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Twisty Slidy Cube
Above:Solved
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Seems to be a 2x2x4 but it allows the move of Sliding Pucks.

In many ways this puzzle is similar to Tony's earlier Sliding Pucks. It has the same horizontal rotation plus vertical sliding (if we call the faces with circles the top and the bottom). The vertical sliding goes one place up or one place down and further horizontal rotation remains possible providing there are four pieces in the layer you wish to rotate. Unlike the Sliding Pucks though it can also rotate vertically on the same plane as the sliding movement. These three types of movement are pretty rare on a puzzle and it enables any piece to be moved to any location either way up. On a Rubik's Cube of course you can never swap an edge with a corner but here you can. In order for the cube to work like this it is necessary to have small extensions at each end to stop pieces coming out during slide moves. On my puzzle they take the form of semi-circles just a few millimeters thick. Tony could have used different shapes and thicknesses.
Since any piece can go anywhere the stickered ends often disappear inside the puzzle when scrambled. This would potentially result in damaged stickers with pieces moving across them. To avoid the problem Tony has created recesses for the stickers so they will never get damaged.
When making a transformation quality is usually determined by the puzzle you are making it out of. In this case it is fine though hardly fantastic. Moves click into place like a Skewb though this is achieved by notches in the plastic which is inferior to Meffert's Skewb style springs and ball bearings. The general feel of the puzzle is quite light and a bit cheap.
Solving presents an interesting challenge since not all colours are visible when it is scrambled. This means you have to find out where pieces are before you can even think about putting them in place. Once again this is similar to Tony's Sliding Pucks though a half turn reveals if a piece is stickered or not. On Sliding Pucks since it is cylindrical no peaking is possible. You have to move a piece to an end to see what's on it and if there is nothing it has to be moved to the other end to see if there is anything on the reverse side.
Size: 77 x 77 x 85 mm

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