Radiolarian 9 – The Radio Crystal – 12/2012

The following article is taken from the original announcement of this puzzle on TwistyPuzzles.com in 12/2012.

This is the 9th in my series of increasingly deeper cut face turning icosahedrons.

In the face turning dodecahedrons, as the cuts get deeper than a Megaminx, the centers shrink in size and the slices begin to overlap each other on the edges, creating new parts. Aleh’s Brillic, also known commercially as the Pyraminx Crystal, was the first example with cuts at just the right depth to make the face centers disappear.

The Radio Crystal is a face turning icosahedron, with the same property that the cuts are at just the right depth to make the faces disappear. Surprisingly, this has already happened once before with the three faces around the turning face on the Radiolarian 2. But the cuts on the Radio Crystal are so deep that they pass another set of face centers on the icosahedron- 6 more per face! Buried beneath each hidden face center, there is a stack of centers 3 deep, one fixed to the core, and two with with holes to allow a screwdriver to reach the screws inside.

Visually and conceptually to me, this puzzle is the closest icosahedral analog of Aleh’s Brillic and Praminx Crystal, so I’ve named it the Radio Crystal… aka Jason’s Brillic. :D

Turning quality is very good. Criticisms from me are that it is a bit squishy due to the acute angles, and that the brillic pieces sometimes trail slightly behind a turn and have to be aligned separately.

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Video Here.

Radiolarian 8 – Radio Jam – 12/2012

The following article is taken from the original announcement of this puzzle on TwistyPuzzles.com in 12/2012.

Introducing the Radio Jam! This is the 8th in my series of increasingly deeper face turning icosahedron puzzles.

Just as the dodecahedron shape has some nice canonical face turning cut depths like the Megaminx, Pyraminx Crystal, Starminx and Pentultimate, the icosahedron has some cut depths that are well proportioned and elegant. For example the Radio Web – Radiolarian 6, should be simpler than the Radio Jewel – Radiolarian 7, since the Web has shallower cuts. But the Radio Jewel – Radiolarian 7 represents a moment where some pieces disappear, leaving a pleasant, simpler outward appearance. Even though it has a deeper cut than the Radio Web, the Radio Jewel is elegant both in outer appearance and the inner mechanism because some earlier complexity can finally be shed.

Puzzles between the elegant stopping points have been called “in-betweens”.

The Radio Jam – Radiolarian 8 is one of these in-betweens. It has not let go of the complexity of the Radio Jewel -Radiolarian 7, but has also gained some new pieces: two very small trianges on each edge. This uncomfortable space between two more elegant puzzles reminds me of the region on a radio dial just between two stations, where you can get hints of both, but neither is totally comprehensible. This puzzle contains the pieces from the Radio Jewel, and the upcoming Radio Crystal, and the result is a puzzle stuck between two worlds.

I’ll call movement on this one fair. I think this puzzle would need to be made larger to improve it. Breaking in was also a nightmare this time. On to the photos and video!

By the way– a quick apology, these photos were taken with too high of an ISO, so they are grainy. On the bright side there’s less depth of field. Next time should be an improvement.

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Jumble 2
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This image is a comparison to Radiolarian 3. You can see how deep the cuts are now.

Video Here.