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What is a Picture Cube Puzzle?
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The picture cube puzzle is a puzzle of - in this case - nine cubes.
Every cube has parts of a picture on its sides.
The nine cubes form a picture if you lay them properly side by side.
It is special that you find five more pictures, if you turn over the
cubes systematically.
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Six Puzzles top
When you buy this puzzle, you often get six sheets of paper as templates
of the six puzzles.
Therefore you can read in advertisments that this is a 6-in-1-puzzle.
Turning the Cubes
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After you have solved one puzzle, you can easily get the remaining
pictures.
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In order to descibe the way to the pictures, I call them A, B, C, D,
E, and F.
The parts of one picture may have the names 1 to 9.
Every cube has the same order.
The names A to F stand on the sides and a number.
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Thus it is sufficient to look at one cube only. |
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You see more if you draw a net and show all the sides of the cube.
You can see that you bring the pictures B and C on top by a quarter-turn
(from the front side to the top side), starting with A above. E doesn't
fit in this sequence.
Starting again with A you can get picture F by a turn from the top side
to the right side.
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If you say "turn" then you mean all nine cubes. You turn three cubes
side by-side at the same time.
Here you can see how to turn it from the front to the top side for
the first row. The other rows will follow.
If you want to turn the columns, you grasp three cubes one below the
other in the same way.
Each cube stays on its place inside a mat. |
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If you turn the cube so that F is at the top and you draw the net,
you see:
You get the pictures D and E by quarter turns. B doesn't fit in this
sequence. |
There are always three pictures, which you get by turning from the front
to the top side. You change from one three-sequence-picture to the next
one by A/F.
You pass all pictures along the sequence A-B-C-E(mixed)-A----F-B(mixed)-D-E-F.
This is a clever order of the pictures on the cubes.
This no-name-3x3-puzzle is from China and
doesn't have flowers as pictures, but ugly, humanized animals. I plan to
replace them by my photos.
If you want to know the names of the flowers from my garden, here they
are:
Elecampane, Mittagsblume, Clematis, Geranium, Ringelblume, and
Crocus.
German: Alant, Mittagsblume, Klematis, Geranium, Ringelblume und Krokus.
Similar Puzzles top
Ravensburger Puzzle
This is the name of the puzzles of the Ravensburger Spieleverlag for
the good old cube puzzle.
The motives are nice and tasteful. They are made of plastic material
and carefully fabricated. They aren't cheap.
There are different sizes like 3x2 or 4x3.
It isn't possible to bring all pictures to the top only by turning.
You must change rows or columns.
If you have found a picture, you have a second one on the reverse side.
Many designs are possible. I am sure there
is also a picture cube puzzle with six pictures all isolated, so that you
can't find a next picture by turning. Then it is a real 6-in-1-puzzle.
Escher-Block
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The Escher block has eight cubes, which form
a 2x2x2 cube together. If you put them together, you must find a picture
by Escher on each side. There is the difficulty that a single cube shows
pictures several times and that you must hide them inside the cube.
It is not easy to find the solution. Therefore,
and because of the Escher picture, it is a puzzle for grown-ups.
The fish-bird-picture has the title "Sky and Water
(1938)". |
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You can find the manufacturer's name on the description:
Made by PUSSICAT, Bad Salzuflen, Germany
©1990 M.C.Escher, Art.No.80 5050
I live in Bad Salzuflen. You see the former factory
at the Lemgoer Straße. The factory was there until 2000. As I see
the building is empty now.
The main emphasis of the company was sliding
puzzles with artists' drawings. They are still "in".
I made a German page (not yet translated) about
the chain puzzle Elefant. |
Jigsaw Puzzle
The jigsaw puzzles fit on this puzzle page. I think they are the reason
that the picture cube puzzle came out of fashion.
LÜK
Then I remember LÜK. I see this equipment for math exercises together
with tortured pupils and unnerved parents. LÜK is the abbreviation
of the German words Lerne-Übe-Kontolliere (learn-exercise-control).
You had to solve problems written on tiles and put them in a certain
place. If the solutions were correct, the pieces altogether showed
a nice pattern on the reverse side. This was a version of the 1970s.
But no bad words. Of course I know that LÜK can be a nice toy
that gives fun.
Comments top
I know the puzzle from my childhold. The cubes were from wood and the
pictures were from fairy tales. You could easily find four different pictures
by turns, but for the last two ones you had to put the single cubes
together as I remember.
Picture
Cube Puzzle on the Internet top
German
LÜK
Wikipedia
Puzzle
Gail from Oregon coast thank you for supporting me in
my translation.
Feedback: Email address on my main page
This
page is also available in German.
URL of
my Homepage:
http://www.mathematische-basteleien.de/
©
2006 Jürgen Köller
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