From cube-lovers-errors@mc.lcs.mit.edu Fri Nov 20 14:44:20 1998 Return-Path: Received: from sun28.aic.nrl.navy.mil (sun28.aic.nrl.navy.mil [132.250.84.38]) by mc.lcs.mit.edu (8.9.1a/8.9.1-mod) with SMTP id OAA08578 for ; Fri, 20 Nov 1998 14:44:17 -0500 (EST) Precedence: bulk Errors-To: cube-lovers-errors@mc.lcs.mit.edu Message-Id: <3654ED01.E6D38EE8@hurstlinks.com> Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1998 23:16:01 -0500 From: "Guy N. Hurst" Organization: HurstLinks Sites On the Internet To: "Jorge E. Jaramillo" Cc: cube Subject: Re: The Cylinder References: <19981117105414.18936.rocketmail@attach1.rocketmail.com> I have seen one or both of these puzzles, and they were very different from each other. The cylinder, or prism, was actually the first cube I learned to solve, when my cousin from Luxembourg visited back in 1981. I have pleasant memories of it, because it was very well made and pleasing to view. It is harder to solve than the cube since the four of the edges are "cut", so it is impossible to match edges to centers - leaving the possibility of having to backtrack later and figure out which "corner" (and matching edge) is in the wrong place! But I had it down and could quickly readjust (usually had to swap corners diagonally in the top two layers if I found a single flipped edge left in the bottom layer when almost done solving it, if I remember). I liked it so much, I requested and obtained 4 more after my cousin returned to Europe! I would take them to school, one at a time, until (unfortunately) they all eventually disappeared. At least two were stolen out of my (locked) locker on different occasions. Someone else liked them, too. Anyway, I never found that puzzle in the US, and could only get it from my cousin in Europe. (Who I think may have gotten them from England). But the other puzzle, as described by the moderator, was available in the US back then, I think in the following year or so after my cousin visited, since one of my friends had one. But it wasn't as nice looking or well made. So I didn't care for it. It was more like the cube with its corners cut, forming rectangles and triangles in a spherical symmetry, as opposed to the prism from Europe which has four of its 3-piece-edges cut, forming only rectangles and having a cylindrical symmetry. Guy N. Hurst