Message #2902

From: Eduard Baumann <ed.baumann@bluewin.ch>
Subject: Re: [MC4D] RE: MPUltimate 1.5
Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2014 01:16:59 +0100

For me it is clear:
My favorite is the whole collection of MagicTile.
Ed

—– Original Message —–
From: Melinda Green
To: 4D_Cubing@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thursday, January 23, 2014 12:42 AM
Subject: Re: [MC4D] RE: MPUltimate 1.5

Great list, Roice! I wonder if it’s too much to assume that most of us would list the original Rubik’s cube at or near the top, so perhaps that one shouldn’t count? I wonder if the puzzle would exist now if Professor Rubik hadn’t been the one to invent it. I’m guessing that it was inevitable, but who knows. Once the 3D puzzle existed, I’m certain that 4D versions were inevitable.

I hadn’t been considering particular implementations as favorites–really just thinking in the platonic sense–but implementations are important as well. In that sense I think that my current favorite is the rhombic dodecahedral puzzle that Brandon so graciously gave me. Searching for photos to share just now I realize that that there are many that look very much like mine but this one in particular is very special. The creator obviously went far beyond what was needed to create a successful product, and that appeals to me a lot. Even the inner working parts are as lovingly crafted as the visible parts. I suggest that we restrict our favorites to just the platonic sense, but feel free to list favorite implementations too if you like.

Setting aside the cubic puzzles, I’m glad that you mention the hyperbolic {6,3,3}. It is a thing of beauty and I suspect not at all inevitable. The others you mention are wonderful as well, but the difficulty of this exercise lies in picking one. So everyone else, feel free to call out cubes or physical puzzles too, just please pick one special favorite if you can.

-Melinda

On 1/22/2014 2:55 PM, Roice Nelson wrote:

Feels impossible to pick one, so I'll cheat and just narrow to 3 favorites.  I'm glad they all exist. <br>
  a.. Rubik's Cube, the root of all our permutation puzzle creativity.

  b.. MC4D, especially the superliminal implementation.  Dimensional analogy is awesome.

  c.. Andrey's Magic Hyperbolic Tile &#123;6,3,3&#125;&#58;  I can't say it is my favorite to solve (because I haven't), but the abstractions are fantastic.  Jump a dimension, change the geometry, and let the puzzle faces become a shape you'd never expect. <br>
Even narrowing to 3 is difficult because there have been so many really nice puzzles here over the years.  Nan's 11-cell is great, and I like the MagicTile KQ puzzle too.  I can say this... I'm super partial to permutation puzzles, especially those with some kind of mathematical abstraction that makes them impossible to manufacture in the physical world.  In other words, all the stuff we discuss here &#58;D

Looking forward to hearing Melinda’s and other’s favorites!

Roice

On Wed, Jan 22, 2014 at 4&#58;15 PM, Melinda Green &lt;melinda@superliminal.com&gt; wrote&#58;

  Andrey, unfortunately I can't find the puzzle anywhere, but the description sounds ugly. So you don't think that you could solve dotto if you had to? You solved the other sporadic simple group puzzles, and we all suspect that you have magic powers.

  Nan, I'm not considering puzzles to be hard just because they're big. The more I think about it, the more I'm starting to suspect that &quot;hard&quot; is a fuzzy and subjective concept. &quot;Hard for its size&quot; is another concept that I thought made sense, but now I want to include some form of elegance criterion as well, so I think that I'll just let go of the concept altogether and just think in terms of favorites instead.

  So here is a question for everyone&#58; Of all the puzzles in the world, which is the one that you are most glad for simply existing? My answer is fairly clear though I don't want to influence anyone by naming it up front.

  -Melinda 

  On 1/19/2014 9&#58;17 PM, andreyastrelin@yahoo.com wrote&#58;

    &gt; If there exist any puzzles that humans really can't solve, I don't know of them. Do you?

What about "dotto" game from this page:

    http&#58;//www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=puzzles-simple-groups-at-play

    It's the game in 24 dimensions!

Andrey