Message #2901

From: Melinda Green <melinda@superliminal.com>
Subject: Re: [MC4D] RE: MPUltimate 1.5
Date: Wed, 22 Jan 2014 15:42:34 -0800

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
<http://www.china-magic-cube.com/goods.asp?gid=68> 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.
>
> * Rubik’s Cube, the root of all our permutation puzzle creativity.
> * MC4D, especially the superliminal implementation. Dimensional
> analogy is awesome.
> * Andrey’s Magic Hyperbolic Tile {6,3,3}: 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.
>
> 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 :D
>
> Looking forward to hearing Melinda’s and other’s favorites!
>
> Roice
>
>
> On Wed, Jan 22, 2014 at 4:15 PM, Melinda Green
> <melinda@superliminal.com <mailto:melinda@superliminal.com>> wrote:
>
>
>
> 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 "hard" is a fuzzy and subjective concept. "Hard for its size"
> 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: 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 9:17 PM, andreyastrelin@yahoo.com
> <mailto:andreyastrelin@yahoo.com> wrote:
>>
>> > 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://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=puzzles-simple-groups-at-play
>>
>> It’s the game in 24 dimensions!
>>
>>
>> Andrey
>>
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