Related papers: The Mutando of Insanity
We consider a puzzle such that a set of colored cubes is given as an instance. Each cube has unit length on each edge and its surface is colored so that what we call the Surface Color Condition is satisfied. Given a palette of six colors,…
The 30 MacMahon colored cubes have each face painted with one of six colors and every color appears on at least one face. One puzzle involving these cubes is to create a $2\times2\times2$ model with eight distinct MacMahon cubes to recreate…
Given a palette of six colors, a colored cube is a cube where each face is colored with exactly one color and each color appears on some face. Starting with an arbitrary collection of unit length colored cubes, one can try to arrange a…
Suppose a d-dimensional lattice cube of size n^d is colored in several colors so that no face of its triangulation (subdivision of the standard partition into n^d small cubes) is colored in m+2 colors. Then one color is used at least…
Let $Q_d$ be the $d$-dimensional hypercube and $N=2^d$. We prove that the number of (proper) 4-colorings of $Q_d$ is asymptotically \[6e2^N,\] as was conjectured by Engbers and Galvin in 2012. The proof uses a combination of information…
We propose a new kind of sliding-block puzzle, called Gourds, where the objective is to rearrange 1 x 2 pieces on a hexagonal grid board of 2n + 1 cells with n pieces, using sliding, turning and pivoting moves. This puzzle has a single…
Define a building blocks set to be a collection of n cubes (each with six sides) where each side is assigned one letter and one color from a palette of m colors. We propose a novel problem of assigning letters and colors to each face so as…
Several articles deal with tilings with squares and dominoes on 2-dimensional boards, but only a few on boards in 3-dimensional space. We examine a tiling problem with colored cubes and bricks of $(2\times2\times n)$-board in three…
In this paper we give a mathematical model for a game that we call picture cube puzzle and investigate its properties. The central question is the number of moves required to solve the puzzle. A mathematical discussion is followed by the…
We develop infinitary analogues of the $N\times N\times N$ Rubik's cube. We'll be pushed to consider the possibility of transfinitely many twists and the foremost question we shall study is whether or not all infinite scrambles are…
By using two different invariants for the Rubik's Magic puzzle, one of metric type, the other of topological type, we can dramatically reduce the universe of constructible configurations of the puzzle. Finding the set of actually…
We consider solutions to the $4$-color problem for the vertices of sphere triangulations with degree sequence $6,...,6,4,4,4,4,4,4$. We sort these solutions into combinatorial types and show that each generic type $\tau$ is parametrized by…
We study a popular puzzle game known variously as Clickomania and Same Game. Basically, a rectangular grid of blocks is initially colored with some number of colors, and the player repeatedly removes a chosen connected monochromatic group…
In this paper, we study the concept of "binary color-coded magic squares" by assigning two distinct colors to the even and odd numbers within a magic square. We investigate the uniqueness of patterns within these squares using three…
Various forms of sorting problems have been studied over the years. Recently, two kinds of sorting puzzle apps are popularized. In these puzzles, we are given a set of bins filled with colored units, balls or water, and some empty bins.…
We consider vertex colourings of the dodecahedral graph with five colours, such that on each face the vertices are coloured with all the five colours. We show that the total number of these colourings is 240. All such colourings can be…
The Four color problem is closely related to other branches of mathematics and practical applications. More than 20 of its reformulations are known, which connect this problem with problems of algebra, statistical mechanics and planning.…
We introduce higher-dimensional cubical sliding puzzles that are inspired by the classical 15 Puzzle from the 1880s. In our puzzles, on a $d$-dimensional cube, a labeled token can be slid from one vertex to another if it is topologically…
Edge-matching problems, also called edge matching puzzles, are abstractions of placement problems with neighborhood conditions. Pieces with colored edges have to be placed on a board such that adjacent edges have the same color. The problem…
A conjecture of Berge suggests that every bridgeless cubic graph can have its edges covered with at most five perfect matchings. Since three perfect matchings suffice only when the graph in question is $3$-edge-colourable, the rest of cubic…