Cube with both Smooth and Textured Tiles for WCA

[bopcat]

Hi all,

I have a competition coming up and, well, I am in a bit of a dilemma.
A few weeks ago I placed an order for a set of smooth tiles and a sheet of smooth black and smooth light blue. When my order arrived it turns out that Chris at Cubesmith sent me a set of smooth tiles along with a sheet of textured black and textured light blue. I looked at the receipt and it said smooth, so it was just a mistake, but I just said 'whatever, no biggy' and decided to just cube with 2 colors being textured. My concern is this: Does my cube meet the WCA regulations? (4 sides being smooth, 2 sides being textured) I am just competing in the 3x3x3 bracket (so no concerns about BLD). Do I need to order replacement smooth tiles asap?

Thanks!!!

P.S. Perhaps I'm bad at the search feature, but I did look for a thread about this and didn't get any success! So sorry if this has come up before.

 

[BeautifullyDecayed.]

There has been a thread like this but meh.
I don't think that complies with regulations.
If you check the WCA website [i would link you but im studying for an eco exam and shouldnt be on the computer] and look under regulations tab then under puzzles I think it says something about stickers all being the same.
You might be able to buy some at the competition. Ask around and see who is going if you can't get them from cubesmith in time.
Goodluck for your competition!

 

[iSpinz]

3j) Puzzles must be clean and must not have any textures, markings, elevated pieces, damages, or other differences that distinguish one piece from a similar piece.

 

[bopcat]

Ahh alright. I saw that rule, iSpinz, but didn't know if it applied to the puzzle itself (i.e. the plastic) or the stickers.

Thanks for the quick responses! I'll place an order now and hope they get here in time

 

[mcciff2112]

I don't think this would give you any sort of advantage, given that two whole sides are different. Sure, you could feel a piece and narrow down your options, but you can't guarantee exactly which piece it is. I think you're fine, but you could still always send Chris an email if you're worried about it.

I'll place an order now and hope they get here in time

I doubt that is necessary. Send Chris an email. If he messed up the order, he will send you whatever you need. There's no need to re-order another set.

 

[Stefan]

didn't know if it applied to the puzzle itself (i.e. the plastic) or the stickers.

Your 3x3x3 without the stickers isn't much of a "puzzle", is it?

 

[Ethan]

didn't know if it applied to the puzzle itself (i.e. the plastic) or the stickers.

Your 3x3x3 without the stickers isn't much of a "puzzle", is it?

Depends on who you are,

 

[bopcat]

didn't know if it applied to the puzzle itself (i.e. the plastic) or the stickers.

Your 3x3x3 without the stickers isn't much of a "puzzle", is it?

touché

 

[jms_gears1]

i think youd be fine, i had a sdeith all textured tiles except for the two stickers and carson? said it was fine

 

[masterofthebass]

carson shouldn't have...

 

[~Phoenix Death~]

I think from what i read, the tiles shouldn't be larger than 1.5mm

 

[masterofthebass]

and what does that have to do with anything in this conversation?

 

[anythingtwisty]

It is not legal to have your cube stickered in this way, but if your order doesn't come in time, you can probably borrow a cube from someone.

 

[MW1990]

Your 3x3x3 without the stickers isn't much of a "puzzle", is it?

-Diansheng cubes as well as others have no stickers at all, rather just paint. y frMiend made a cube in which the plastic was multi-colored, i.e. the white-yellow-red corner piece on one of my cubes would have a black background plastic and the white plastic molded in.

 

[Stefan]

Your 3x3x3 without the stickers isn't much of a "puzzle", is it?

-Diansheng cubes as well as others have no stickers at all, rather just paint.

Good point, although that was precisely the reason I asked about bopcat's 3x3x3, not just any.

 

[Zubon]

Sorry to go slightly off topic but I guess this confirms that having one side with NO stickers is not allowed?

Also, I noticed that some of the tiled 4x4s have tiles that stick out so much that you can just catch a glimpse of them when looking from the opposite side at a particular angle. So tiles can't be thicker than 1.5mm?

That would surely make many tiled 4x4s not competition legal?

 

[qqwref]

Sorry to go slightly off topic but I guess this confirms that having one side with NO stickers is not allowed?

It is not allowed.

That would surely make many tiled 4x4s not competition legal?

Ideally they wouldn't be legal, but they are so common that it would be too much of a hassle to cubers if they were not allowed at all. Same thing with Mefferts megaminxes.

 

[Erik]

That would surely make many tiled 4x4s not competition legal?

That's why they made:
3f) Tiles or stickers must not be thicker than 1.5 mm, or the generally available thickness for non cube puzzles.
Where in this case, they are probably referring to megaminx and magic or so?

Quite funny by the way, technically a cube like a mini-diansheng is not allowed for a competition since:
3e) Twisty puzzles must either have coloured stickers or coloured tiles.
They don't have stickers nor tiles.

To the initial question:
3j) Puzzles must be clean and must not have any textures, markings, elevated pieces, damages, or other differences that distinguish one piece from a similar piece.
Bad luck you have different faces that have different texture, since it would be allowed if lets say: only the corners would be differently textured and all edges the same; but if one corner is textured and the other isn't you will have to borrow a cube indeed.

 

[Zubon]

Yeah, I guess that people need to be careful when buying many of the commonly available tiled 4x4x4s as many of then have thick tiles more than 1.5mm.