Look at that thing. I can’t even get my head around how it works, let alone how you’d solve it. Fortunately, Kenneth Brandon (via Geek.com) has done it instead, compressing 7.5 hours of twisting into a six-minute video.
According to Brandon there are 66.9 quinquaseptuagintacentilliard positions in a 17 by 17 cube, which I’m not sure is even a real word, so let’s just say a lot. Apparently, it’s not much harder to solve than a normal sized cube, using a reductive method of breaking each 17×17 face into chunks and then solving them in turn. It’s “tedious” though, says Brandon.
Here’s a bonus video showing how the 17x17x17 cube works from creator Oskar Van Deventer. I’m still not sure I understand how it functions. Once he undoes the bolt it just seems to disintegrate in to little coloured toothpicks.
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