Puzzled 2: Four Newish Puzzles

Monday, May 12, 2014

Four Newish Puzzles

Earlier this spring our house was broken into during the day. Among other things about half my puzzle collection was stolen. Around 40 puzzles. You know, twisty puzzles. Like Rubik's Cubes.

Today in the mail I received a box from overseas with 4 puzzles:

A new Buzzle Ball. I scrambled it once and managed to solve it using primarily the fiddle around trying to figure it out method. I'm looking forward to getting better acquainted with this strange new twisty puzzle.

An old flat-sided V-Cube 6 that probably hadn't been used very much because it isn't very easy to turn. From what I've seen online the new pillowed V-Cube 6 is much much better. I've never had a 6x6x6 cube, so it is nice to have one now. Among the puzzles stolen was a V-Cube 7, an Eastsheen 5x5x5, and a variety of 4x4x4's. So the old V-Cube 6 is my one and only big cube now. I like the weight and size and shape of it and plan to have more fun with it whenever I get the urge to solve a big cube.

A 2x2x2 cube. My old 2x2x2 cube was stolen! The Rubik's Ice Cube in the drawer doesn't even count as a 2x2x2 as far as playability goes. It is nice to have a good 2x2x2 again. It seems to turn better than the Eastsheen I had, too.

A Hungab Ghost Cube. I've seen some of the Ghost Cube hype online, but didn't think I would get one. I've been in a bit of a slump puzzle-wise for several months. I bought an Evil Eye 2 months ago and only got around to playing with it this month. When a puzzle friend from around the world offered to give me a Ghost Cube, along with the other 3 puzzles, you can imagine that my interest in Ghost Cubes spiked! This thing is beautiful.

2 comments:

BurgoMay 12, 2014 at 11:30 PM
The Ghost Cube is a bunch of fun isn't it! Much more than I expected :)
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BudMay 13, 2014 at 7:35 PM
Burgo, I haven't tried the Ghost Cube yet—saving the best for last. But the Buzzle Ball is an easy solve once you get it. Interesting patterns are possible too. In fact, you might say it has many "solved" states—make a pattern and call it solved!
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Rubik's Cube Books

I got my first Rubik's Cube in the early nineteen eighties. The only way I could solve it was to take it apart and put it back together solved. Until, that is, I got some little books that explained sequences of moves that could be used to put pieces where you want them without messing up what was already in place.

The Simple Solution To Rubik's Cube
by James G. Nourse
Notes on Rubik's Magic Cube
by David Singmaster
Solve That Crazy, Mixed-up Cube Puzzle
by Don Frederick.

I think I put together my own strategy using bits and pieces gleaned from all three books. Eventually I lost interest and forgot how to complete the cube, forgot I had those books, and lost track of the cubes.

Mark Jeays' Working Corner Method

http://jeays.net/rubiks.htm

In 2007 my interest in Rubik's Cube was rekindled when I watched the movie The Pursuit of Happyness. Marae found my 1980s cube for me and I tried to solve it. Huh-uh. I could do part of it, but not the last layer. Looking online I found various tutorials. Mark Jeays included YouTube videos with his Solution 2. This method worked for me and although I no longer use it in its entirety, nor could I, as I have forgotten the yellow edges sequences, I still find the basic working corner technique helpful, and use a slightly modified version of his corner twisting technique at times.

In the summer of 2014 we packed 30 or so puzzles and flew to visit Raymond and Fam in the Czech Republic. Breann, who had learned this method and no other, made some comment about bubururu or something like that, and it piqued my curiosity. What were those algorithms, and how similar are they to the EPS technique I use now when using a working corner? So I looked them up. Actually, the three algorithms were for dealing with the two last edges solved, which either needed to be swapped, or flipped, or swapped and flipped. The swapper is very similar to the one I have learned and used since, but I actually like it better in one sense, with a slight modification.

To swap UR and FR without flipping:

U' R U' R' U' R U' R' U'

To swap and flip UR and FR:

F' U' F U' F' U' F U2

To flip UR and FR:

F' U F U' R U' R' U

Will I actually learn and use these? Probably not. But I like them. :)

There is a slightly different implementation of the Working Corner Method. Arnaud van Galen calls it the Keyhole Method. I like his demonstration better than the one I originally learned. It just dawned on me why he is able to get away with doing it the way he does. He goes ahead and finishes the F2L before going to the last layer, unlike the way Jeays uses the working corner (keyhole) to also get the last layer. Since I no longer use the working corner to get the last layer, I should implement Arnaud's technique.

Jasmine's Scalable Method

http://peter.stillhq.com/jasmine/rubikscubesolution.html

This was the next method I learned. For awhile the idea of speed cubing appealed to me. This promised to be a good beginner's method for those that wanted to go on to faster method's later. Now that I know what I know, I wouldn't recommend this method if your goal is to be able to consistently solve the cube in less than 30 seconds. Rubik's Speedsolver Champion Leyan Lo presents a beginner's method that I like the looks of although I've never learned it. I have recently watched Arnaud van Galen's complete beginner's method video series and recommend them. Gilles Roux presents a beginners' method that is very close to one of my favorite ways of solving the cube. The simplicity and comprehensibility make this method a good place to start if you want to understand the Rubik's Cube. Also, if you are interested in speedcubing you should check out this YouTube video.

After trying for months to get under a minute with both Jasmine's Method and the Corner's First Method—and failing, I finally decided to quit trying and just enjoy cubing at a nice slow pace.

Don't get me wrong. Jasmine's Method has its merits. The sequences for orienting the last layer edges and corners, and permuting the last layer edges are still in my arsenal of useful algorithms.

Adam Cheyer's Corners First Method

Philip Marshall's Ultimate Solution

http://helm.lu/cube/MarshallPhilipp/
After learning to solve the cube corners first, what is next? An Edges First Method! This was a very difficult tutorial to follow, but once I got it, it was my favorite way to solve the cube for awhile. It uses only a few algorithms, and when you are finished solving the cube you feel like you've solved the puzzle, not just used memorized sequences to unscramble it.

Gilles Roux presents a beginners' method that could be used to solve the cube edges first. The simplicity and comprehensibility make this method a good place to start if you want to understand the Rubik's Cube. His technique is much easier to follow than Marshall's.