Thursday, August 31, 2017

Finally! What A Pain That One Was


B2 R' B' D' L F U' B' U R' U' F R' F D R U' B' R2 U L' F' L' U' R'
2 Forgive
Anyone 4
PushingBackDefinitelyHelps
1
flip J
Serenity 4
GrandParents-xFinallyComes
AfterDark

I tried lots of times on this one. At one point I did it wrong the same way twice in a row. I never knew where exactly I was messing up. Even after writing it out I messed up. I went through it slowly and carefully with my eyes open and got it so I knew the steps were correct.

Maybe I need more practice.

September 2, 2017
Yesterday on our way to town we made up sentences for a cube and I almost solved it. I had forgotten to complete a cycle which meant I was one edge swap and one corner swap short of complete, and an edge was flipped. I had used B when it should have been O. So for the second half of the edges I had to make a new sentence. With these adjustments I was able to solve it start to finish eyes closed while Marae was in the market.

Tuesday, August 29, 2017

Tangram Solution Strategy

On a solve recently I forgot to start with the little corners and instead started by solving the big corners to the little corners. No problem. When finished with the big corners one twist still solved the little corners. I like this because it makes for an easy to remember sequence of pieces to solve. Solve them by size starting with the largest!

Step 1 Solve the six big corners 1 or more at a time by twisting edges or using Up Replace Down to get as many of them as possible then The Move to finish up. Use one of the Little Corners and one of the Edge turns with The Move.

Step 2 Solve the two little corners using at most one simple twist of W. (It is now 5/3/2020 and I am not seeing how this can work. If the 6 big corners were solved in step 1 and then you do W, wouldn't that unsolve half the big corners that were solved in step 1?)

Step 3 Solve the three long edges by moving the slice so they are in the correct spots, then if necessary flip two of them. K A K A K flips L and R. You could flip L and A by moving them to R and flipping them there. Or R and A by moving them to L and flipping them there.

Step 4 Permute the three little edges using The Move with two Edges.

Step 5 Orient the three little edges. L R L R L A L A flips K1 and YP.

Step 6 Solve the six centers 1 or more at a time using (J A J' A) x 3 (W L W' L) x 3 which cycles Bottom > Back > Right. The setup move W' R W swaps the centers on the right and back so the cycle is reversed.

I'm still in that stage where I am learning new things every few solves. Today I started doing the 3 cycle of centers. The way I do it is by doing two 5 cycles. The second one puts two of the pieces back and results in a 3 cycle. So if you only need a 3 cycle you have to do the two 5 cycles. But what if you need a 5 cycle? Today that was the situation. I started with the first 5 cycle and before I started the second one noticed that after one 5 cycle all I needed was a 3 cycle. Get it? So in Step 6 if you need a 5 cycle think about this.

(J A J' A) x 3 cycles R>F>L>U>B. Right, Front, Left, Up, Back.

Monday, August 28, 2017

Tangram Cube Solution Quandary

Before getting to the Tangram Cube a note about Eyes Closed Solving. I tried today and the first attempt I was a little off but thought I knew the problem, so I tried again on another cube that had the same scramble. Ended up even worse. Well, I put the same scramble on the two cubes so I could try again. Only one problem. The same scramble had different results. In other words, today I couldn't even scramble a cube accurately! (August 29, 2017. First thing this morning I got up, reviewed the puzzle a minute, closed my eyes, and solved it successfully. Yes!)

Now to the Tangram Cube! So in trying to do the solve again without notes today I discovered some new algorithms. For example, Step 5. Orient the 3 little edges. (J A J' R) x 2 A L A L flips K1 and YP. This is a simpler algorithm than the first one I came up with. I have replaced the former one in my solution post of a couple days ago. (August 30, 2017. Found an even better way today to flip K1 and YP! L R L R L A L A.)

Then I was just experimenting a little and found another better way to cycle 3 centers. I say better because it just uses The Move x 3 then another The Move x 3. So it only uses 24 moves instead of 28. But I'm not sure I quite have it figured out. And if I want to cycle backwards do I want to use 48 moves or do I want to learn the backwards cycle? Neither! I found a setup move that let's me cycle backwards. So here is what I have ended up with. I will revise the Solution post accordingly.

(J A J' A) x 3 (W L W' L) x 3 cycles Bottom > Back > Right
The setup move W' R W swaps the centers on the right and back so the cycle is reversed.

Sunday, August 27, 2017

Thursday Friday Saturday

Last Wednesday during my lunch break at SCOE I did an ECS (eyes closed solve). Then I got the Tangram Cube in the mail after work. No more ECS for the next few days. I was busy figuring out the Tangram Cube. Yesterday I posted the solution strategy I worked out. So today, Sunday, I picked up a scrambled 3x3x3, studied it, closed my eyes, and solved. Fun!

I have a date with Brandy and Josiah to do puzzles next Saturday afternoon. Living the good life.

Today also I was fiddling with the Tangram Cube and stumbled upon a pattern.


Saturday, August 26, 2017

Tangram Cube Solution Plan

The way I see it everything is built around the two little corners so

Step 1. Solve the two little corners using at most one simple twist of W.

In order to establish the colors clearly I thought I would next solve the big corners. All was going well until it ended up that I needed to swap green and orange! No problem. Just twist one of the edges and it unsolved one corner and makes a 3-cycle needed.

In case someone stumbles upon this page and wonders what The Move is, you may recognize the term Edge Piece Series. Same thing. You twist a layer. Twist another layer that intersects the first layer. Twist the first layer back where it started. Twist the second layer back where it started. So it is a 4 twist sequence that 3-cycles something. It can be used one way or another in solving, as far as I know, every twisty puzzle out there. Well worth being familiar with. When I taught my grandson how to solve the Rubik's Cube I called it Al-Bob-Charlie. Move Al to Bob. Move Charlie to Al. Undo the first move. Undo the second move. He could solve all the edges and 3 of the corners using Al-Bob-Charlie and Up-Replace-Down.

Step 2. Solve the six big colors 1 or more at a time by twisting edges or using Up Replace Down to get as many of them as possible then The Move to finish up. Use one of the Little Corners and one of the Edge turns with The Move.

Step 3. Solve the 3 long edges by moving the slice so they are in the correct spots, then if necessary flip two of them. K A K A K flips L and R. You could flip L and A by moving them to R and flipping them there. Or R and A by moving them to L and flipping them there. If you need a pure flipper use (K A K' A) x 3 to flip L and A.

Step 4. Permute the 3 little edges using The Move with two Edges.

Step 5. Orient the 3 little edges. L R L R L A L A flips K1 and YP.

Step 6. Solve the centers 1 or more at a time using (J A J' A) x 3 (W L W' L) x 3 which cycles Bottom > Back > Right. The setup move W' R W swaps the centers on the right and back so the cycle is reversed.

Thursday, August 24, 2017

Tangram Cube Initial Discoveries

I got a new puzzle yesterday from Speedcube Shop. I am checking it out.

Naming and counting the pieces.
  • Two little corners that only rotate.
  • Six big corners that can 3-cycle around the little corners. They can also swap around the long edges with an edge twist.
  • Three long edges that can flip one at a time, and move around the cube with the inner slice.
  • Three little edges that can move around with the slice, and swap one pair at a time with an edge twist. 
  • Six center pieces that double swap with each edge twist, and 3-cycle with each corner twist.
I experimented a bit with The Move but didn't find anything immediately so moved on. May come back to it though. I tried finding a typical commutator 3-cycle. I look for a set of 3 moves that changes only 1 piece in one of the layers. Didn't find one yet. But going UpR(ight)C(orner) ReplaceT(op)E(dge) DownRC ReplaceF(ront)E UpRC ReplaceTE DownRC ReplaceFE...

Wait a minute. I thought I had a 3-cycle of little edges dialed in, but now in trying to put them back I have scrambled the centers. Well, all but the red one. What did I do?

It went downhill from there. Pretty soon it was pretty scrambled. But now, without really knowing how exactly, I've got it back to the 5-cycle. hmmmm.

August 25, 2017
Before I went to bed last night I decided to name things so I can track what I am trying and how it works. I am using some of the letters from my BLD solving. Here is what we have so far.

Holding the cube with yellow up and blue front:

L = long edge at FrontLeft
A = long edge at UpBack
R = long edge at RightDown

ED = little edge at LeftUp
K1 = little edge at FrontDown
YP = little edge at BackRight

J = corner at FUR. J or J up, and J' or J down.
W = corner at BDL. W' or W up, and W or W down.

K = move slice up. K or K up, and K' or K down.

Right now I have a 5-cycle of centers and two little edges are flipped.

Things finally fell into place after spending a lot of time today trying to figure out some cycles and swaps and flips. It is solved. But I need to experiment and document much more before I want to give it a good scramble. Here is what I've learned so far.

L R L R 3-cycles E and its adjacent centers to K, K to Y, and Y to E.
Of course similar 3-cycles can be accomplished using L and A, and A and R.

J A J' A 3-cycles big corners like you would expect The Move to do, plus it 5-cycles centers. Blue to yellow to red to orange to green to blue.
Using this and similar Moves you can cycle big corners from
Blue to Yellow to Green
Blue to Red to White
Red to Yellow to Green
Red to Blue to Orange
and on and on. I suppose solving the 8 corners would be an easy thing to do. The two small corners, J and W can be solved in at most 1 twist. The six big corners can probably be solved easily using The Move.

Another way to 3-cycle big corners is with the following algorithm.
(A W' A J A W A J') one time.
It also double-swaps centers blue-yellow, and red-white.

(A W' A J A W A J') two times swaps the centers back so results in a pure 3-cycle of big corners.

(A W' A J A W A J') three times would cycle the corners back home and double-swap the centers only.

August 26, 2017
In the table below last night I only finished two rows then filled in the J half of the puzzle 3-cycles but not their algorithms. I did not yet try them to see what is double-swapped. I went to bed. I'm ready to get back to it now. I haven't solved the cube with eyes closed since Wednesday and it is now Saturday! Yikes! I want to get back to that too. But first I want to work on this table some more.

Maybe not. I just reviewed what I wrote above and you know, if I could come up with an easy way to solve centers, and then find ways to solve the rest without messing up centers, it would surely be a much better approach. So I am going to take a break from the table and do some more experimenting and maybe document the other things I have found so far.

L R L R 3-cycles E and its adjacent centers to K, K to Y, and Y to E.
Of course similar 3-cycles can be accomplished using L and A, and A and R.

J A J' A 3-cycles big corners like you would expect The Move to do, plus it 5-cycles centers. Blue to yellow to red to orange to green to blue.
Using this and similar Moves you can cycle big corners from
Blue to Yellow to Green
Blue to Red to White
Red to Yellow to Green
Red to Blue to Orange
and on and on. I suppose solving the 8 corners would be an easy thing to do. The two small corners, J and W can be solved in at most 1 twist. The six big corners can probably be solved easily using The Move.

Another way to 3-cycle big corners is with the following algorithm.
(A W' A J A W A J') one time.
It also double-swaps centers blue-yellow, and red-white.

(A W' A J A W A J') two times swaps the centers back so results in a pure 3-cycle of big corners.

(A W' A J A W A J') three times would cycle the corners back home and double-swap the centers only.

(K A K' L) two times just moves centers. O>B>R and Y>W>G
(K L K' R) two times just moves centers. O>B>G and Y>W>R
(K A K' R) two times moves centers and edges. Edges OY>BW>GR

R L K L R K' flips L and A, and E and Y.

(K A K' A) two times cycles K>E>P. K and E flip; P rolls.

(K A K' A) three times flips L and A.

(K A K A) K' (A K A K) or
(K A K A K) two times cycles E>K>Y. K and E flip; Y rolls.

(J A J' R) x 2 (A K A K') x 2 flips YP and K1.

A ((L A L) J (L A L A) J') x 3 Pure Center 3-cycle B>R>G and with setup moves we could easily do B>R>O and B>R>W and G>W>B and G>W>O and G>W>R and B>O>Y and B>O>R and B>O>W and O>R>G and O>R>Y and G>Y>O and G>Y>B and G>Y>R and on and on and on.

Now that I found a center 3-cycle and have convinced myself I have all the algorithms I need, I have fully and intentionally scrambled it. I will not need to complete the table below. In the next post I will try to put just the algorithms I plan to use and how.

Tangram CubeCorner 3-cycleDouble-swaps of centers
AlgorithmsBY RW BG WH BW RYGO
A W' A J A W A J'Yellow-blue-orangexx
A W A J A W' A J'Yellow-blue-whitexx
Yellow-red-orange
Yellow-red-white
Blue-yellow-green
Blue-yellow-white
Blue-red-green
Blue-red-white
Red-blue-orange
Red-blue-green
Red-yellow-orange
Red-yellow-green
and on and on

Tuesday, August 22, 2017

Forgot Last Sentence

At the end I forgot the last sentence and did H 2 L instead of 2 W L. Resulted in a 3-cycle. Oh, and then I used C instead of D. I said D but moved to C. Dumb.

F' R2 D' R2 F L D' R B' L' D2 B' R U B L F U2 B R' U2
PleaseLord JesusE...ment2 Guys
KidsBabes
HelpInspire
UsJesus
FromChrist'sPowerfulVictory
2WinLittleDirt bags

Used the Z Cube and went very slowly and deliberately.
Let's see if we can get it right this time.

Using the Rubik's Cube I got it. But it wasn't easy. When I got to the corners I had to stop and think hard to recall the sentence. What helped was remembering the corners, not the words.

Monday, August 21, 2017

No Sentences, No Notes, No Speed

My first attempt in a while to solve it without having taken any notes. I got 7 of the 12 edges and all of the corners right. I am trying to figure out how I did what I did.

The first two used M2. The next 4 F Perm. The last 6 used M2. Part of the mystery is solved. 2 of the 5 bad ones are flipped. I went to 2 when I should have gone to R. In trying to figure out the other errant 3 pieces I'm at a loss. I guess I'll just try it again and see if I can get it. Only be very careful about what I'm doing.

Well, I had to come up with a different string of letters and I just tried to remember the letters instead of making sentences. Somewhere along the way I think I made a mistake and I tried to fix it and continue. When it was all said and done the thing was a mess. Not totally scrambled. Needed an edge 3-cycle and a couple edges flipped. And the corners were pretty messed.

I guess I'll try again.

I finally got it. Here was my key to success. Go slow. Extremely slow. And hold the cube in such a way that there is no possibility of layers moving other than the one intended. And don't do the double layer moves. Edge F when using the F Perm is the only one I like to use it with. For what it is worth I did all solve attempts with the Zanchi. Oh, here is the scramble.
R D' R B' L' B' R' D' R' U' F' L' F D L B2 D L2 U2 L2 U D

And for what it is worth, I am no longer interested in trying to develop any speed cubing techniques. I like to move at a slow pace. Maybe if Josiah can master the white cross in 8 moves or less every time then I will point him in the direction of F2L videos. I don't know.

Sunday, August 20, 2017

Trying To Refine Setup Moves

I got an idea how I could do setup moves for the F Perm better when going to A. Move the L layer with the M layer. I did a lot of thinking and hesitating during the solve and possibly messed up the corner twist. Anyway my first attempt ended up badly. I decided to work through the whole thing with my eyes open carefully seeing how the new moves looked and felt. Then I did the whole thing eyes closed and got it.

U' L U F U' L2 B' U B2 D2 L' B L' D' L2 F R2 F D R
1 2 All Come
VeryOftenGodPraises
DizzyLittleIndiansJesus
Seriously
Twist 2&3
1Overcomes
4Eat
Patient1FightsImmorality

The eyes closed solve took about 9 minutes. I want to try again with a different cube and see if I can do it faster now. The first solve was with the Z Cube. Now let's see how I do speeding things up with the Rubik's Cube. 6 minutes. The Rubik's Cube is probably the slowest cube I have.

I didn't time this next solve, and I did not rush it. But it seemed to go fast. ECS2F solved. I've been using 1 as want or wan'. 1A sounds a lot like wanna. :D

F' U' L' D' B' L' F R' B U2 F U B' U2 L B R D' F U
KevinEats
LPRH4J
AI-x
BO
We-xVeg
1A-xFullPiece OfFreedom
twist 2&3
On the way to the Ernsts' this evening for a small group social, I made sentences for another scramble. When we got home I reviewed the notes I had jotted down on the way to town then solved it ECS2F. 

D' B2 R' D' L' U' F R2 D' L B' U2 R D2 F' U L' U L B'

Notes:
Every 1
G V I 2 S L-x P O
UP

H 2
A J P F-x
twist 1&3

Saturday, August 19, 2017

What A Mess!

I don't know where I went wrong but when I opened my eyes it was a mess! And red was in front. Maybe I started with red in front and that was why it was a mess. Nope. I checked. So I have no idea. And this was my second attempt. :(

R2 F D L' B L2 F' U F2 U' B' D' B' R2 D' R' F D' L' F' L U D
2 BE In
FredAteVic1
GreatYahweh
Saves
I Know
Jesus Es
WorthPraising

So I worked through it slowly and carefully and even opened my eyes throughout the solve to make sure all was well, and I got it. But then I tried again ECS2F and it was a mess again! I am going to try again! I want to solve this bugger!!!

Although it is 95 degrees outside I decided to go up the hill a ways to try it. Finally! I got it. ECS2F.

Friday, August 18, 2017

More Fun With My Eyes Closed

The first scramble I tried today with eyes closed ended in a bit of a mess on the first attempt. Then I worked through it bit by bit to make sure the analysis was correct and it was. So I tried again start to finish and got it. Used M2, D2, F Perm, edge flip, and corner 3-cycle. Whew.


Thursday, August 17, 2017

Yes! First Try Start to Finish Eyes Closed M2 D2 F Perm

Look at how much jumping back and forth there was on this one.


U' F' U' L' B' R2 U' F' D F' R F2 U' F2 L' D' F2 D' L D'
GenerousJesusM2
PaulUsesF Perm
ValuesForgivenessM2
CarlKnows xF Perm
EveryoneRejoicesBeforeElohimM2
HenryServesF Perm
IBelieveElohim is1CreatorGodD2

Just like I did at Raymond's when I was first solving using only the F Perm, this time I narrated out loud what I was doing. Setup, swap, put it back, set up, swap, put it back,... I think it helped keep me on track and focused.

Got another one in today this evening. I didn't do the out loud thing, but took it slow and easy.
R B2 R' B' U L' F R D L U2 F2 L2 F' D L2 D F' D R2

Henry Uses: F Perm
4 Yams: M2
1 Squash: F Perm
Bud Rejoices In Elohim: M2

Jesus Understands: D2
Alex Serves 4 Doughnuts: F Perm
1 Person: D2

Wednesday, August 16, 2017

Setup Moves For M2 and D2


M2 setupsD2 setups
BJ2Y > BFJPV > F
DL4V > DEIOU > O
EFGH > FABCD > D
OPRS > S1GL
CD2 can be used for anything except KS2 and HW4

What?!? The 3-Cycle :(


D' R2 D' B' R' D F2 L' D L' F' R D2 F D' R' D B2 D' B
Edges
YahwehGodCame2HeapLove
OscarAte x
setup Ucycle KUS
Corners
UDon't xOJesus
Ethan2Vic
Henry14

When I opened my eyes it was all good except for edges S and 3. They were flipped. So when I did the 3-cycle, S evidently was not oriented correctly.

I see it now that I have studied it but here is the thing. I don't think there are any setup moves that would make it work. Options?

1. Figure it out correctly and add a flip. Lots of extra thinking. :(
2. Instead of the 3-cycle use F Perm swaps. 1DSK


D' R2 D' B' R' D F2 L' D L' F' R D2 F D' R' D B2 D' B
Edges
YahwehGodCame2HeapLove
OscarAte x1DSK
Corners
UDon't xOJesus
Ethan2Vic
Henry14

Wow, that was a messup. Not totally scrambled, but... 4 edges and 4 corners were out of place. A couple double swaps. I need to try again on this scramble.

Tried. This time I lost focus or something. Anyway part way through I just lost track of where I was and quit. Must be break time. Let's go do some yard work.

Tried it one more time before retiring for the night. Got it. In spite of the fact that there were a couple times during the solve when I thought I'd blown it. But I kept my eyes closed and pressed on.

Should I practice more on using the setup move LiULU2LiUiL, and restoring it, or should I turn the cube and do it right-handed?