Skewb

The Skewb in solved state

The four turning planes of the Skewb bisect it as shown in this figure.

The Skewb (/ˈskjuːb/) is a combination puzzle and a mechanical puzzle similar to the Rubik's Cube. It was invented by Tony Durham and marketed by Uwe Mèffert.^[1] Although it is cubical, it differs from the typical cubes' construction; its axes of rotation pass through the corners of the cube, rather than the centers of the faces. There are four axes, one for each space diagonal 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 name Skewb was coined by Douglas Hofstadter in his Metamagical Themas column. Mèffert liked the new name enough to apply it to the Pyraminx Cube, and he also named some of his other puzzles after it, such as the Skewb Diamond.^[2]

In December 2013, the Skewb was recognized as an official World Cube Association competition event.^[3]

Mechanism

The Skewb's pieces are divided into subgroups and have several constraints. The eight corners are split into two group. 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. A floating corner can be distinguished by squishing down when applying pressure to the corner. The centers only have two possible orientations, seen by scrambling a Skewb-like puzzle where the center orientation is visible (such as the Skewb Diamond or Skewb Ultimate), or by disassembling the puzzle.

Records

The world record single solve is 0.75 seconds, set by Carter Kucala of the United States at Going Fast in Grandview 2024.^[4]

Some Skewbs feature concave sides for improved grip when turning.

The world record average of 5 (excluding fastest and slowest) is 1.52 seconds, set by Carter Kucala of the United States at CubingUSA Heartland Championship 2024, with times of 1.65, 1.45, (2.57), (1.37), and 1.45 seconds.^[4]

Top 5 solvers by single solve

Name[5]	Fastest solve	Competition
Carter Kucala	0.75s	Going Fast in Grandview 2024
Zayn Khanani	0.81s	Rubik's WCA North American Championship 2022
Simon Kellum	0.85s	Going Fast in Grandview 2024
Antoni Stojek	0.88s	Cube Factory Brzeziny 2024
Manuel Prieto de Antón	0.88s	Baztan Open 2023

Top 5 solvers by Olympic average of 5 solves

Name[6]	Fastest average	Competition	Times
Carter Kucala	1.52s	CubingUSA Heartland Championship 2024	1.65, 1.45, (2.57), (1.37), 1.45
Dominic Redisi	1.53s	Rubik’s WCA North American Championship 2024	(2.05), 1.63, 1.43, 1.52, (1.07)
Zayn Khanani	1.56s	Pretzel Mania 2022	1.30, (1.20), 1.79, 1.60, (4.89)
Alex Rosado Saez de Langarica	1.72s	Bilbao La Perrera Side Events 2024	1.66, 1.62, (1.40), (2.97), 1.87
Oskar Hanuszkiewicz	1.73s	Back To Białystok 2024	1.81, (1.67), 1.67, 1.70, (3.78)

See also

• Dino Cube
• Dogic
• Megaminx
• Pocket Cube
• Professor's Cube
• Pyraminx Duo
• Pyraminx
• Rubik's Revenge
• V-Cube 6
• V-Cube 7
• V-Cube 8

References

1. "Tony Durham Mechanical Puzzles". The Metagrobologist. Retrieved September 22, 2020.
2. "Jaap's Puzzle Page, Skewb Page". Jaap's Puzzle Page.
3. "Add Skewb. Resolves issue #102. · thewca/wca-regulations@66d6da9". GitHub. Retrieved 2021-01-26.
4. World Cube Association Official Results - Skewb
5. World Cube Association [1]
6. World Cube Association [2]

External links

• Birgit Nietsch's Skewb page
• Jaap's Skewb page
• Kirjava-Meep Skewb Method 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.