6x6 Proud Python

This extends the 4x4 Quad Color Python concept to six colors on a 6x6 cube.

4x4 Quad Color Python

Four colors per side on a 4x4!

This pattern surprised me. My 5x5 Quad Color Python demonstrated 4 is the maximum number of colors per side for a 'python' type pattern on a 5x5 cube due to combinitoric constraints imposed on the centers and middle-edge pieces. I later reproduced the pattern on a 4x4 by just eliminating the center string, yielding the 4x4 Tricolor Python pattern.

While exploring how the pattern might be extended onto a 6x6 cube I realized I had overlooked a better implementation of the pattern on the 4x4. Instead of eliminating the center stripe I moved it and replaced one of the edge stripes. The picture at right compares the 4x4 and 5x5 versions of the improved 'python' pattern, showing that the sides of each cube have the same four colors although they appear in a different order.

Broken Python

On the 4x4 this pattern looks a lot like a standard "python" pattern, except that the pattern has a beginning and an end instead of being a loop. On a 5x5 it's a little more obvious that the pattern itself IS a type of loop.

It's constructed like a standard python, but the pieces on one edge (the purple-white edge in this example) are swapped around to break the pattern.

4x4 Tricolor Python

This pattern is related to the 5x5 Quad-color Python pattern I posted a few months ago. It retains the off-center stripes, which were the most challenging part of the 5x5 pattern.

5x5 Plumber's Snake

This is another snake-like pattern, this time wrapping around using a mix of left, right, and middle edge cubies.

The shape on the purple/white sides reminded me of the drain pipe under the sink, so I called the pattern "Plumber's Snake." But schematically this is really a variation on the common python pattern.

5x5 Quad-color Python

The term "Python" usually describes a rope pattern that winds around the entire cube in a repeating pattern of turn-right, turn-left, straight.

It was surprisingly difficult to devise a workable color scheme because the off-center Pythons have two different sets of constraints, one for the face cubies and another for the edge cubies.

Other than the obvious substitution of different faces (ie: reflections or rotations) I could identify only two schemes. The two cubes below show how the two schemes have the same colors on each face, just in a different order: