A 95-Year-Old Man Joined A Rubik's Cube Club At A Library. Then He Broke A World Record.
Frank Zieminski of the United States began solving Rubik's Cubes in 1980, six years after the puzzle was invented, after being mystified by one and getting out a book to research how it worked. He made handwritten cheatsheets using the method he had taught himself, which he kept for more than 40 years. At some point in his nineties he joined the Buffalo Speed Cube Club, which met at the Orchard Park Library in New York, and whose other members were mostly between the ages of eight and sixteen. When he first showed up, the kids assumed he was a grandparent dropping someone off. Then he pulled out the cheatsheets from 1980, and they understood. The kids, who had moved on to newer solving methods, showed him what they knew. He was genuinely interested. He told a local news outlet that the new method was probably beyond a two-minute solve for him but that he thought he could do it in five. On January 18, 2026, nine days after his 95th birthday, Frank walked into the Two Buffalo Cube Days competition in West Seneca, New York, and became the oldest competitive speedcuber in recorded history.
His daughters described the event as his Super Bowl. Frank arrived with techniques learned from his younger clubmates, cheered on by his family in the stands, sat down at a table surrounded by competitors young enough to be his great-grandchildren, and completed three successful solves on both his 2x2x2 and 3x3x3 cubes. He solved the 3x3x3 in 5 minutes and 49 seconds, hitting his stated goal of under six minutes. He also set three unofficial World Cube Association records in the over-90 age category. His Guinness World Records certification was published in August 2026. When Guinness asked how it felt, Frank said he was hesitant about the competition at first but found it fun and exciting, and that winning the record felt great. He added a message for anyone else considering something they think might be beyond them at their age: no matter what age, be persistent, and never give up. He said he plans to keep competing as long as he is physically able. There is currently no indication from Frank's family or his speedcubing club that he is planning to stop.
