Variations
Once you understand how HedgeSlammer affects cubies it can be used to solve the cube
in a variety of ways. It's your cube. Solve it however you want.
Solve the cube in a different order.
- Position corners, then position edges, then orient edges, then orient
corners.
- Position corners, then position edges, then orient corners, then orient
edges.
- Position corners, then orient corners, then position edges, then orient
edges.
- Position edges, then position corners, then orient edges, then orient
corners.
- Position edges, then position corners, then orient corners, then orient
edges.
- Position edges, then orient edges, then position corners, then orient
corners.
You may wish to examine the
Reference at the end of this
document for useful move-sequences.
If corner-cubies are positioned before edge-cubies, all edge-cubies can be moved to
their home positions using nothing but HedgeSlammer.
If edge-cubies are positioned before corner-cubies, the final two edge-cubies may
need to swap places in order to move them to their home positions. In such cases,
the two edge-cubies can be swapped using (Hs U)3.
Solve the cube using nothing but HedgeSlammers.
In other words, no layer should be turned unless it is being turned as part of a
HedgeSlammer. Solving the cube in such a manner is possible, but only if the
scrambled cube happens to be in a state that allows it. This only happens about 3%
of the time.
If corner-cubies are positioned before edge-cubies, a maximum of three quarter-turns
are required in order to get the cube into a state where it can be solved using
nothing but HedgeSlammers. The quarter-turns are needed near the beginning of the
solve to move the corner-cubies to their home positions. Once all eight
corner-cubies have been moved to their home positions, the cube can then be solved
using nothing but HedgeSlammers.
Solve the cube layer-by-layer (sort of).
Since HedgeSlammer touches every layer of the cube, solving layer-by-layer in the
same manner as
CFOP is not really
possible, but it can be faked by solving it in a manner similar to the
8355 solution.
(R' D' R D) is a well-known move-sequence for orienting
corner-cubies. It orients corner-cubies in the same manner as
orienting corner-cubies using Hs2. The
move-sequence is applied until a corner-cubie is oriented (which will require either
two or four applications), then the upper layer is turned to replace the newly
oriented corner-cubies with an un-oriented corner-cubie. This process is continued
until the move-sequence has been applied a total of six times.
(R' D' R D)2 twists the corner-cubie anti-clockwise. Other
cubies are disturbed.
If orienting corner-cubies in the bottom layer is desired, the move-sequence can be
re-written as (F' U' F U).
It is possible to orient corner-cubies using nothing but HedgeSlammer. No other
face-turns are required. This is not an intuitive method.
A pivot re-orients the cube so that the front-right-upper corner-cubie
remains the same, but the top changes color. The cube can pivot clockwise
(Pc) or pivot anti-clockwise (Pa).
An orbit is a HedgeSlammer and a clockwise pivot repeated three times in a
row: (Hs Pc)3. An orbit moves a corner-cubie around the
cube in an anti-clockwise 'circle', returning the corner-cubie to its starting
location.
An orbit moves the pink corner-cubie from pink to black to gray and back to pink.
In an orbit, the cube is pivoted clockwise after each HedgeSlammer. If, instead, the
cube is pivoted anti-clockwise after each HedgeSlammer (which would move the black
corner-cubie in a clockwise 'circle' from black to pink to gray and back to black)
all cubies will return to the same position and orientation that they started from.
In other words, it's the same as doing nothing at all.
Applying an orbit will twist a corner-cubie in the bottom layer clockwise. It will
also twist two other corner-cubies clockwise and flip two edge-cubies. The five
cubies that are affected are shown below.
An orbit twists the corner-cubies clockwise and flips the edge-cubies.
Applying an orbit two times in a row, (Orbit)2, will twist
three corner-cubies anti-clockwise without disturbing any other cubies.
(Orbit)2 twists corner-cubies anti-clockwise.
When orienting the corner-cubies in the last layer, (Orbit)2 must be applied
judiciously in order to achieve the desired effect of orienting all the
corner-cubies. Some examples are given below.
Before and after applying (Orbit)2.
Before and after applying (Orbit)2.
Before and after applying (Orbit)2.
Before and after applying (Orbit)2.
In the example below, (Orbit)2 must be applied twice to orient the corner-cubies.
(Orbit)2 must be applied twice to orient the three corner-cubies.
If (Orbit)2 is not applied correctly, no progress will be made.
Before and after applying (Orbit)2.
There is no move-sequence that can ever be devised that will twist exactly one
corner-cubie.
A longer, but more intuitive method can be used to orient corner-cubies. When
applying an Orbit, if every application of Hs is replaced with Hs3 (e.g.
(Hs3 Pc)3), the cube will be affected in exactly the same
manner as applying (Orbit)2. Applying (Orbit)2 requires 24 quarter-turns and six
pivots; applying (Hs3 Pc)3 requires 36 quarter-turns and three pivots.
HedgeSlammer, (Hs), swaps the pink corner-cubies and also swaps the black
corner-cubies. HedgeSlammer applied three times, (Hs3), performs each swap three
times.
Hs swaps the pink corner-cubies and also swaps the black corner-cubies. Hs3 performs
each swap three times.
Applying Hs3 only affects corner-cubies. All edge-cubies are returned to their
starting position and orientation.
Applying Hs3 only affects corner-cubies.
Applying Hs3 two times in a row is exactly the same as applying Hs6 and will return
all cubies to their starting position and orientation. In other words, applying
(Hs3)2 is the same as doing nothing.
When Hs3 is applied, the facelet of a corner-cubie that travels along a (vertical)
edge, flips to the adjacent face.
When traveling along an edge, the facelet of the corner-cubies flips to the adjacent
face.
When Hs3 is applied, the facelet of a corner-cubie that travels along a (horizontal)
diagonal does not change.
When traveling along across a face, the facelet of the corner-cubie does not change.
By applying any number of Hs3 and pivots, a corner-cubie can be dislodged from its
home position, moved around the cube and then returned to its home position. The
final orientation of any corner-cubie can be determined by mentally tracing the path
that the corner-cubie takes. Each time the corner-cubie travels along an edge, the
facelet swaps sides and each time the corner-cubie travels across a face, the
facelet remains the same.
If pivoting the cube is not desired, here are two alternate methods that will affect
the cube in exactly the same way: ((FR'F'R) (RU'R'U)
(UF'U'F)) and (Hs U)6. The first method simply turns
the same faces that a pivot would. The second method more than doubles the number of
turns that a pivot requires. Neither move-sequence requires re-orienting the cube.
If you have ever wanted to use a single move-sequence to solve the cube,
(Hs U) could be a candidate. It can be used to solve the
cube without needing to use any other face-turns.
If (Hs U) is used along with additional face-turns, then
the total number of turns required to solve a cube can be significantly reduced.
| Sequence |
Cube |
Description |
| (Hs U)2 |
|
Cycles edges anti-clockwise. Cycles corners anti-clockwise. No
other cubies move, but do change orientation. |
| (Hs U)3 |
|
Swap two corners. Swap two edges. No other cubies move but others
change orientation. |
| (Hs U)6 |
|
Flips two edges. Twists corners clockwise. No other cubies are
disturbed. |
| (Hs U)12 |
|
Twists three corners anti-clockwise. No other cubies are
disturbed. |
(Hs U)18 will flip two edge-cubies without disturbing any
other cubies, but is unneeded since (Hs U)6 also flips two
edge-cubies and is 1/3 as long.
| Sequence |
Cube |
Description |
| ( ( (Hs U)3 z' (Hs U)3 yy (Hs U)2 yyz )2 xxy )2 |
|
Cycles edges anti-clockwise. No other cubies move, but do change
orientation. |
| ( ( (Hs U)3 z (Hs U)3 z'yy (Hs U)4 yy )2 xyy )2 |
|
Cycles edges clockwise. Flips two edges. No other cubies move,
but do change orientation. |
| ( (Hs U)3 z' (Hs U)3 z (Hs U)3 )2 |
|
Twists two corners. No other cubies are disturbed. |
There is nothing particularly special or unique about the (Hs
U) move-sequence. There are many other 'single sequence' solutions to the
cube. For example, the move-sequence ((R2 U R' U R' U' R U' R2 U'
D R' U R D' y)3 y) can also be used to solve a cube without having to use any
additional face turns. Additionally, it can be used to solve the cube using any
technique that has ever been invented (e.g. layer-by-layer, corners-first,
block-building, etc.). The reason is it is able to do so is because it simply turns
the top layer of the cube clockwise. In other words, the result of applying the
move-sequence achieves exactly the same thing as (U).
((R2 U R' U R' U' R U' R2 U' D R' U R D' y)3 y) is the same as (U)
Hs = HedgeSlammer = (FR'F'R)
Pc = Pivot clockwise = (xy)
Orbit = (Hs Pc)3
Fc = Flip cube = (xxy)
| Sequence |
Cube |
Description |
| Hs |
|
Swaps black corners. Swaps pink corners. Cycles edges
anti-clockwise. |
| Hs2 |
|
Twists black corners anti-clockwise. Twists pink corners
clockwise. Cycles edges clockwise. |
| Hs3 |
|
Swaps diagonal corners. Swaps vertical corners. Swaped corners
stay oriented relative to each other. No other cubies are disturbed. |
| Orbit |
|
Twists corners clockwise. Flips edges. No other cubies are
disturbed. |
| Orbit2 |
|
Twists corners clockwise. No other cubies are disturbed. |
| Orbit3 |
|
Flips edges. No other cubies are disturbed. |
| Hs4 Fc Hs2 Fc Hs2 Fc Hs4 Fc |
|
Cycle edges clockwise. Edges stay oriented relative to each
other. No other cubies are disturbed. |
| Hs2 Fc Hs4 Fc Hs4 Fc Hs2 Fc |
|
Cycle edges anti-clockwise. Edges stay oriented relative to each
other. No other cubies are disturbed. |
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