Old Puzzle...New Puzzle...Home Job...New Tool

 Originally posted May 21, 2017 on BudLCuber Google site.

Old Puzzle This last week for some reason that escapes me now I busted out the Crazy 4x4x4 and solved it. I tried solving it from memory, but the problem is there are too many memories to choose from. Huh? I really got pretty far in the solution but then messed up and looked up my notes from years gone by. I had a nice method worked out, but then at some point looked to see what others said about it and decided to go down a different path. But now as I look back on the two methods I prefer my original one.

1. The squares inside the circles. Use 2-layer turns to solve them. It is just like solving a 2x2x2 cube.
2. White and Yellow circles can be solved like the Corners First white and yellow edges.
3. Middle Layer Circles can be solved like 4x4x4 middle layer edges.
4. Pair up outer edges and use The Move to place them like solving a cube Edges First. Sometimes an 8-move edge 3-cycle is the easiest way to pair them up at the end. Sometimes 2 paired edges need to swap at the end. This is simply a double swap of individual pieces and can be handled with the 3-cycle.
5. Corners using the 3-cycle.

To see how I did it for a while see below.

New Puzzle For years I have wanted a good stickerless 6x6x6 cube that I felt I could afford. It is finally here. Cyclone Boys is the one I got this last week. In the picture some of the red, orange, and yellow center pieces are still scrambled.

Home Job I think it was 2011 when I first started hiring the weeds done each Spring. I was working 40 hours a week in the machine shop at the time. Since then I have done part of the job myself while having a pro finish it up. But this year I have much more time than money and I dropped 30 pounds off my weight during the first few months of the year so have done all the weed eating on my own. It didn't stop there. I want to really clean it up so have gone nutso on pruning and thinning as well as you can see in the background.

New Tool There are quite a few branches that could be turned into small firewood as a result of this and other woodcutting tasks. Although I do not want a gas powered chain saw I decided an electric one might be just the thing to get the job done. Got it yesterday.

In September 2011 I posted a different way to solve the Crazy 4x4x4 on my Google site. Here it is—

Crazy 4x4x4 II
Centers
2x2x2 inside the 4x4x4 supercube. The squares inside the circles. Use 2-layer turns to solve them. It is just like solving a 2x2x2 cube.
4x4x4 Supercube
Non-white and non-Yellow inner edges. The inner edges of this Crazy puzzle correspond to the centers of a 4x4x4 supercube. The inner edges move in pairs. So the inner edge pairs that have no white or yellow correspond to the white and yellow centers. When solving a 4x4x4 cube you start with the white and yellow centers. Use techniques like with the white and yellow edges on the 3x3x3 Corners First Method, only hold white and yellow on the sides, and only do half the pieces.

Corners
Solve the corners like a 3x3x3 or 4x4x4. Corners First works. Corners can easily be matched to inner center/edges after all X's are done. Move the 2 inner layers 90 ̊, make the required adjustment, and move the inner layers back.

Edges
White and Yellow outer edges. Just like the Corners First Method.
Middle Layer Outer Edges. Just like a 4x4x4 cube.

Centers Last
Final Inner Edges. Use commutators that do not scramble anything else. That means do not use 2-layer twists for the inner layers.