Finished. Again.

I finally finished the revisions to Book 1. It (was) posted on the main page of lengtat.us.

I have also been working on Book 2 this week. It explains the Corners First Method that I use when I want to solve the cube that way.

The corners first method is my preferred way to solve the 2x2x2 cube, since it is all corners and no edges. I also use it to solve the 4x4x4. In order to solve the middle layer edges of the 4x4x4 and the 4 center sections at the end I also use Through the Door — Bam!

One less thing to learn. Or one more?

Praise the Lord! I stumbled upon something new while cubing a few minutes ago. Now I'm going to have to rewrite part of my book! =) The very last section on twisting two corners explains how to do it using the 14 move sequence that I learned from Mark Jeay's working corner method. But the same result can be obtained using another 14 move sequence comprised of doing two 7 move sequences that are already used in a previous step! Is that cool, or what? The only drawback is that the corners have to be adjacent, whereas in the other method, they can be diagonal. Also, I pretty much understand what is happening in the working corner method, but in the method I discovered today, I haven't figured it out yet.

Understanding the Puzzle and Solving it Too

I think I am finally finished with my first book. Well, so it is only 8 pages long. How long does a document have to be to qualify as a book?

It explains some standard cube terminology, as well as some of my own cube terminology like "Up-Replace-Down" and "Through the Door — Bam!" There are no live links in the book, but there are links to some of the sites and people mentioned elsewhere on my lengtat.us blog page.

I am ready to do a sequel. In fact, I've already started. It was going to be a multi-chapter book, but I decided to make chapter two into a book of its own. OK, maybe not a sequel. What does a book have to do to qualify as a sequel? =)

So where is this book of mine? I have a paper version sitting on my desk at home, and an electronic copy on scribd and further down this page. Scroll down. You can't miss it.

(11/27/09) My blog page has undergone radical changes and the book is no longer on the blog. But it is available online here.

Flip 2 Edges

I made a happy little discovery today.

I've known how to flip 2 edges for a long time using Mi Ui Mi Ui Mi d2 Mi Ui Mi Ui Mi d2. This flips UF and UB, and with setup moves can flip any two edges.

But today, I discovered that I can also flip two edges using the Up-Replace-Down 3-Cycle twice. It came about quite by accident as I was fiddling with the cube. I haven't mastered it. Maybe if and when I do, I'll explain more.

(12/4/09: I guess I never mastered it. Why not? It would take more turns and more thinking to accomplish the same thing as the algorithm above, so the only advantage would be if you were trying to solve the whole cube using Up-Replace-Down. Besides, there is a different method for flipping edges that I got turned onto somewhere along the line that I like better than the above algorithm. It involves moving the edge to a different layer, then putting it back into its slot from a different angle. Then you move the other flipped edge to that spot and retrace your steps.

With the Jing's Pyraminx puzzle it took me awhile to figure out how to apply the principle of flipping two edges, so in the meantime I 3-cycled them out of place and then back into place correctly oriented.)

You CAN learn to solve the Rubik's Cube

Just below the links on this page is an 8 page document explaining one of the ways I like to solve the Rubik's Cube. It is an attempt to help others not only be able to solve the cube, but also understand what they are doing. It isn't just a list of moves you have to memorize in order to be able to unscramble a cube.

(11/28/09) My blog page has undergone radical changes and the book is no longer on the blog. But it is available online here.

04:05 06/07/08

It is 4:05 on 6/7/08.