The new RUBIK'S magazine is out. Not as interesting (to me) as the first.
Several articles on the Snake, on cube contests, and some on other games.
A computer flow-chart for the game Awari, and an analysis of Chinese Rings
are included. The most interesting cube articles are one on how disordered
a cube can get; and one on pretty patterns in other cube universes (ie, when
an edge is flipped, what symmetric patterns are there).
If you haven't seen it, the book "INside Rubik's Cube and Beyond" by
Christoph Bandelow is very good. It's translated from German, and contains
a fairly technical discussion of the Mathematical Model, solving in the
supergroup, other magic polyhedra, a detailed flowchart of a cube-solving
program (which also checks the input for legality), and a comprehensive
Maneuver Index, which contains, among other things, a complete catalog of
3-cycles. It includes an index, a bibliography, and a good section of
colored pictures in the center (including one of a 5x5x5!!!). Recomended.
I've also heard a rumor that the solution to "Masquerade" has been
written (and maybe published). Has anyone heard anything of this?
-- Stan
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