
What do Ao5 and Ao12 mean?
Average of 5 and average of 12: your last 5 or 12 solves, with the single best and worst left out and the rest averaged. Dropping the extremes means one lucky solve or one fumble doesn't swing the number, and it is how speedcubing competitions rank most events. Best is your single fastest solve this visit.
Why 20 moves?
It is enough to mix the cube thoroughly. Every position of a standard cube can be solved in 20 moves or fewer, counting a half turn as one move, which a team of mathematicians proved by computer in 2010. Official competitions go further and generate scrambles from a random position with dedicated software; for practice, 20 random moves do the job.
Speed and precision in your hands? Try the 1 Second Challenge or the Sliding Puzzle.