Community Notation Draft · v0.1
A working proposal for writing down turns on the Q Platypus Cube — face letters, move modifiers, and scramble conventions, gathered in one place for the community to pressure-test.
Not an official standard. This is a community draft only — nothing here is endorsed by a governing body or the puzzle's manufacturer. Conventions may change as the group reaches consensus. Feedback welcome at the bottom of this page.
Every move below assumes the cube is held the same way. This draft fixes the orientation before any notation is defined, so turns can't be ambiguous.
Top (white) is the fixed reference, not a turnable letter in this draft. Left and Up are intentionally left undefined here — only F, R, B, D are notated.
Each move is one face letter plus an optional modifier.
A bare letter means a 90° clockwise turn of that face, viewed straight-on from that face's end — i.e. looking directly at F, R, B, or D from outside the cube.
An apostrophe (prime) means counterclockwise instead — a 90° turn the other way, same viewing rule.
A trailing 2 means a double turn, 180°, if applicable to the puzzle in hand — direction doesn't matter for a half turn.
Moves are written space-separated in the order they're performed, left to right.
Pin this to your wall. Four faces, one fixed grip.
How this draft generates a scramble sequence for a solve.
A scramble is 25 moves long.
No immediate repeats — the same face letter cannot appear twice in a row, regardless of modifier. F F' and F F2 are both disallowed back-to-back.
Only the four defined faces are used: F, R, B, D. No U or L moves in this draft.
Each move's modifier — plain, ', or 2 — is chosen independently and at random.
One example sequence built under the rules above, shown at full size for reading off a scrambling table.
Copy this structure into your own log to track solves.
| # | Date | Scramble | Time | +2 / DNF | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 3 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 4 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 5 | — | — | — | — | — |
This is a draft precisely so it can be argued with. Bring answers to these back to the group.
Does the F = green / R = red / B = blue / D = yellow mapping match how most people naturally pick the cube up?
Is "clockwise as viewed from that face" clear enough, or should direction be defined relative to a fixed viewer position instead?
Should U (white) and L (orange) be added as turnable, notated faces — or is a four-face puzzle intentional?
Is the 2 modifier (180° turn) actually usable on this puzzle, or should it be dropped from the notation?
Is 25 moves the right scramble length in practice, or should it change once more people have tested it?