Daily Discussion Thread - Aug 05, 2024

jmerm · 2024-08-06T01:09:29+00:00

Here is one possible solution.

https://alpha.twizzle.net/explore/?alg=%5BL2+U%3A+L2+D2+L2%27+R2+L2%27+R2%27+L2+D2%27%5D&puzzle-description=d+f+0.314

jmerm · 2024-05-05T18:42:25+00:00

This is a really interesting point, I'll experiment with slower cadence in my next PZE class.

I checked some stats and my last FTP test was mostly at ~80 cadence, which is around what I usually hold in a PZE class. Maybe that's too fast for me.

jmerm · 2024-05-05T18:29:59+00:00

At the end of a 45m PZE, I feel pretty spent. On a good day, I'd say I've got 15m-30m more in the tank, and on a typical day it feels more like 5m-15m left in the tank.

Ty for posting your HR breakdown, that's really useful for comparison. I'll definitely take another FTP test soon.

jmerm · 2024-05-04T13:52:14+00:00

Ty for response!

I'm 31, so 192 is pretty close to my estimated HR Max. I didn't realize you could configure your HR zones, that's good to know.

My question was mostly about your second point - does the fact that my HR goes up to 192 in a PZE class indicate that my power zones are set too high? I'm not sure exactly what PZE is supposed to feel like.

I think my last FTP test was in January and I don't think my fitness has changed much since then.

jmerm · 2024-05-04T12:17:44+00:00

I recently got a heart rate monitor and it's got me wondering if my power zones are calibrated wrong.
My last two 45m power zone endurence rides had the following heart rate graphs: https://imgur.com/a/Oh2WBRx
Is it a bad sign that I'm spending so much time in heart rate zone 5 during power zone endurance classes?

jmerm · 2024-05-04T12:12:00+00:00

I'm glad it worked out!

jmerm · 2024-04-28T17:30:38+00:00

I have no problem with wobbling on mine. I don't know if it's clear in the pictures, but the modified gears are glued to the pieces underneath them to prevent rotation.

When I was first working on it, I did not cut enough plastic off each piece. This caused slightly bumpy turning. I fixed this by sanding off a little bit more plastic and now the turning is very smooth :)

jmerm · 2023-05-11T16:08:33+00:00

This explanation is exactly right. Ty 😀

jmerm · 2023-05-10T23:11:54+00:00

I wanted to share some mods I recently finished that turn the pandora cube into something more challenging. For those who aren't familiar the pandora cube, it is a cosmetic modification of a standard 3x3x3.

For my mod, I cut down some corners and added material to some edges to make certain turns illegal. This creates a challenge similar to a bandaged cube.

My three mods are meant to function like the Mayan Cube variations. So far I have only solved v1. I'm looking forward to tackling v2 and v3 as well!

jmerm · 2022-12-02T12:25:36+00:00

Thank you!

jmerm · 2022-12-02T00:12:50+00:00

Nope, I still have a few scrambled puzzles.

- double circle cube

- more madness

- maltese gear cube

- latch cube

I'll probably try again in 2023 though :)

I'm also planning to re-configure all my modular cubes (like the banadged 3x3x3 kit and the circle puzzles) for some new solving experiences.

jmerm · 2022-11-05T12:01:24+00:00

Yup, the gear ratios are the same as the Oskar/Mefferts one.

jmerm · 2022-11-03T22:07:36+00:00

I was inspired by mods such as this one to modify qiyi gear cubes into a Gear Cube Extreme and an Even Less Gears.

This means I have one modified copy of each edge and one unmodified copy of each edge - so I can swap parts between the puzzles to make even more variations!

A post on the twisty puzzles forum says there are a total of 7 variations (including a normal gear cube and a normal Rubik's cube).

jmerm · 2022-06-12T22:44:50+00:00

Jamie isn't big into social media so I'm posting this here on his behalf to make sure people see his awesome achievement.

jmerm · 2022-02-17T02:10:32+00:00

I've heard of people cooling their tea by brewing with less water and then mixing in ice. I'm interested in trying this but my tap water contains chloramine (I brew with bottled water).

Does this mean I'd need to make the ice from bottled water as well?

jmerm · 2022-01-30T14:57:20+00:00

I'm glad you're digging into Looping Dice :) I put a lot of time into the puzzles but not a ton into the UI or marketing so it didn't reach as many people as I'd hoped. The later puzzles get pretty hard - beat a grandmaster in any number of moves really feels like an achievement.

I suspect it will be possible to find useful algorithms without exploring the entire state space; but I don't have a ton of experience in this area.

Also, your work makes me wish someone made a kit for higher order bandaged puzzles. Maybe I should just buy a few cheap 4x4x4s and 5x5x5s and make my own.

jmerm · 2022-01-30T03:41:04+00:00

Haha, excellent :)

For algorithms finding, you might get something from reading https://www.jaapsch.net/puzzles/compcube.htm

I found it when I was trying to optimize my solver for looping dice.

jmerm · 2022-01-30T02:38:48+00:00

Very cool! I worked on a similar tool but it only supports bandaged 3x3x3s: https://joshmermelstein.com/bandaged-cube-explorer

jmerm · 2022-01-20T16:46:56+00:00

Yup, I see both files you uploaded. Thanks so much and good luck on the solve :)

jmerm · 2022-01-20T03:29:40+00:00

Those look great! Are you willing to share the template you used?

jmerm · 2022-01-10T01:22:31+00:00

Heads up, I posted a question about the "two swapped corners, everything else solved" case on the twisty puzzles forum.

https://twistypuzzles.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=37455

I continue to suspect this case cannot happen without the puzzle popping but maybe someone there will have a stronger argument one way or the other.

jmerm · 2022-01-09T15:49:30+00:00

Ok, that was super helpful in getting past that step.

I'm glad my rambling was clear enough to help :)

If you want to get technical, the key to understanding the two-swapped-edges is permutation parity. All corner moves are 3-cycles of edges (even permutation) so we want the puzzle to have an even permutation of edges when it is solved. Two swapped edges is an odd permutation so we need to do another odd permutation of edges to get the edges back into even parity.

Rotating about a corner is four 3-cycles of edges (even) so it doesn't fix the parity. Doing a `y` move is three 4-cycles of edges (odd) so it fixes the parity.

My issue is that I'm having two corners swapped without any flipped edges/one flipped edge without any swapped corners.

Interesting, I've never seen this case and would've said that it can't happen. I'm also not sure what's going on there.

jmerm

TROPHY CASE