This is a (very likely incomplete) list of twisty-puzzle terms. Links for each term provide a more in-depth explanation of the term.
A
- Algorithm
- A sequence of moves to produce a desired result, such as cycling the positions of three edges without disturbing anything else. On cubes or cube-like puzzles, these are usually described in Singmaster Notation or a version thereof.
B
- Bandaging
- How a piece restrains another piece from making a full legal turn.
D
- DNF
- In WCA, where a person does not start solving within the 15-second inspection time or where the cuber's puzzle or has a cube where the solved state is more than one move away.
H
- Headlights
- When you have almost completed a cube or similar puzzle, and all that remains to solve are two corners on the same edge, with the U facets both in front.
J
- Jumbling
- A scramble (q.v.) which also changes the shape of the puzzle.
L
- Lubrication
- Where you make the cube turn smoother and faster.
M
- Morphing Puzzle
- A puzzle which changes shape after certain moves, or after every move.
N
- Notation
- Letters to represent a turn of the cube.
S
- Scramble
- To shuffle the state of the puzzle in such a way that the shape is unchanged, as opposed to a jumble. In many puzzles (such as the original 3×3×3) only scrambling is possible; in others (such as the Pyramorphix) only jumbling is possible (although it is of course possible for a jumbled puzzle to be returned to its original shape as part of the jumble, and this is often the first step in solving it); in others (such as the Helicopter Cube), both are possible, and if one receives an apparently scrambled puzzle from a third party, care must be taken to determine if it has also been jumbled.
- Shape Mod
- Where a puzzle is edited by shape and made so that it would still have the original puzzle's qualities but have its own in addition to it. The Axis, Ghost, 4x4, 5x5, Mirror Cubes, Megaminx, Mastermorphix, and more are all 3x3 shape mods.
- Speedcubing
- Where people do advanced methods and finger tricks to solve the cube.
- Sticker Mod
- Where a puzzle's stickers are modified. The stickers might make the puzzles harder or easier. The Ghost Cube is an example of both. The Mirror Cube is an example of a harder puzzle; in the 6 colored sticker version, there are two solved states: one in a cube state but the stickers a different color and one with each side a solid color but the "cube" not in a cube position.
-
- +2
- Where a person gets an extra 2 seconds counted in their solve. This only happens if the cube is at least a degree (45 degrees?) away from the solved state and at most one move from the solved state; else the cube is either completely solved or a DNF.