Doomscroll

ShopWithMargo

Margo, a middle-aged woman wearing a dressing gown, stands in her kitchen holding a cube-shaped package in one hand and a mug of coffee in the other.

I've been seeing this all over my feed this week. It's the viral puzzle cube everyone's been talking about. I've been trying to get my hands on one all week but they keep selling out. They're in stock now so if you click the link to my shop you can pick one up for yourself.

A child, 5-years-old, runs into the kitchen.

Not now, Tyler, Mummy's making a video.

The child reaches out to touch the camera.

Carl! Can you come and get him!

A man wanders into the shot, picks up the child and drags him out of the room. Margo leans in to the the camera.

I don't want him to see this because I was thinking of putting in his stocking when I'm done. I think he'll love it, it's the perfect stocking filler for kids. It'll keep them occupied for hours on Christmas morning, just what you want.

Margo straightens up.

Okay, I'm going to show you the box and then I'm also going to show you how to open it. I've seen loads of people saying it's impossible to open, but it's not and I'm going to show you. I've already had this out and had a play, but I haven't solved the whole thing yet because I wanted you to see how good it is. Right, here it is.

Margo opens the package and removes a brightly-coloured, plastic cube. A note falls out onto the kitchen counter. She picks up the note, looks at it and shows it to camera. The small, square of paper has nothing written on it other than:

(-_*)

Not sure what that is, to be honest. Must be the toy company logo or something.

Margo puts the note to one side and shows the box.

Here's the box. Cute, right? It's got these lovely colours and it feels really satisfying to touch, like one of those, what were they called? You know, the cube thing? Everyone had them, with the squares? The Roberts cube, is that what it was called? Let me know in the comments if you know what I'm talking about.

Margo spins the cube around in her hand. Each of the six sides has a different design. All have different shapes and colours and patterns but none are identical. There is no obvious way to open the cube.

Each side has different bits you can move, right? But some of them won't do anything until you've done another bit. Like this.

Margo demonstrates how none of the pieces on the sides move at first, then she is able to push a small panel in the corner of one side.

It's actually really delicate, you know what I mean? You can't just go pushing your fingers into every shape, that won't do nothing. You have to be gentle, like I just did. See, that's clicked something. And it's hard to see what it's done at first, but I'll show you. Watch.

Margo spins the cube around to the another side with a large, red circle in the middle.

You wouldn't notice this at first and that's what I love about it. I know what you'll think when you get this, because it's what I thought too. It feels really light and plasticky, like a cheap toy. The thing is, once you start to get into it, you realise it's actually really clever, like. The design, and everything, it's like one of them Swiss watches or something. I'm serious, check this out.

Margo moves the cube right up to the camera. She taps a long, pointed fingernail on the edge of the circle, where a small, raised nub of plastic is sticking out.