Message #3639

From: damienturtle@hotmail.co.uk
Subject: Re: Remembering Andrey Astrelin
Date: Fri, 10 Feb 2017 23:13:09 +0000

I was also quite saddened by this news, I wasn’t sure whether to post though since I’m not very active here these days and others had already said very nice words, but I eventually decided I should try to put something together since Andrey is definitely a notable part of my cubing story.

I’m still quite amazed by Andrey’s contributions here, from the variety of new puzzles to the astonishing feat of "beating" the record for the first ever solve of a 3^4, which is not something one would ever expect to happen! MC7D is a wonderful program, and is a very neat way to visualise 5D-7D.

MHT633 was mind-bending - it took me a while to understand how the weird geometry could even exist, even after playing with MagicTile. I solved the 8 colour MHT633 a few years ago, and it’s a strong contender for the coolest puzzle I’ve ever tackled and I strongly recommend the experience to everyone here who hasn’t tried it already.

MPU is just another level of insane. Some of the geometry in there was too confusing even for me and so I just let them pass me by since I was becoming busier round about then. This is definitely something that’s bothered me a little since, and I want to fix that eventually. One day, when I find the time, I will tackle the immense task of wrapping my head around all the crazy puzzles Andrey challenged us all with in MPU. Of course, I will have to find at least one or two which seem particularly interesting and solve them, and remember the great man that created them.

Newer members may not be very familiar with Andrey’s history here, but they get to have many more things to explore here because of him, and that’s a pretty good legacy to have left behind.

Matt