when I refer to the 'core', I am following the standard terminology on this forum. ('core' = core + springs/screws + centers)
What?! Is that really standard terminology here? That'd be rather stupid. Illogical and confusing, and certainly better words exist? I don't have a name for it cause I have no need for it, but "frame" or "skeleton" come to mind...
Yes, Although I wouldn't use such harsh words as "stupid, illogical or confusing", I agree that it is not good terminology. That is why I felt I had to make a note explaining my choice of words.
However, on this forum, especially in the threads discussing hybrids, most people say things like "C4U core with type C cubies for teh win!!1!".
Maybe I don't read this forum as much as you, but it seems that the majority of people here say "core" when they really should say "core, springs and centers".
Anyway, this is a different discussion and should be moved to the appropriate forum.
This puzzle is cool! I am kind of glad in a way that I didn't pay $100 for it from the twistypuzzles store.
The first step of orientating the half-cubies, so you can turn the half-layers is really interesting. There are so many methods you can use to do this and the more cube knowledge you have, the more tricks you can use.
There are also many tricks you can use to ensure that the non half edge pieces, stay in their middle layer, to save moves later on.
Pairing the half-corners is quite intuitive and I pair the UF, UB and DF, DB half-edges simultaneously, simply by using M2 U2 M2 U2 (the U2s are half layers). However, I am sure that there are many other pairing techniques.
There is a parity but it is trivial.
When you reduce it to a 3x3x3, you get a good case where all the half-cubes are correctly orientated.
