From news@nntp-server.caltech.edu Mon Jun 19 18:36:29 1995 Return-Path: Received: from piccolo.cco.caltech.edu by life.ai.mit.edu (4.1/AI-4.10) for /com/archive/cube-lovers id AA15966; Mon, 19 Jun 95 18:36:29 EDT Received: from gap.cco.caltech.edu by piccolo.cco.caltech.edu with ESMTP (8.6.7/DEI:4.41) id PAA27121; Mon, 19 Jun 1995 15:36:21 -0700 Received: by gap.cco.caltech.edu (8.6.7/DEI:4.41) id PAA16086; Mon, 19 Jun 1995 15:36:18 -0700 To: mlist-cube-lovers@nntp-server.caltech.edu Path: whuang From: whuang@cco.caltech.edu (Wei-Hwa Huang) Newsgroups: mlist.cube-lovers Subject: Re: 3x3x3 Cubes for Sale Date: 19 Jun 1995 22:36:17 GMT Organization: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena Lines: 25 Message-Id: <3s4u51$fmk@gap.cco.caltech.edu> References: Nntp-Posting-Host: accord.cco.caltech.edu X-Newsreader: NN version 6.5.0 #12 (NOV) "Jerry Bryan" writes: >For the first time in years, I have seen 3x3x3 cubes for sale in a >store. (For American readers, the store is Hills, which is a regional >chain which competes against WalMart and Kmart. The price is $8.97 -- >U.S. dollars.) The box has a note signed by Erno Rubik, and gives >the proper size of the cube group. Also, and I couldn't see inside >the box to verify this, the Face centers seemed to be marked in such >a way as to support the Supergroup. Rubik's note about the size of >the problem says it is 4^4 times bigger than the regular problem. >The manufacturer (or maybe distributor?) is Matchbox Toys (or is it >Matchbook Toys?). What you saw was "Rubik's Cube 4th Dimension." This was released some time in the early 90s. The only difference between this and the typical 3x3x3 is that four faces have pictures on their center squares, requiring the solver to orient them correctly. I belive last year there was a European Rubik Puzzle series that rereleased the cube, along with other rubik puzzles. -- -- Wei-Hwa Huang (whuang@cco.caltech.edu) Homepage (under construction): http://www.ugcs.caltech.edu/~whuang/ I have a proof that NP = P; however, it requires exponential time to write down.