A Puzzling August

I had a lot of fun puzzling with the kiddos (and Rory!) in the summer of 2022. We mainly did 3x3x3 cubing in Washington, then had fun with the bright yellow Bump Cube, the Redi Cube, and 2x2x2 puzzles here. After everyone was home again I decided it was time to brush up on solving various puzzles.

Clover Cube Plus

Skewb Xtreme

Double Circle Cube

Square-1

Tangram Cube

Axis Cube

Windmill Cube

Fisher Time Wheel

Clover Pyraminx (it is really a 3x3x3)

3x3x2 and 2x2x3

2x3x4 & 3x3x1

I'm having trouble with the 2x3x4. I've looked at past solution strategies and well, nothing feels right. Oh, I've been able to solve it several times over the last few days but I don't really have a strategy I am settled in on. I have not been using reduction. Solving the inner 2x2x3 is always part of it.

On the way to solving the 2x2x3 if you need to solve centers after the whites and yellows are solved, there is a 4 move sequence that 3-cycles them. With a 2x3 in front and a 3x4 on top M down U2 M up U2 3-cycles the M layer center-edge pairs from UF to UB to DB. So say you have red up and an orange center at UB and a red center at DB. M down U2 M up U2 solves the centers.

To swap the blue orange and blue red edges use a setup sequence so they are opposite one another on a 3x4 side then use (R2 U2) x 3 to swap them along with two phantom edges. 

To cycle URF to DRB to DLF do (U L2 U' R2) x 2 (R2 F2) (U L2 U' R2) x 2 (F2 R2). 

To cycle ULF to DLB to DRF do (U' R2 U L2) x 2 (L2 F2) (U' R2 U L2) x 2 (F2 L2).

To double swap ULF with URB and DLF with DRB do R2 F2 R2. 

To double swap ULF with DLB and DLF with ULB do L2 then swap the white and yellow edges back using a double swap with phantom edges.

(F2 D2 F2 D2) = (URF 3-cycle) + (ULF 3-cycle)

I have scrambled and solved this puzzle multiple times now without much trouble at all. No major issues. 

Spread the Love. The Puzzle Love that is.

This summer I had fun doing twisty puzzles with the Czech kiddos. Some of the puzzles even got to leave with them and travel around the world. The yellow Bump Cube and the Carbon Fiber 3x3x3 went with Annie. The Redi Cube and a Six Spot Cube went with Alex. A 2x2 Cube and the Rediminx went with David. Annie and Alex each mastered the ones they took along with them. David is great at the 2x2 using the 3-step method Solution Guide we made together. And we played a little with the Rediminx and I'm confident that he will be able to figure it out. Perhaps we can do some puzzling together in Google Meet.

4 New Puzzles in November 2020

 Happy Birthday to me! I spent part of the birthday money I got this year on 4 new puzzles.

The 2x2x2 on the left and the 3x3x3 on the right are not new. Between them from left to right we have:

• QiYi Six Spot Cube
• MoYu Rediminx
• MeiLong Maple Leaf Skewb
• MeiLong Polaris Cube

The Six Spot Cube has a nice feel. It is easy to solve. 

The Rediminx was as simple to figure out as I thought it would be, but for obvious reasons it is not a particularly quick solve. Like the Redicube, the corners only twist, rather than moving around the puzzle. The Move, aka Al-Bob-Charlie, aka Up Forward Down Goback, is the most complex algorithm needed. When the most complex algorithm needed is a sequence of 4 moves, the puzzle can't be very difficult to figure out.

The Maple Leaf Skewb took me the longest to figure out. I tried various things with varied success, but in the end came up with this strategy:

1. Move the central 3-sided parts to their centers.
2. Move the petals to their centers.
3. Solve the skewb.

You know the skewbish puzzles that have pieces that correspond to the squares of a skewb, only they need to be oriented by flipping sometimes? The algorithm is Up Back Down Switchhands Up Forward Down Replace Up Back Down Switchhands Up Forward Down Goback. When solving the pieces of the center squares I would sometimes want to flip the square. At first I would use the 14-move algorithm for flipping edges/centers of skewbish puzzles. After a while I realized that it wasn't necessary to do the whole thing and I just did half of it. 7 moves. Then I realized there was an easier way that only took 3 moves. Then I stumbled upon a way that is only 2 moves. Sweet. The 2 moves? Up Forward. 

Up-Replace-Down and The Move can also be used to solve all the little bits of the Polaris Cube. The corners and centers are solved just like a skewb, except the shape is so wonky it makes the whole thing a bit challenging.