Crazy Cube Series
There are eight cubes in the DaYan MF8 series of puzzles, named after the eight planets. At first glance, all of the puzzles look the same, but they differ in the number and configuration of rotating sections compared with stationary ones. All possible configurations are available, except for all fixed and all rotating, which would be pointless in either case.
Some puzzles that possess the "crazy centre" are named, confusingly, super. Super refers to cubes where the orientation of the centres matter, so re-using the term for this style of puzzle makes the word "super" ambiguous in the context of twisty puzzles.
There are fixed faces and turning faces.
A fixed face leaves leaves the nine centre pieces fixed in place.
Whereas a turning face rotates the nine centre pieces with the rest of the face.
The different combinations of fixed and turning faces gives each puzzle its own nuances that must be understood to solve it. Exploiting the different faces allows algorithms to be performed that move the centre pieces around in different ways.
Mercury
Mercury is the easiest puzzle to solve of the series. The white face turns and all of the others are fixed. Due to the configuration of the puzzle, the centre-edges on the layers adjacent to the white and yellow layers can be moved away from their respective layers, making the puzzle easier to solve.
Venus
The white and yellow faces turn and all the others are fixed. Due to the configuration of the puzzle, the centre-edges on the layers adjacent to the white and yellow layers can be moved away from their respective layers, making the puzzle easier to solve.
Earth
The white and green faces turn and all others are fixed. Having adjacent faces turning means that the puzzle can be fully scrambled. This makes the puzzle a step up in difficulty from Mercury and Venus.
Mars
The white, green and yellow faces turn and the other three are fixed.
Jupiter
We get a change of direction with Jupiter. On this puzzle, the white face is fixed and all others turn.
Saturn
The white and yellow faces are fixed and all the others turn.
Uranus
The white and green faces are fixed and all the others turn.
Neptune
The white, green and red faces are fixed and the the other three turn.
Solving the Crazy Cubes
The basic technique is the same for each puzzle. The details vary, making each puzzle a challenge in its own right with its own challenges. Mercury and Venus are the easiest, due to the limitations to the way that the centre edges can be scrambled.
The scrambled puzzle looks daunting...
I worked out that each puzzle can be solved by following three main stages.
Stage 1 - Solve the Edges and the Centre-Edges
This stage is broken down into three steps. I use sunes to cycle three edges. Using different combinations of turning and fixed faces affects which combinations edges and centre-edges are cycled. At this stage, it does not matter about sune algorithms affecting the corners.
Step 1 - Cross First Layer
I start off by solving a cross. This can be done intuitively. The choice of colour is directed, to a certain extent, by the configuration of the puzzle. A mixture of turning and fixed faces are needed away from the cross to be able to manipulate the edges and centre-edges relative to each other.
Step 2 - E-Layer
Next, I turn the cube over and work on the E-layer. I try to do as much of the next step at the same time as I can, but it does not always work out.
Step 3 - Cross Final Layer
On the Mercury and Venus cubes, this is straight forward. It is more difficult on the other six. It may be necessary to use the E-layer to complete this step.
Stage 2 - Solve the Corners
This is the most straight forward step. I find the easiest way to do this is to permute the corners first and then to orientate them. Where possible, I do both simultaneously. Do not use sune algorithms to rotate the corners, they mess up the edges. Beginner methods work just fine.
It is possible that a parity odd case may be encountered at this stage caused by a quarter turn of one of the faces.
Stage 3 - Solve the Centre-Corners
It is possible to work out algorithm to move the centre corners around. They exploit various combinations of fixed and turning faces. Which centre corners are moved where depends on the positions of these faces relative to each other. Each puzzle has a different configuration, therefore, something that works well on one puzzle might not be possible on another.
