3x3x5

As promised here is some info on the 3x3x5, which behaves exactly like a bandaged 6x6x6. It will always turn along its inner slices (behaving like a normal 3x3x3) but an entire hemisphere (hemicube?) must have properly oriented half-pieces to turn along an outside slice. This makes me want to try a solve from two different approaches. First, I want to try and pair up all the half-pieces and solve as a normal 3x3x3. Obviously the edge pieces will be easier to pair as each center-edge piece (cedge?) can be paired with two face-edges (fedge?). The inner corner pieces each have two colors meaning they only have one mate. I think I will pair up all the edges and then I can put two same-colored edges on one face along with the corners to be paired so when I align the corners the edge pieces change position but are still in a solved state. Rinse and repeat and then I can solve as a usual 3x3x3. This method will be time-consuming as I will need to position and orient corners and edges with each attempt at pairing the half-pieces.

The second method I want to try is a top-down method which I know will give me headaches as all the algorithms I know will be difficult or impossible to adapt to a bandaged cube, making me try and invent or find new ways to deal with new problems. I would only try this method for the learning opportunity, as logically the first method will work just fine.

Here are some pictures...




You can see clearly how it would be impossible to turn the outer slices at this point.




This cube was purchased from Cube 4 You along with my Teraminx. The quality of this cube is excellent. The plastic seems to be a lightly textured nylon making turning extremely smooth. There are easily removable caps in each center allowing easy tensioning. The cube was very loose when I got it so I had to tighten it quite a bit. The stickers are high quality Oracal. Some people have complained about shipping times from C4U (from China) but I ordered UPS Saver on the 29th and it arrived on the 1st which was even over a weekend. Hard to complain about that. I will definitely buy again.

UPDATE: As expected, method one worked perfectly, without any surprises. There were some critical-thinking problems to work out to pair up all the last pieces at once similarly to the final solve on the Dogic. Overall, this puzzle (especially from C4U) was excellent and challenging. It feels great in your hands and is pretty unique. If you know how to solve a 3x3x3 and are looking for a bit more of a challenge this is a puzzle I highly recommend.