26 | JUNE 23 • 2022 

L

auren Rose brings 
star power into a Bard 
College class she teaches 
to link mathematics and fun 
puzzles — her 19-year-old 
son.
Daniel Rose-Levine, an 
international Rubik’s Cube 
champion lauded for solving 
the puzzles in record times 
using his feet instead of his 
hands, has been featured on 
the national TV shows CBS 
Sunday Morning and To Tell 
the Truth and is profiled in 
A.J. Jacobs’ popular book The 
Puzzler: One Man’s Quest to Solve 
the Most Baffling Puzzles Ever, 
from Crosswords to Jigsaws to the 
Meaning of Life. 
For his mom’s class in New 
York state, the Mathematics 
of Puzzles and Games, 
Rose-Levine regularly 
demonstrates his skills. A 
math and physics major at 
Bard, he also tutors students 
and shares experiences with 

members of a Rubik’s Cube 
club on campus. Ultimately, 
he is letting others know what 
YouTube videos can teach 
them about connecting the 
cubes to algorithms. 
When Rose showed the 
recent CBS video to her 
class, it brought resounding 
applause honoring the 
teen who has spoken at 
the National Museum of 
Mathematics and enjoys 
appearances that make people 
more aware of solving cube 
puzzles. 
“I went to the Bard Math 
Camp when I was 11, saw 
this kid solving a Rubik’s 
Cube and wanted to do it,” 
Rose-Levine said. “That’s 
what made me learn how to 
do it. I learned the World 
Cube Association is the 
official organization that has 
competition events, and one 
of the events they have had 
involved solving with feet. 

“When I first started doing 
it with my feet, it took me 10 
minutes. After many hours of 
practice, I was able to do one 
turn every two seconds and 
then went on to faster times, 
breaking the world record 
six times. When I won with a 
cube manufactured by MoYu, 
the company awarded me 
$750.”
This mother’s, and 
eventually her son’s, interest in 
the art of puzzles and games 
can be traced back to the 
Huntington Woods household 
of her parents, Arthur and 
the late Joan Rose. While 
Arthur Rose began by doing 
jigsaw puzzles, he moved on 
to the crossword puzzles his 
wife preferred. The couple 
became role models as family 
activities included card and 
word games using different 
strategies. 
“When Daniel decides to 
do something, he spends 
a lot of time working at 
it, and what comes out is 
just amazing,” said Arthur 
Rose, whose family also has 
participated in programs at 
the Birmingham Temple, 
now the Congregation for 
Humanistic Judaism of Metro 
Detroit. 
“Last year, he taught himself 

how to play the guitar and 
learned Bob Dylan songs. 
When he was visiting us, he 
entertained the family. During 
COVID, he also started 
to teach himself quantum 
mechanics and physics.”
Approaches to conquering 
various puzzle forms captivate 
Rose-Levine, active with the 
Jewish Student Organization 
at Bard and a member of a 
violin performance group 
before the pandemic.
“Once you know how to 
solve a Rubik’s Cube, you can 
always solve them,” said Rose-
Levine, who has participated 
in about 85 competitions. 
“I didn’t figure it out on my 
own. I used YouTube. When 
Rubik’s Cubes were popular 
in the 1980s, it was common 
for people to spend a lot of 
time trying to figure it out 
on their own, partly because 
there weren’t any resources for 
solving them.
“Now, almost no one figures 
it out independently. It’s about 
understanding algorithms 
while having fun. After I 
learned how to solve them, I 
really liked trying to get my 
time faster and faster, and that 
was sort of addicting. 
“When you go to school 
for math, you learn algebra, 

OUR COMMUNITY

Teen can solve a Rubik’s Cube 
in seconds — using his feet.
Puzzle Wiz

SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Rose-Levine can solve a Rubik’s Cube in seconds using only his feet.

Daniel 
Rose-Levine

