From cube-lovers-errors@mc.lcs.mit.edu Wed Mar 10 22:03:13 1999 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 WAA10588 for ; Wed, 10 Mar 1999 22:03:12 -0500 (EST) Precedence: bulk Errors-To: cube-lovers-errors@mc.lcs.mit.edu To: cube-lovers@ai.mit.edu From: whuang@ugcs.caltech.edu (Wei-Hwa Huang) Subject: Re: Megaminx solving times? Date: 9 Mar 1999 15:46:55 GMT Organization: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena Message-Id: <7c3fpf$mte@gap.cco.caltech.edu> References: Christ van Willegen writes: >I've been practising the Megaminx, and I can now solve it >without resorting to formulas written down on paper. I can >do it in about 10 minutes. How does this compare to other >people's times? I've never solved mine for speed, because I'm afraid of more stickers falling off (already 3 are missing and I have to "deduce" what they are). 10 minutes sounds reasonable -- I'm not sure I've ever resorted to formulas written on paper. (For one thing, I'm not sure I know of any notation!) >And, what method do you use? The method I developed relies >heavily upon the standard cube moves, and I solve the Mega- >minx going down from one flat top in rings. I needed to >adapt 1 (one!) standard cube formula to get it to work on >the Megaminx. This brings up, actually, a rather embarrasing point for me as a puzzle solver. At first I had no idea how to generalize the standard cube moves I used to the Megaminx. So, eventually I figured out a new method, which was: 1. Solve a large chunk of it by normal moves, perhaps leaving only three faces unsolved; 2. Solve the edges of the remaining faces (if you can solve an Alexander's Star, you can do this); 3. Solve the corners. I found this quite effective. About a year later, when my Megaminx was in storage and I was playing with the Cube, I suddenly realized that my method for the Megaminx would work perfectly well for the Cube! (O, for that matter, anything with a similar structure of "corners" with three faces and "edges" with two faces.) I chastized myself heavily for not realizing this "obvious generalization", and with it was able to work out more moves for the Cube. -- Wei-Hwa Huang, whuang@ugcs.caltech.edu, http://www.ugcs.caltech.edu/~whuang/ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Pop", "Soda", or "Coke"? http://www.ugcs.caltech.edu/~almccon/pop_soda/