From BECK@vax88a.pica.army.mil Fri Feb 24 10:22:36 1995 Return-Path: Received: from VAX88A.PICA.ARMY.MIL by life.ai.mit.edu (4.1/AI-4.10) for /com/archive/cube-lovers id AA12292; Fri, 24 Feb 95 10:22:36 EST Date: Fri, 24 Feb 1995 10:22:53 -0500 (EST) From: BECK@vax88a.pica.army.mil To: Cube-Lovers@ai.mit.edu Message-Id: <950224102253.2060111e@VAX88A.PICA.ARMY.MIL> Subject: new puzzle ??? I was given a puzzle, new to me, whose name I do not know. It is magic polyhedra in the shape of a cube. The surface looks like Yoshi's puzzle when folded, ie, 12 edge wedges going to the center of the faces. It turns on the corners of the cube, in groups of 3 wedges at a time. Feels a lot like a skewb but it is not. The mechanism is analogous to Alexander's Star, ie, on each of the faces of the core solid there are pyramids fixed to the faces on rods that are free to turn. This puzzle has an octahedron (equilateral) as the core solid and and equilateral pyramids. {a paper construction is very easy to do - make an octahedron and 8 pyramids - use a rubber band through the apex of the pyramid and through the faces of opposing octahedron faces to attach the pyramids while allowing them to turn. the wedges fit between the pyramids. I do not know how to hold them down but if you join three and sit them over a pyramid you can get the idea of the puzzle - i think} 1 - does anybody know what this puzzle is called ?? 2 - besides this one and Alexander's Star are there other puzzles that use this type of mechanism ?? 3 - If anybody uses this mechanism with a triangular faced hexahedron or icosahedron as the core solid please let me know or any other solid for that matter. THE FUTURE IS PUZZLING, BUT CUBING IS FOREVER !!! pete