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Some 3-color cube results

The Rubik's Cube can be simplified by using only 3 colors instead of the usual six colors. Generally, opposite faces would share the same color, and that is the convention I assume here in talking about a 3-color cube.

Kunkle/Cooperman showed that a scrambled cube can always be brought to a position within the squares group within 16 moves. This puts an upper bound for God's number for the 3-color cube at 16. It is also well-known that the cube can be put into the <U,D,L2,R2,F2,B2> group in 12 moves. That puts a lower bound on God's number for the 3-color cube at 12. The superflip equivalent for the 3-color cube requires 14 moves according to an optimal 3-color cube solver program I have written. (From solving a million random positions, it appears that about 1.4% of positions of the 3-color cube require 14 moves to solve.) This raises the lower bound for the 3-color cube to 14.