The Skewb () is a

combination puzzle A combination puzzle, also known as a sequential move puzzle, is a puzzle which consists of a set of pieces which can be manipulated into different combinations by a group of operations. Many such puzzles are mechanical puzzles of polyhedral s ...

and a

mechanical puzzle A mechanical puzzle is a puzzle presented as a set of mechanically interlinked pieces in which the solution is to manipulate the whole object or parts of it. While puzzles of this type have been in use by humanity as early as the 3rd century BC ...

in the style of the Rubik's Cube. It was invented by Tony Durham and marketed by

Uwe Mèffert Uwe Mèffert (28 November 1939–30 April 2022) was a German puzzle designer and inventor. He manufactured and sold mechanical puzzles in the style of Rubik's Cube since the Cube craze of the 1980s. His first design was the Pyraminx – which he ...

. Although it is cubical in shape, it differs from Rubik's construction in that its axes of rotation pass through the corners of the cube rather than the centres of the faces. There are four such axes, one for each

space diagonal In geometry, a space diagonal (also interior diagonal or body diagonal) of a polyhedron is a line connecting two vertices that are not on the same face. Space diagonals contrast with '' face diagonals'', which connect vertices on the same face (bu ...

of the cube. As a result, it is a ''deep-cut'' puzzle in which each twist affects all six faces. Mèffert's original name for this puzzle was the ''Pyraminx Cube'', to emphasize that it was part of a series including his first tetrahedral puzzle. the

Pyraminx The Pyraminx () is a regular tetrahedron puzzle in the style of Rubik's Cube. It was made and patented by Uwe Mèffert after the original 3 layered Rubik's Cube by Ernő Rubik, and introduced by Tomy Toys of Japan (then the 3rd largest toy co ...

. The catchier name Skewb was coined by Douglas Hofstadter in his ''

Metamagical Themas ''Metamagical Themas'' is an eclectic collection of articles that Douglas Hofstadter wrote for the popular science magazine ''Scientific American'' during the early 1980s. The anthology was published in 1985 by Basic Books. The volume is subst ...

'' column. Mèffert liked the new name enough to apply it to the Pyraminx Cube, and also named some of his other puzzles after it, such as the Skewb Diamond. Higher-order Skewbs, named Master Skewb and Elite Skewb, have also been made. In December 2013, Skewb was recognized as an official

World Cube Association The World Cube Association (WCA) is the worldwide non-profit organization that regulates and holds competitions for mechanical puzzles that are operated by twisting groups of pieces, commonly known as '' twisty puzzles'' (a subcategory of combin ...

competition event.

Mechanism

Despite a simple appearance, its pieces are actually divided into subgroups and have restrictions that are apparent upon examining the puzzle's mechanism. The eight corners are split into two groups—the four corners attached to the central four-armed spider and the four "floating" corners that can be removed from the mechanism easily. These corners cannot be interchanged i.e. in a single group of four corners, their relative positions are unchanged. They can be distinguished by applying pressure on the corner—if it squishes down a bit, it's a floating corner. The centers only have two possible orientations—this becomes apparent either by scrambling a Skeb-alike puzzle where the center orientation is visible (such as the Skeb Diamond or Skeb Ultimate), or by disassembling the puzzle.

Records

The world record time (single) for a Skewb is 0.81 seconds, set by Zayn Khanani of the United States on 9 July 2022 at the Rubik's WCA North American Championship 2022 in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

br>Official Results - Skewb
/ref> Concave Skewb

The world record average of 5 (excluding fastest and slowest) is 1.73 seconds, also set by Zayn Khanani on 10 July 2022 at the Rubik's WCA North American Championship 2022, with the times of 2.04, 4.47, 1.41, 1.38, and 1.73 seconds.

Top 5 solvers by single solve

Top 5 solvers by average of 5 solves
World Cube Association The World Cube Association (WCA) is the worldwide non-profit organization that regulates and holds competitions for mechanical puzzles that are operated by twisting groups of pieces, commonly known as '' twisty puzzles'' (a subcategory of combin ...
br>Official Skewb Ranking Average
/ref>

{, class="wikitable" ! Name !! Fastest average !! Competition !! Times , - , Zayn Khanani , , 1.73s , , Rubik's WCA North American Championship 2022 , , 2.04, (4.47), 1.41, (1.38), 1.73 , - , Carter Kucala , , 1.86s , , Cubetcha A 2021 , , 2.02, (1.32), 1.83, (3.29), 1.73 , - , Łukasz Burliga , , 2.03s , , CFL Santa Claus Cube Race 2017 , , 2.48, 1.91, 1.71, (1.39), (4.98) , - , Michał Rzewuski , , 2.13s , , III Masovian Open 2019 , , 2.02, 2.33, (1.96), 2.05, (3.51) , - , Anthony Lafourcade , , 2.14s , , Dontrien Open 2022 , , (2.91), 2.16, 2.05, 2.21, (1.91) ,

References

External links

Birgit Nietsch's Skewb page

proposed by Thom Barlow and Kristopher De Asis.
Sarah Strong's Skewb Method
with variations for all skill levels.
Rubik'skewb solution
by Hideki Niina.
Ranzha's Skewb Method
by Brandon Harnish. {{Rubik's Cube Logic puzzles Mechanical puzzle cubes

Mechanism

Records

Top 5 solvers by single solve

See also

References

External links