Hi Twisty Puzzles fans,

As you all probably know, Mixup Cube is like a Rubik's Cube, but with an unexpected twist. When a mid plane is turned by 45 degrees, other turns are possible. This way of turning mixes up the center and edge pieces. Although the concept has already been patented in 1985 by Sergey Makarov, this version has an internal 2x2x2 "cube" and some extra hidden pieces for extra stability.

Stimulated and sponsored by Vladimir Yaroslavskiy, I have developed a third version of this puzzle, using all the best practices for twisty-puzzle design that I have learned over the last few years. I am quite happy about the result, so is Vladimir.
I decided to start a contest, so a lucky person can earn the older version 2. That version works reasonably well, and it now surely is a unique prototype, given the new, improved version. In order to participate, you should make a response video to this video, showing your most creative work. As I am the jury, it will up to you to guess what type of entries I shall like most. I hope to see a lot of videos.

Watch the YouTube videos of the different versions.

Version 1

Version 2

Version 3 <-- NEWEST VERSION

Buy the puzzle at my Shapeways Shop.
Check out the photos below.

Enjoy!

Oskar

The improvement is clearly noticeable.
Great work, as always.

-Doug

Noticeable? I'd say fantastic!

NICE!!! Also I believe this would qualify to be posted in the New Puzzles section. Version 3 is new! Had it not been for the "recent post" column over on the right I might have missed this.

Carl

... and my 2 cents

When I was 10 years old, I got my first Rubik's cube, one year later, in 1984,
I found article about Makarov's cube in Soviet magazine "Yniy technik" (~ Young engineer),
see http://twistypuzzles.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=170201#p170201
All time I have idea to implement and get this cube.

At the beginning of 2009 I suggested Hidetoshi Takeji to create Makarov's cube,
see his message http://twistypuzzles.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=170711#p170711,
but unfortunately this project has not been completed yet, but I hope to see finished
samples in future.

At the same year Oskar made the first version of Makarov's / Mixup cube, see the same
post http://twistypuzzles.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=169896#p169896.
There was idea to order the cube, but the price of cube (as many 3D-printed models)
was too high and I decided to buy other Oskar's puzzles.

At the end of 2009 I suggested Evgeniy Grigoriev (grigr) to create 3D-model for
magnetic Makarov's cube and the result of team work you can see here
http://twistypuzzles.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=20165
There were several versions, many improvements, but the cube wasn't
perfect as I wish. More probably magnetic inner mechanism is better used
for another type of puzzles like Little Chop

I tried to create mini version of PuzzleMaster6262,
http://twistypuzzles.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=21277,
but my sample was not perfect too.

This summer I decided to have Mixup cube by Oskar, but on that time the current
version (no. 2) didn't meet my requirements. Many thanks to Oskar, he "decided to
make and upload a new design of Mixup Cube, which should be more rugged and
tighter than both other prototypes". And now, after 3 years of many attempts,
I'm happy to own the perfect Makarov's / Mixup cube. It works really well!

The summary is almost all things can be improved. As an example, see my
Dual-Pivot Quicksort.

Hi Twisty Puzzles fans,

Today I announce the winner of the Mixup Cube video response contest: the Clockwork 4x4x4 Cube by Timur Evbatyrov. Timur managed to find a mechanical solution to connect all four layers of a 4x4x4 by gears, and that in all three dimensions.


Watch the announcement of the winner.
Watch Timur's award-winning video.
Watch the original contest announcement.

Timur's trophy (photo below) is the second prototype of Mixup Cube. That version is no longer for sale, as I developed a much improved version. When I asked Timur whether he really wanted to win my crappy Mixup Cube prototype, he responded "I hope to win your Mixup v2, it’s not just a puzzle that I can order at Shapeways and build myself, it’s made by Oskar".

So Timur, congratulations with your amazing achievement and enjoy you trophy!

Oskar

Congratulations Timur. And nice contest Oskar. I'm enjoying looking at all the entries myself.

Carl

Oskar, thanks for the contest and for making me a winner! I'm looking forward to getting your Mixup Cube.