1998-05-20 07:56:07 +00:00
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The original puzzle has 9 triangles per face (size = 3) and
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has period 3 turning (i.e. the face or points turn in 120 degree
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intervals). The puzzle was designed by Uwe Meffert and called
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the Pyraminx. This has 2^5*3^8*6!/2 or 75,582,720 different
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combinations.
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Another puzzle Senior Pyraminx 3x3x3 exists only on paper, it
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has period 2 turning (i.e. edges turn with 180 degree intervals)
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but the corners would fall off unless it had some tricky
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mechanism. (This may be the same as the Master Pyraminx which
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has 446,965,972,992,000 different combinations).
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Another puzzle (which was not widely distributed), the Junior
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Pyraminx (and similarly the Junior Pyraminx Star, a octahedron
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formed by two tetrahedra, this has 7!*3^6 or 3,674,160 different
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combinations), has 4 triangles (size = 2) per face and at the
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time I designed this computer puzzle thought that it had only
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period 2 turning (i.e the edges rotate). It turns out the puzzle
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has a period 4 turning (edges turn with 90 degree intervals)
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which makes it analogous to the 2x2x2 Rubik's cube. This puzzle
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makes various non-tetrahedral shapes. The puzzle contained here
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has no period 4 turning flexability.
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2000-03-31 07:41:47 +00:00
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WWW: http://www.tux.org/~bagleyd/puzzles.html
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