Skewb

The Skewb is a combination puzzle and a mechanical puzzle similar to the Rubik's Cube. It was invented by Tony Durham and marketed by Uwe Mèffert. Although it is cubical, it differs from the typical cubes' construction; its axes of rotation pass through the corners of the cube, rather than the centers of the faces. There are four axes, one for each space diagonal of the cube. As a result, it is a deep-cut puzzle in which each twist affects all six faces.

Mèffert's original name for this puzzle was the Pyraminx Cube, to emphasize that it was part of a series including his first tetrahedral puzzle, the Pyraminx. The name Skewb was coined by Douglas Hofstadter in his Metamagical Themas column. Mèffert liked the new name enough to apply it to the Pyraminx Cube, and he also named some of his other puzzles after it, such as the Skewb Diamond.

In December 2013, the Skewb was recognized as an official World Cube Association competition event.

Mechanism
The Skewb's pieces are divided into subgroups and have several constraints. The eight corners are split into two group. The four corners attached to the central four-armed spider and the four "floating" corners that can be removed from the mechanism easily. These corners cannot be interchanged i.e. in a single group of four corners, their relative positions are unchanged. A floating corner can be distinguished by squishing down when applying pressure to the corner. The centers only have two possible orientations, seen by scrambling a Skewb-like puzzle where the center orientation is visible (such as the Skewb Diamond or Skewb Ultimate), or by disassembling the puzzle.

Records
The world record time (single) for a Skewb is 0.75 seconds, set by Carter Kucala of the United States on 23 of March 2024 at Going Fast in Grandview 2024 In Kansas City. The world record average of 5 (excluding fastest and slowest) is 1.53 seconds, set by Carter Kucala on 15 July 2023 at the Canadian Championship, with times of 1.89, 1.14, 1.55, 1.14, and 4.15 seconds.