From cube-lovers-errors@mc.lcs.mit.edu Tue Feb 15 16:23:34 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 QAA05419 for ; Tue, 15 Feb 2000 16:23:33 -0500 (EST) Precedence: bulk Errors-To: cube-lovers-errors@mc.lcs.mit.edu Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2000 17:28:02 -0800 (PST) From: Tim Browne To: Howard Cc: "Cube-Lovers@ai.mit.edu" , "Jing Meffert - Meffert's Puzzles" Subject: Re: Ideas for new puzzles In-Reply-To: <388B7645.F3DA4D27@worldnet.att.net> Message-Id: On Sun, 23 Jan 2000, Howard wrote: > 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. That would be quite a challenge to create. Truth be told, I'm not even sure if such a creation would be possible. However it is possible to make a Skewb with 8 trianges on a side, and has already been done. It's called a Star Skewb, and is made by switching the centres of a standard Skewb with those of a Diamond Skewb, which Meffert is currently selling. > 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). This has also already been done. Hendrik Haak (www.puzzle-shop.de) is currently selling the Dogic 2. If have yet to buy one myself, but it looks like the colours should be easily distinguishable. > 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. I don't know about the 8 colour cube, but I know for certain that the 12 colour version has already been made. I believ it's called "The Ultimate Cube", and one was sold on eBay during the summer. L8r. -- Cubic Puzzles - The SIMPLEST Solutions http://www.victoria.tc.ca/~ue451/solves.html