Long term readers of this blog will know of my frustration with low-quality megaminxes in years gone by, and even that I chose not to purchase one at the HKnow store in Causeway Bay in Hong Kong when it still existed. But I can now say that I am a proud owner of a QiHeng S Megaminx (stickerless, non-magnetic).
At some point in the past year, I discovered that the physical incarnation of speedcube.com.au was in a Melbourne suburb, in Blackburn North to be precise. So naturally I had to pay it a visit. Fortunately it is located very near to the Koonung Creek Trail, which makes for a pleasant ride to the shop.
As to be expected from the name, this shop specialises in all things speedcubing, at the expense of stocking more exotic puzzles for the serious collector. I finally decided I wanted a working megaminx, and with the rise of speedcubing, surmised (correctly as it turns out), that I would be able to get a reliable one at a speedcube shop. I chose a non-magnetised one since I won’t be trying to speedsolve it, but also walked away with a 3x3x3.
I was by far the oldest customer. How come so many kids are into cubing these days?
In the past, I have claimed that the megaminx is easy. Here is my simple solution.
1. Solve all but one layer and an adjacent corner-edge pair. This is intuitive and much more efficient if when solving a corner piece, you first pair it with an adjacent edge piece and insert them together.
2. Solve the remaining 6 edges. Intuitive. Easier than on the 3x3x3 since turning one face is a 5-cycle of edges, which is an even permutation.
3. Solve the remaining 6 corners using corner 3-cycles.