+kc8hnz Posted January 22, 2004 Share Posted January 22, 2004 Has anyone tried using a rubiks cube as a clue for a cache? What I have in mind is the listed coord. take you to a cache with a scrambled rubik cube. Before it was scrambled, the loaction of the final location will be written one number in each square on the sides, north being on say the red side, west being on say white. To read the coord. correctly, the finder would have to solve the cube and put it into the GPSr. Has anything like this been tried before? Also, would it be best to list it as a multi or as a puzzle cache? Thanks for the input! Quote Link to comment
+Sparky-Watts Posted January 22, 2004 Share Posted January 22, 2004 Hmmm...I used to know how to solve the "cube". Guess I'd better brush up on it again! Good idea. One question though: Does the cube have the colored stickers, or is it painted? I solved my first Rubik's cube by peeling off the stickers and replacing them in the right spots! Quote Link to comment
+quills Posted January 22, 2004 Share Posted January 22, 2004 wow that would be a tough one. the rubiks cube still haunts me i could get 3 sides but no more than that Quote Link to comment
+rusty_tlc Posted January 22, 2004 Share Posted January 22, 2004 Where do you live? Humm far enough away from me. Yea sounds like a great idea!!! Go for it. hehehehe. Quote Link to comment
+kc8hnz Posted January 22, 2004 Author Share Posted January 22, 2004 Its got the stickers, but I'd certainly hope cachers would have enough respect not to peel the stickers! Quote Link to comment
+CYBret Posted January 22, 2004 Share Posted January 22, 2004 I used to be able to take a rubik's cube apart and put it back together correctly in record time...I guess that skill would come in handy! Seriously, that sounds like a really wicked and twisted idea...you rock! Bret Quote Link to comment
+parkrrrr Posted January 22, 2004 Share Posted January 22, 2004 (edited) Really Old Markwell wherein we discuss how to get the coordinates without bothering to solve the cube. Edited January 22, 2004 by parkrrrr Quote Link to comment
+bons Posted January 22, 2004 Share Posted January 22, 2004 http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php...50entry740280 Quote Link to comment
+Prime Suspect Posted January 22, 2004 Share Posted January 22, 2004 Has anyone tried using a rubiks cube as a clue for a cache? What I have in mind is the listed coord. take you to a cache with a scrambled rubik cube. Before it was scrambled, the loaction of the final location will be written one number in each square on the sides, north being on say the red side, west being on say white. To read the coord. correctly, the finder would have to solve the cube and put it into the GPSr. Has anything like this been tried before? Also, would it be best to list it as a multi or as a puzzle cache? Thanks for the input! There would be no need to actually solve the cube. Corner squares are always corner squares, same for side and center squares. That, plus the orientation of the numbers, would make it simple to figure out the coordinates just by examining the cube. Quote Link to comment
+DustyJacket Posted January 22, 2004 Share Posted January 22, 2004 Someone would eventually take the cube as a trade item..... Quote Link to comment
+Sparky-Watts Posted January 22, 2004 Share Posted January 22, 2004 Someone would eventually take the cube as a trade item..... Oh, yeah...of course! That's the most likely drawback to it. Well, umm...dang. Why are some cachers so dense? Guess it's not limited to cachers, though, is it? Oh, well. It was good while it lasted. Quote Link to comment
+SamLowrey Posted January 22, 2004 Share Posted January 22, 2004 I think even Half-Priced books no longer stocks the solutions manual to it. They say "take that old &%$ out of here!" Quote Link to comment
+Sparky-Watts Posted January 22, 2004 Share Posted January 22, 2004 I think even Half-Priced books no longer stocks the solutions manual to it. They say "take that old &%$ out of here!" I came across mine the other day when my wife was cleaning the attic! I'll have to see where she put it (I told her not to toss it because someday it would be a cult classic). Quote Link to comment
+Team Sand Dollar Posted January 22, 2004 Share Posted January 22, 2004 It's been done here in MI. Cubic Madness #2 (GCGFHG). The cube was used as the first stage of a multi. I was able to determine the coords without solving the cube but by determining where each square should be. Team Sand Dollar Quote Link to comment
SE7EN Posted January 22, 2004 Share Posted January 22, 2004 One way to do it as was explained to me is the hider solves the puzzle then writes the numbers so it spans OR three sides for each set. As you write them you randomly rotate the digits to throw off using orientation to solve it. Then you fill the rest of the squares with random numbers being careful not to create a second set of starting numbers. In other words, if your longitude is 82° then don't have any other 8's and 2's together. Use a cube keychain and attach a travel bug tag and then you add a "Key to Nutria" (sp? I don't have time to look it up) element to it. You must first find the cube, solve anyway you can, and then find the cache/next stage. Some folks will be able to solve the cube faster than most of the cheaters! But I'm not one of them, I'd "cheat." Quote Link to comment
+nincehelser Posted January 22, 2004 Share Posted January 22, 2004 There would be no need to actually solve the cube. Corner squares are always corner squares, same for side and center squares. That, plus the orientation of the numbers, would make it simple to figure out the coordinates just by examining the cube. That is true, unless you can figure out some abstract way to represent the numbers to make it utterly confusing. Like using unusual symbols to represent numbers, and make their relative orientation critical. Me, I'd just dis-assemble the cube and re-assemble. I used to know a guy in high-school who could solve the cube in seconds (the legtimate way). Of course, to do this, the cube had to be broken-in just right to handle his speed, and he used some sort of dry lubricant to make things slide easier. You could hand him a new cube, but it would take him a bit longer to solve (not much, though) because the cube was "stiff". I took one of his cubes (he had several, of course...a true professional) and swapped a couple of stickers so it would be impossible to solve. After about a minute he was real flustered, and realized something was "wrong" with that cube and threw it at me. We all got a good laugh out of that. George Quote Link to comment
Dru Morgan Posted January 22, 2004 Share Posted January 22, 2004 I was the kid in 8th grade who could solve it insanely fast. We used to have competitions and my time was always under a minute. The big variable was how it came out for the last step. If it was one way, a couple moves would get it, but another way would require some extra steps. Of course, I learned the solution from the manual. Even knowing it, I kept thinking that I would never have come up with that solution on my own. Last time I saw them in the toy store, the solution manual was being packaged right in with the puzzle, so you don't have to go looking very far for one. I can't find my original one, but last time I tried to solve it, I only got five sides solved and can't seem to get that sixth side finished. The latest puzzle I am working on, I actually have as a travel bug. No solution manual is published, and it has only been solved by a couple of people. My best puzzle nerd friends have worked on this one to no avail. Hopefully before I die, I'll get it solved. Quote Link to comment
+rover-r-us Posted January 22, 2004 Share Posted January 22, 2004 as long as you don"t live near me that would be a good cache Quote Link to comment
PuzzleBug Posted January 22, 2004 Share Posted January 22, 2004 The cube cache idea may work, but like others have said -- not quite how you may have intended it. I actually love solving the cube, but if I could only solve one side of the cube (as most people seem to be able to do) then I would at least just solve one side at a time until I had the coordinates. I wouldn't solve the whole cube, just the red side, then solve blue (scrambling red) etc. Perhaps that would work. My personal best time is 56 seconds, which is pretty slow. The world record was just under 23 seconds, and now 15-18 seconds is common in those circles. Right now if I picked up one of my speed cubes, my time would probably be about 90 seconds. So, I have forever dubbed myself a "casual cuber" and as long as I can remember how to solve it, I'm happy. Just remember -- solving the cube is a near useless skill that takes a lot of time to aquire and does not impress the opposite sex. If you think you have better things to do with your time, I can only agree -- you probably have! (paraphrased from a quote by Lars Petrus -- one of the few who can solve it in under 20 seconds). PuzzleBug btw, My geocaching page has a rubik's section: www.puzzlebug.com/rubik Quote Link to comment
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