From cube-lovers-errors@mc.lcs.mit.edu Thu Jan 27 19:18:31 2000 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 TAA24435 for ; Thu, 27 Jan 2000 19:18:31 -0500 (EST) Precedence: bulk Errors-To: cube-lovers-errors@mc.lcs.mit.edu Message-Id: <388B7645.F3DA4D27@worldnet.att.net> Date: Sun, 23 Jan 2000 16:44:37 -0500 From: Howard Reply-To: shdrake@worldnet.att.net Organization: The Drake Family To: "Cube-Lovers@ai.mit.edu" Cc: "Jing Meffert - Meffert's Puzzles" Subject: Ideas for new puzzles Dear Cube-Lovers, As I twist and turn, I often think, wouldn't it be great if this puzzle did this. After discovering Jaap Scherphuis' page on puzzle info, I thought I should put my ideas forward. If these have already appeared, then please don't take offense, I am not stealing, just reinventing the wheel. If anyone knows if these puzzles already exist, I would very much appreciate hearing about them. If these puzzles don't exist, then I offer my ideas as a challenge to any puzzle manufacturers, and puzzle designers, who may read this news letter. As I twisted my skewb, to prove to myself that it is very similar to the Magic Pyramid, I thought, I would like to swap corners from one group (of 4) to the other group. Super- imposing the cuts of a 2x2x2 cube on the skewb would do this. Each face would consist of 8 triangles. Allowed twists would be the 120 degree twist of the skewb and the 90 degree twist of the 2x cube, only. Stopping at 45 degrees or 60 degrees would not allow a twist in a new direction to begin. Any number of 90 degree cube twists could follow any number of 120 degree of skewb twists, followed by 90 degree twists, etc. My second idea/wish is a Dogic, but using 20 colors, rather than 12 colors. Each face of 3 triangles (plus insert), would be a unique color. The main challenge I see in making this, is choosing 20 easily distinguishable colors. I like the 12 Dogic color choices very much, because, to my eyes, they are easily distinguishable, (in contrast to one of my skewbs that has 2 shades of orange for adjoining sides). 2 ideas that I am currently building are an 8 color cube and 12 color cube using Mefferts assembly cubes and tiles. The 8 color is the corner centered design, and the 12 color is an edge centered design. These appeared in an early Scientific American article. Does anyone in Cube-Lovers have a Web Page to collect ideas of the group for future puzzle designs? Howard Drake