It’s recently been determined that 22 moves or less are needed to solve any configuration of a Rubik’s Cube. There is more information about this on mathpuzzle.com. (That information comes from here.)
Tags: puzzles,rubiks-cubeBlog Roundup 3/31/08
- KrazyDad is working on creating a new type of slitherlink puzzle called Altair slitherlink. The grid for the puzzles is based on a medieval Islamic tiling.
- Mathpuzzle.com has some new material this week… including some interesting analysis on how many moves it takes to solve a Rubik’s Cube.
Rubix Corner
A blog called regeneration has posted some pics of custom Rubik’s Cubes available through a site called Rubix Corner. The site has 5×3x3 and 4×3x3 cubes, with additional layers that do not rotate, along with a number of double cubes that overlap and even a Rubik’s Cube cubed, three interconnected cubes.
Tags: mechanical,puzzles,rubiks-cubeOne Billion Mazes
Through a homeschooling blog, I came across a website boasting one billion mazes. I certainly don’t have time to verify this, but this seems to be true. (Ok puzzle maniacs: If you did one maze a minute, how long would it take you to finish one billion puzzles? Answer at the bottom.)
These mazes must be computer generated (the alternatives are too hard to imagine, really.) They are all in printable PDF form where page one is the maze and page two is the solution. And they vary considerably in difficulty. If you’re into mazes, check it out. But I suggest you don’t try to solve them all.
On the same blog post that led me to the mazes, there was also a brief description of a “touch Rubik’s Cube.” It’s a standard Rubik’s Cube that has six different materials covering the six different sides so that you can solve the puzzle without even looking at it.
(Answer to above question: Assuming you took no breaks and lived long enough, you would finish the mazes in just over 1902 years. Or just under two millenia, depending on how you look at it.)
Tags: mazes,puzzles,rubiks-cube
