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Slice Megaminx
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A slices-only-version of the megaminx.

Slice Megaminx is a dodecahedral twisty puzzle where opposite sides are connected via the core. As a consequence, only slice moves can be made. The concept was originally suggested by Bram Cohen. What makes Slide Megaminx special, is that opposite corners always stay opposite, opposite edges always remain opposite, and opposite centers always remain opposite. So if opposite sides are stickered the same colour, then the sticker patterns remains point symmetric around the origin, no matter howe far you scramble the puzzle.
The first three prototypes were a failure. The first was Slice Kilominx, and it hardly turned. The second was a Slice Megaminx with five shells of gears. Brandon Enright tumbled and polished the parts, lubricated them and assembled the puzzle. It did not turn at all. The third was a Slice Megaminx with opposite centers being connected by five geared rods going through the center, and one straight connection. Only the straight connection turned, but barely. Apparently, connecting opposite centers does not work, as it pushes edges and corners outwards, jamming the mechanism.
The fourth prototype was a great success. After talking with Andrew Cormier, Oskar tried a shelled mechanism. They considered whether to have two or three shells. They decided to have only two, as a third shell would make the puzzle much bigger. Also, too many pillars on the sphere core could jam the sliding of the grooves. Instead, Oskar made the most inner pieces double-gripped. The double grip would add length to the pieces, keeping them straight up. The double grip would also reduce the risk of pieces coming loose. Oskar fixed the centers to the core with screws instead of making them an integral part of the core. This turned out to work very well, as it enabled me to precisely tension the puzzle.
The Jaap's Sphere tool was instrumental in the design of this puzzle. Oskar used the tool to select this Jaap's Sphere for the inner core.
This subgroup of the megaminx has 9627755206121277812101663948800000 permutations, compared with 100669616553523347122516032313645505168688116411019768627200000000000 permutations for the unconstrained megaminx which means the number of permutations of the slices-only megaminx is not even the root of the number for the full megaminx.
Edge length: 28 mm
Weight: 176 grams

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