Skewbs: Oblique cubes

Strictly speaking, a Skewb is a shape mod of a Pyraminx. That’s because it too contains a mechanism with 4 axes which run along the space diagonals. Its special feature: The corner pieces can not be turned. Even though this may sound a little intimidating at first, Skewbs are actually easier to solve than the 3x3 cubes. Because these twisty puzzles have gained so much in popularity, a separate category for Skewbs was introduced at WCA competitions in 2014.

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The inventor of the Skewb

The Skewb was created by the English puzzle inventor Tony Durham. However, the Skewb was marketed by none other than Uwe Mèffert, the inventor of such twisty puzzles as the Pyraminx and Megaminx. In the beginning, and to reflect the fact that the Skewb is a shape mod of the Pyraminx, it was called Pyraminx Cube.

What does Skewb actually mean?

Skewb is a word invented by combining the terms "skew" and "cube". It was coined by the American physicist Douglas R. Hofstadter in an article for the 'Scientific American' journal in 1982. In this article he discusses, among other things, the twisty puzzle then still known as the Pyraminx Cube, writing "I have what poses as a cube but is most definitely not a cube: a cubical object sliced in a strange diagonal way, which scrambles in a devilishly skew manner."
In this article, he introduced the catchy name Skewb for this puzzle. Uwe Mèffert was seemingly so fond of the name that, from then on, he used it instead of Pyraminx cube.

Solving the Skewb

We have gathered some of the most popular Skewb solving methods for you and linked video tutorials that will help you solve your Skewb. The information is directed at beginners as well as more advanced cubers.