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(This is part of a series of puzzles written for Timwi for a Secret Santa puzzle exchange, themed around various custom modules for the game Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes. No KTaNE knowledge is necessary for any of these puzzles except the final meta; each puzzle resolves to a single word or short phrase.)


On The Subject of Rubik's Cube

enter image description here

(At one point, a word will be abbreviated in a puzzly way.)


Hint:

Just follow directions -- but where do they end?

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  • $\begingroup$ So is this hint implying that @HTM was onto something? $\endgroup$ Commented Feb 17, 2020 at 16:58

1 Answer 1

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I believe the answer is

ANDROID

First, note that...

... each face is labeled on its center square: UP, DN, LF, RT, FT, BK. When following instructions, use the first letter of these labels (i.e. U, D, L, R, F, and B), which correspond to standard cubing notation.

Also, in keeping with cubing notation, all rotations are clockwise; counterclockwise turns use a ' symbol, and none are present here.

Then...

... follow the arrow on the original cube, reading off as many squares as is shown in the first set below the cube, which is six. This yields DO ROTATE URDU.

After following that instruction, following the arrow again, and reading seven squares, you get DO ROT AYERS ROCK. In other words, DO ROT ULURU; Uluru is another name for Ayers Rock. (The "ROT" here is probably the "puzzly abbreviation".)

After following that instruction, following the arrow again, and reading nine squares, you get DO KONAMI USE F AS A. In other words, use the Konami code, but use F as A. This yields DO UUDDLRLRBF.

After following that instruction, following the arrow once more, and reading off four squares, you get the answer, ANDROID.

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  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Nicely done! There's something else disambiguating the lengths, though (and there shouldn't be an N in the final message). $\endgroup$
    – Deusovi
    Commented Feb 17, 2020 at 18:39
  • $\begingroup$ I just re-noticed the squares below the cube. Revisiting... $\endgroup$
    – mbingo
    Commented Feb 17, 2020 at 18:41
  • $\begingroup$ @Deusovi Transcription error. Thanks, Google Sheets cell autocomplete. $\endgroup$
    – mbingo
    Commented Feb 17, 2020 at 18:47
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    $\begingroup$ That's it, nicely done! $\endgroup$
    – Deusovi
    Commented Feb 17, 2020 at 19:17

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