Mihai wrote: ↑Sat Dec 23, 2017 10:03 am
I know there are some tricks to solving these, but I don't know them, so I fiddle no more.

I remember being on verge of giving up on it. Then my cousin was watching one day and made an observation: that I was looking at it in 2D (as six faces), instead of seeing it as 3D pieces that need to be in distinct positions. Standing on that insight it was possible to apply some analytical thinking and do the rest. Basically you start with the cross pieces at the base (in this case the blue). Then fill in the edge pieces of the base; making sure their three colors match the centers that are adjacent to them. Then fill-in edge pieces of the middle row. These two rows (base and middle) are the easy part. The top row requires some science. You try to discover sets of moves that, at the end, leave the bottom two rows untouched, and then observe what the moveSet did to the top pieces. For example there is a set of moves that at the end will only rotate three of the top corner pieces clockwise on their own axis and also shift their relative positions clockwise. This alone is enough, if applied consecutively, (by selecting the one piece to exclude from rotation) to fix all four corner pieces of the top row. Then there are moves that only affect the top cross-pieces.
Once done with all three rows it is time for the bonus round

, there are moveSets that (at their end) affect the the rotation of the center pieces themselves. The whole cube is still in tact (and you wouldn't know anything changed if there was no decal to mark the center piece orientation).
Now, Loretta, if you do the right thing and return the computer you stole from Mihai he will solve it for you. I remember he was a very smart guy.
