Hey Twisty Puzzlers,

A few years ago, Aleh made the first Face-Turning Starminx. Since then, people have made the Dino Dodecahedron, which had the same face pattern. Then Drew Cormier (better known here as Drewseph) went crazy and made the Starminx II and the Starminx III. It was amazing to watch as the forum realized that the same face pattern could be made using face-turns, edge-turns, or corner-turns.

I am proud to present the first combination of two of these puzzles:

The Dino Starminx
Video
Auction or Shapeways? Depends on demand. See below.

The Dino Starminx turns like both the Dino Dodecahedron and the Face-Turning Starminx. It has a whopping 335 pieces, due to the double set of cuts. It has magnets under the Dino turns to make them not interfere with the Starminx turns. This makes the Starminx layers turn like a dream. The Dino layers turn pretty well, too.

One thing I'm curious about is how the combination of cuts affects the solution space of this puzzle. I know for certain that adding the Starminx cuts opens the solution space much wider than that of the Dino Dodecahedron, since the points of the stars are now free to move around the puzzle. However, does adding the Dino Dodecahedron cuts create a larger solution space than that of the Starminx? Math people, go to it!

I would like to sell this puzzle on Shapeways, but the work involved in building it is more than usual, due to the addition of magnets, as well as the use of rather small screws on the Dino centers. (I had to use small screws so that the heads wouldn't interfere with the rest of the turns.) That said, if there is enough demand, (like with the Radio Cube 3, which was a hit!) I'll put it up. It would probably cost somewhere around $200 for the DIY kit.

Please PM me or post here if you would be interested in buying one.

Here are more pictures.

-Eitan

Beautiful puzzle Eitan! I can't wait to see the video too!


A single dino turn does a 3-cycle of the star-tips and a 3-cycle of the edges. Since this can be done with only starminx turns, the solution space should be the same. Any position should be solvable with only starminx turns.

I think however, this puzzle still makes for an interesting challenge solving-wise because I am sure the most efficient solving method is not to solve it as a starminx, but rather use a combination of the two types of turns. I think it would be very fun to solve!

It was awesome!

NICE!!!! So just how many magnets are in this thing? I'm very eager to see the video. I for one would like to see this on Shapeways... I can't afford one at the moment as I'm hoping to buy a new home here soon but would like to see this available down the road.Interesting... could someone post a move sequence on the Starminx that duplicates a single 120 degree dino turn? Assuming that is possible then yes this puzzle has the same solution space as a Starminx.

Carl

Very cool. Would love to see the mechanism. How well does it turn? I guess the video will show.

-d

They definitely have the same number of distinct positions. A reduction to Dino Dodecahedron would make for an interesting challenge.

I didn't bother to optimize this routine but here goes:
[C', G2, C2, F', B&2, D'&2, B'&2, D, B&2, D&2, B'&2, D', F, C'2, G'2, C, B2&2, I2, F'2, C2, F2, C'2&2, F'2, C'2, F2, C2&2, I'2, B'2&2]

Here's a slightly shorter alg (16 moves): [C,H&2,C',I, E'2,K'&2,E2,F2,E'2,K&2,E2,F'2, I',C,H'&2,C']

Thanks everyone! Good explanations, Brandon and DKwan.

Carl: There are 120 magnets. They are from kjmagnetics.com, a really good supplier I've been using for years.

I'll make the video sometime tomorrow.

-Eitan

Awesome puzzle with very good images.
Can you tell me its edge length and weight?

Very nice! Another one bites the dust. I am looking forward to the video.

Another Great Hybrid puzzle!

I just added the video to the top post. Please let me know if you think you might buy one.

-Eitan

I'm not exactly thrilled by the prospect of acquiring and gluing 120 magnets but I'll buy a print for sure

I might buy one but not as a kit! I'm not allowed to dye puzzles by SWMBO!
Plus the thought of gluing all those magnets and then stickering it fills me with horror!

So if there was a possible option of a ready made version then I might buy one (depending on finances).

I'd definitely bid, but no way would I buy the DIY. I haven't had much succes when it comes to glueing magnets in

-Doug