Megaminx page

Notes on solving the megaminx

The strategy here is the same as for the 3x3 Rubik's cube:

place the corners correctly first (ignoring correct corner orientation),
place the edges correctly first (ignoring correct edge orientation),
twist the corners if necesary,
flip the edges if necessary.

Moves useful for carrying out these steps are included in the following catalog.

Megaminx catalog of moves

First, some notation. We label the faces f1,f2,...,f6 on top and label the bottom faces f7,f8,...,f12. The same notation is used to indicate the move of the megaminx given by rotaing that face of the megaminx by 72 degrees clockwise. For example, f1 is the move rotating the red face in the picture above.

f1^(-1),f2^(-1),f1,f2,f1^(-1),f2^(-1),f1,f2,f1^(-1),f2^(-1),f1,f2 [f1,f2]^3 swaps the f1/f3 and the f2/f6 corners: (f1/f2/f3,f1/f3/f4)(f1/f2/f6,f2/f6/f7)
m=f3,f6^(-1),f4,f2^(-1),f5,f3^(-1),f6,f4^(-1),f2,f5^(-1); f6*f1*m^6*f1^(-1)*f6^(-1) swaps 2 pairs of corners on the f1 face: (f1/f2/f6,f1/f3/f4)(f1/f2/f3,f1/f5/f6)
f1,f6,f1^(-1),f2,f1,f6^(-1),f1^(-1),f2^(-1) 3 cycle on corners and 3-cycle on edges (f1/f2/f6,f11/f7/f6,f2/f6/f7)(f1/f2,f6/f7,f2/f6)
M2=f6,f2,f1,f2^(-1),f1^(-1),f6^(-1),f3^(-1),f1^(-1),f2^(-1),f1,f2,f3 ( Mark Longridge) edge 3-cycle (f1/f2, f2/f3, f2/f6)
(f6^(-1)*f2^(-1)*f3^(-1)*f6*f2*f3)^6 - triple corner twister, ccw twists of f1/f2/f3,f1/f2/f6,f1/f5/f6
M3=f3^(-2),f6^2,f2,f1^(-1),f6,f1,f3^2,f6^2,f1,f6^(-2),f3^(-2), f1^(-1),f6^(-1),f1,f2^(-1),f6^(-2),f3^2,f1^(-1) ( Mark Longridge) edge 2-flip, f1/f2,f1/f6
M3a=f6^(-1),f2^(-1),f1,f3^(-1),f1^(-1),f3,f2,f6,f3,f2,f1^(-1), f6,f1,f6^(-1),f2^(-1),f3^(-1) ( Mark Longridge) edge 2-flip, f1/f2,f1/f3

The pictures above were created using the Maple package mega.mpl. An example Maple worksheet using this package is dodec1.mws. Both of these have been tested on Maple V4, V5 and should work on Maple V3.

Last updated 12-15-97.