Understanding the Puzzle and Solving it Too

I first learned in the early 1980s by reading books by David Singmaster, James G.
Nourse, and Don Frederick. After awhile I lost interest and eventually forgot how to
solve the cube. I could get two layers, but not the last layer. What I needed was a
method which I could understand, instead of blindly memorizing sequences of
moves. Early in 2007 my interest in the Rubik’s Cube® was rekindled when I watched
the movie, The Pursuit of Happyness, in which Will Smith, as Chris Gardner, solves a
Rubik’s Cube®. It has now become an obsession, fueled by online tutorials written
by: Mark Jeay, Adam Cheyer, Ryan Heise, Lars Petrus, Joël van Noort, Jasmine Lee,
Philip Marshall (at Georges Helm’s site), Victor Ortega and Josef Jelinek, Shotaro
"Macky" Makisumi, Chris Hardwick, Gilles Roux, Jaap Scherphuis, Jessica Fridrich,
Dave Baum, Dan Knights, Dan Harris, and, uh, have I forgotten anyone? Don’t forget
Cubesmith and omega. url.tw and PuzzleProz.com and cubefans.com too which are
some of the online places to get specialty items like stickers, DIY kits, Eastsheen
cubes, Square-1 cubes, the Megaminx, and the new Diansheng brand cube. Then
there are the forums: twistypuzzles.com, masterthecube.com, and speedsolving.com
to name a few.
There are many methods for solving the cube. I give you two of them. The second is
my implementation of the Corners First Method. The first method that is presented
here is my compilation of methods and techniques gleaned from some of the above.
My goal is to present a method that, once learned and practiced, will not be easily
forgotten. If you learn all the skills for both methods you can combine them to make
your own hybrid solutions. I prefer solving the cube from the bottom up with white on
the bottom and yellow on the top, so that is how I describe the solution. Here is the
strategy given in the first half of the book.

• Solve the white edges

• Solve the white corners and middle edges
• Solve 3 of the white corners
• Solve the 3 middle edges that live above these corners
• Solve the final white corner and middle edge pair as a unit
• Solve the yellow edges
• Get the yellow edges all yellow side up
• Put the yellow edges in place y
a sure b
• Solve the yellow corners r cubi
ng p l e

gtat
r y o u
• If none are solved, put one home n fo n
Writte L e
BUD
• Cycle 3 into place, preferably home
• Twist the corners if necessary
Definitions & Notations
Center: There are 6 center pieces. The center
pieces are the ones with only one color on
them. The centers determine the sides. In a
layers method it is important to align every-
thing with the centers from the beginning; with
a corners first method it is not important until
later.
Corner: There are 8 corner pieces. They each
have three colors on them.
Edge: There are 12 edge pieces. The edges
have 2 colors on them.
Opposite Colors: Rubik’s Cubes® now come
with white and yellow on opposite sides of the
cube, red and orange opposite each other, and
green and blue opposite each other. DIY kit
stickers can be configured to your taste.
Orient: Orienting pieces means flipping or
twisting them so the colors line up correctly
with the centers.
Permute: Permuting pieces means putting
them into their proper places.
Face: There are 6 faces: U refers to the top (U
for Upper); R is the right; L the left; F the front;
B the back; D the bottom (Down).
Face Moves: F means turn the Front layer a
quarter turn clockwise. Ri (R inverse) means
turn the Right layer a quarter turn counter-
clockwise. Clockwise and counterclockwise
are based on facing the side. Bi from the front
moves the same direction as F. Di moves like
U. Li moves like R.
Whole Cube Moves: C(Ui), for example,
means to turn the whole cube in the direction
of Ui. Others have different notations for this,
but I never can remember what is what, so I
made up a system that is easy to remember.
Side: One of the vertical faces, R, L, F, or B.
Slice: M is the slice between L and R. E, or the
middle layer, is the layer between U and D. The
slice between F and B is commonly referred to
as S, but I never talk about it.
Layer: The 6 faces and the 3 slices make up
the 9 layers of the cube.
1
Two Layers: When talking about sequences of
moves, d is the bottom two layers as a unit, r is
the right two layers, l (el) is the left two layers,
u is the upper two layers. I don’t use any of
these in the Layers Method, but use d in the
Corners First Method.
Slice Moves: M moves the slice between L
and R in such a way that UB goes to UF. Mi
moves UF to UB. E moves FL to FR. Ei moves
FR to FL.
F2L means the First 2 Layers, which means
the bottom two layers, which means the white
layer and the middle layer.
Home: Every piece is home when the cube is
solved. Putting a piece home is putting it
where it belongs when the cube is solved.
Owner: A piece you are taking home.
Visitor: A piece that is in the home spot of a
piece you are taking home.
Neighbor: An edge’s neighbors are the two
corners it is home between. A corner’s neigh-
bors are the three edges that live next door.
For example UFR’s neighbors are UR, UF, and
FR. UF’s neighbors are UFR and UFL.
Intersection: UR is the edge piece on U and R.
In other words on the top right. UR is on the
intersection of the U layer and the R layer. UL
is the edge piece on U and L. UL is on the in-
tersection of U and L.
RHE3C & LHE3C: Right-handed Edge 3-
Cycle. R U Ri U R U2 Ri. Left-handed Edge 3-
Cycle. Li Ui L Ui Li U2 L. Some corners are also
affected.
Up-Replace-Down: Move a visitor Up—turn U
to Replace the visitor with the owner—move
the owner Down into its home.
Up-Replace-Down 3-Cycle: Up Replace
Down Replace Up Replace Down Replace can
be used to cycle 3 corners or 3 edges or 3
corner-edge pairs. Also Replace Up Replace
Down Replace Up Replace Down works in
some situations. After the 8 moves, all other
pieces are back where they started before the
8 moves. Only the 3 pieces (or pairs) are af-
fected. See page 6.
Solve the White Edges — The White Cross
Getting the white cross on the bottom.
Some prefer solving the first set of edges
on the top or one of the vertical sides, but
many prefer the bottom, as it gives them a
better view of the pieces that are not in
place yet. Solving the white cross is the
first step in many published strategies for
solving the cube. Solving the white cross
means getting the 4 white edges home.
That is, not only getting the white edges
next to the white center, but also aligning
each of the edges’ non-white sides with
their proper centers as well. Give it a whirl.
If you can’t figure it out, work through the
steps below.
First find the white center. The side that
contains the white center is the white side,
as all the other white pieces will be brought
into place around the white center. The
white side is made up of the white center
and the four edges and four corners that
are around the white center. When you turn
the white side these four edges and cor-
ners will all move together in either a
clockwise or counter-clockwise direction.
If one of the edges on the white side has
white next to the white center, turn the
white side so the edge’s non-white color
aligns with its center.
If there are any white edges next to the
yellow center and the white part is
aligned with the yellow center, turn the
yellow side so the white edge’s non-white
color aligns with its center, then
turn that non-white, non-yellow
Just For Fun, See if
side 180˚ so the white edge is in its
you can get the white
home.
cross in 8 or fewer
If there is a white edge in the face turns of 90˚ or
middle layer (the layer between the 180˚ 7 out of 10 times.
white and yellow layers) check to
see if its non-white color is already
aligned with its center. If it is, simply turn
2
the non-white side of the edge so that the
white edge goes home. But if it is not, turn
the side that the non-white of the edge is
on to align the white of the edge with the
yellow center. Turn the yellow layer so the
non-white of the edge is aligned with its
center. Turn the side back down if a solved
white came up. Regarding the edge you are
solving, turn the non-white side 180˚ so the
edge goes home.
If there is a white edge in the top (yellow)
layer, but the white part is not aligned
with the yellow center, turn the top and
the cube so the edge is above its home and
facing you. Turn the top so the edge goes
to the right. Turn the top of the right side
toward you. Turn the front so the edge goes
home. Turn the right side back up to fix the
white that was already solved on the right
layer. In other words, Ri F R.
If there is a white edge in the bottom
(white) layer, but the white is not aligned
with the white center, turn that side 90˚ if
it will align the non-white part of the edge
with its center, or 180˚ otherwise. Then you
have one of the scenarios covered above.
With enough practice and study you may
find yourself discovering shortcuts or
more efficient ways to get the white edges
home. That is part of the joy of cubing. Not
only is this the case in getting the white
edges, but also in every stage of the solu-
tion.
More Fun, Study a
scrambled cube then
see if you can get the
white cross without
looking at it.
Three Bottom Corners
Getting three bottom corners. Look for a corner in U that has white on one of the two
sides. Hold the cube so the corner is in F and so the non-white side of the corner is facing
you. If the corner is directly above its home, turn the side that contains the white side of the
corner so the visitor comes to the top. Now turn U to replace the visitor with the owner. Now
turn the side you turned before so the owner goes home. You brought the visitor Up by
turning the side with white on your corner, then turned U to Replace the visitor with the
owner, then turned the side the opposite direction to take the owner Down to its home. Visi-
tor Up, Replace Visitor, Owner Down. Up-Replace-Down. You did either R U Ri or Li Ui L.
But what if you found a corner in U that had a white on the side, but the corner was not
above its home? Look at the color on the other side of this corner. If the corner is in the
layer of this non-white color, turn U so that the corner is above its home, and put it home as
explained above. If, however, the corner is in one of the other two possible locations, turn
the side of the cube that matches the non-white side of the corner so the visitor comes Up.
Now turn U to Replace the visitor with the owner. Now turn the side so the owner goes
Down to its home. Again you used Up-Replace-Down. Repeat this process until either you
don't have any more bottom corners in U with white on the side, or until you have 3 bottom
corners solved.
Another situation you may run across is when a bottom corner in U has its white side face
up rather than on a side. Simple to remedy. Turn U, if necessary, to place this corner over its
home. Move the visitor Up. Turn U but Do Not Replace the visitor with the owner. Replace it
with another visitor. Move the new visitor Down. Now the corner has white on the side and
can be solved in one of the two ways described above.
What if a bottom corner is on the bottom but not in its home? If white is on a side, turn that
side so the corner comes to U. Turn U. Turn the side back. Now you have a case you know
how to deal with. If white was on the bottom do a similar thing, only it doesn't matter which
side you use. Again you used Up-Replace-Down.

Middle Edges
Getting the 3 middle layer edges that belong above the solved bottom layer corners.
The middle edges are the 4 edge pieces of the middle layer. The middle layer is the layer
between the top and bottom layers. Look for a middle layer edge piece that is currently in
U—an owner. Notice that it has a side facing up and a side facing a side of the cube. If the
side color matches the side it is on, turn U. Now turn layer so that the unsolved corner is
under the visitor. Now turn the side of the same color as the side color of the owner so that
the visitor comes Up. Turn U to Replace the visitor with the owner. Turn the side Down so
the owner goes home. This is another application of Up-Replace-Down. Turn the bottom
so the solved pieces are home. Repeat this process until all 3 middle edges are in place, or
until no middle edges are in U. If the latter is the case, turn D so the unsolved corner is un-
der one of the middle edges that are not home. Use Up-Replace-Down to replace it with
any edge on top, then use Up-Replace-Down to put it home.

3
Corner-Edge Pairs
Getting the last corner and edge as a
corner-edge pair. Let's say the last bot-
tom corner and the last middle edge are
both in U. The goal here is to join the cor-
ner and edge so they can be put home as
a unit. The corner has a white and two
other colors. The edge has those same
two other colors. When they are a unit they
will be side by side with matching colors
on the top and matching colors on the side
and white on the end.
Paying attention to what is happening to
the corner and edge as you work through
the following scenarios will help you un-
derstand why you are doing what you are
doing. Several of the moves described use
the basic technique of hiding the corner by
moving it to the bottom while bringing the
unsolved corner up, then moving the top
to position the edge, then bringing the
corner back up in the right position relative
to the edge so they can be brought to-
gether.
Separating a mixed up corner-edge pair.
If the corner and edge are together but the
colors don’t match correctly, the pieces
need to be separated. Turn U so the corner
is above the unsolved pair. Bring the un-
solved pair up in such a way that the mis-
matched pair is separated. Turn U 180˚.
Turn the side down.
Joining a corner-edge pair when white
is up. Sometimes the corner has the white
on top. If this is the case, turn U if neces-
sary so that the side of the edge lines up
with its center. Turn that side so the un-
solved corner comes to U. Turn U so
the corner you are solving is directly
above the edge. Turn the side back.
Turn U so the corner of the corner-edge
pair is not in the side you’ve been turn-
ing. Up-Replace-Down.
Joining a corner-edge pair when white
is on the side and the colors on top
match. Turn U so the corner is on a side
that contains its home, and the corner’s
white is on that side, but the corner is not
directly above its home. Turn that side so
the unsolved corner-edge comes to U.
Turn U so the edge and corner will be
joined when you turn the side back. Turn
the side back. Turn U so the corner of the
corner-edge pair is not in the side you’ve
been turning. Up-Replace-Down.
Joining a corner-edge pair when white
is on the side and the colors on top are
different. Turn U so the corner is above its
home. Hold the cube with the corner in F
and the non-white side facing you. If the
corresponding edge piece is in B, the
pieces are in Ready Position. Ready for
what? Ready to put them together and put
them home. Simply do Up-Replace-
Down. If they are not in Ready Position
you must get them ready. Turn U so the
edge comes to F. Turn the side the corner
is on so the corner goes down. Turn U so
the edge goes back to the side it came
from. Turn the side the corner is on to
bring the corner back up to the top. Turn U
so the corner is above its home. Up-
Replace-Down.
Joining a corner-edge pair when the
bottom corner is NOT in U. Turn U, if
necessary, so when you bring the corner
up, the corner and edge are either joined
or in Ready Position. Bring the corner up.
Turn U so neither the corner or the edge
are on the side you just turned up. Turn the
side back down.
Now you have a
The Next Step, After you
situation covered
get good at getting the
previously.
First 2 Layers (F2L), work
at getting all 4 corners
and middle edges as
corner-edge pairs.
4
Orient Top Edges
There are ways to flip edges on the top layer while leaving F2L unchanged. At this point
don’t look to see if the yellow edges are in the right places. Just look to see how many yel-
low edges are yellow-up. The ones that are yellow-up do not need to be flipped. The ones
that are not yellow-up need to be flipped. Hold the cube so UF needs to flip. If UB also
needs to flip you can use either UL or UR as the intersection (N). Otherwise use as the inter-
section the spot where the other one that needs to be flipped is. 1) Roll UF to either FL or
FR, going to the same side as N. 2) If a yellow-up piece is at the back (UB), turn U to bring it
to N. 3) Move the edge at FL or FR to N. 4) Move U so the other edge that needs to be
flipped is at N. 5) Move the edge at BL or BR to N. 6) Move U, if necessary, so the non-yellow
(middle layer) edge is at (UF). 7) Roll the yellow edge at FL or FR to UF.
There is no need to memorize the following sequences of moves, but they are a way of de-
scribing what you did, if you used UR as the intersection. F R U Ri Ui Fi flips UF and UB. F U
R Ui Ri Fi flips UF and UR.
After finishing F2L, sometimes none of the yellow edges need to be flipped, and sometimes
all 4 edges, two at a time. If all 4 need to be flipped do one of the flipping sequences, and
then flip the other 2.

Permute Top Edges

There are ways to cycle 3 pieces on the top layer while leaving F2L unchanged. Start
by twisting the top, if necessary and if possible, so that exactly one of the top edges is
home. Hold the cube so the edge at home is facing you. You will use either UL or UR as an
intersection to cycle edge piece X to edge piece Y to edge piece Z. X is the piece in either
the Left (L) or the Right (R) layer. Y is in the Back (B) layer. Here are the moves to cycle X to Y
to Z. Move X out of the intersection by turning

Orient and Permute

the side it is on so X goes down onto the back.
Turn U so Y comes to the intersection. Bring X
back into the intersection replacing Y on top.
Turn U so Z comes to the intersection. Replace
Top Edges in 1 Step
Z with Y. Turn U so there is a complete white This does not always work, so you need
column on the front. Put them home. to learn to do the steps separately. And
perhaps it would be good if I just point
The right-handed edge 3-cycle uses moves of R you in the right direction instead of taking
and U to cycle the 3 edges through N if X is at you step by step. When flipping two
UR. The left-handed edge 3-cycle uses U and L edges the edges do not stay put. 3 of
to cycle the 3 pieces through N at UL. If it was them cycle as you flip them. Notice where
not possible to make only one of the pieces they go in each of the 2 situations. If you
match, cycle any 3 of them and try again. can orient the top edges both right
If X is at UR, it plays out like this: R U Ri U R U2 handed and left, and if you figure out
Ri. To see an interesting way to perform this se- where the 3 edges get cycled in each of
quence of moves check out lar5.com/cube/ the situations, by holding the cube strate-
speed.html. Actually he is doing it left-handed gically, and using the correct hand, you
in the movie at the bottom of the page, so Li Ui can sometimes put the edges home as
L Ui Li U2 L. you flip them.

5
Up-Replace-Down 3-Cycle Up-Replace-Down
3-Cycle
Up-Replace-Down 3-Cycle is a technique for cycling 3
pieces using a commutator. There are several good
places online to learn about commutators in the context Starting Z
of cubing, so if you are interested in studying it further position
check out what Ryan Heise and Joël van Noort have to X Y
say at their websites. They do not exactly use the termi-
nology I use here, but the idea is the same.
Z X
Use it to cycle 3 corner pieces. Here are some examples X Up
of Up-Replace-Down 3-Cycles on a cube. I learned this at
www.ryanheise.com/cube/corner_3_cycles.html. Y
Example 1: Say UFR has green on the right and green is Z
the bottom color on the cube. Say UFR needs to go to Z X
Replace
DFR to be home. It is like moving a white corner into place
with Up-Replace-Down only green is down instead of X Y
white. The other difference is that when solving the white
corners we didn’t care what happened to the top layer
because it wasn’t solved yet. Now that most of the cube X
Z Down
is solved, we need to extend Up-Replace-Down so that
only 3 corners are affected after the 8 move sequence is Z Y
complete. So to move UFR to DFR we need to cycle it with
another corner, say DFL. You always want 1 corner in U Y
and 2 in B. You always want to get the one on top home in X
Replace
3 turns, like R U Ri. R U Ri Di R Ui Ri D. This solves DFR and
Z Z Y
either leaves 3 yellow corners that need to be cycled into
place, or 3 corners that are in place, and possibly need to
be twisted.
Y Up
Y X
Example 2: Say UFL has blue on the left and blue is the
bottom color of the cube. Say UFL needs to go to DFL to
be home. Li Ui L will bring it home, oriented correctly. But
Z
it will have side effects on the rest of the cube we need to
X
fix. Say yellow is facing you and all 4 yellow corners are
Replace
Y X
out of place. We have done Up-Replace-Down so far with
the Li Ui L. Continue with Di Li U L D, which is -Replace- Y Z
Up-Replace-Down-Replace.
Both examples point out that all the Ups and Downs take
place on the same side, and the Replaces take place in X Down
Y
parallel planes, and alternate back and forth.
The first two examples just solve one piece out of 4 yellow
Z X
corners that need fixed. The last 3 corners need not, in
Z
fact, cannot be solved one at a time. The last 3 corners
Replace
Y
must be solved all at once, also using the Up-Replace-
Down 3-Cycle. Hold the cube so 1 corner is on top and 2 X Z X
are on bottom. You want the 1 on top to be solved by go-
ing straight down.
6
Up-Replace-Down 3-Cycle continued
The following examples show how to cycle 3 corners into place in 8 turns.
Example 3: Yellow is facing you. UFL has green on the front and green is on the bottom of
the cube. Hold the cube so UFL is at UFR, so that green is on the side of UFR. It needs to go
to DFR which needs to go to DBR which needs to go to UFR. To do Up-Replace-Down-
Replace-Up-Replace-Down-Replace do R U Ri Di R Ui Ri D. Either the cube will be solved, or
it will have all its pieces in the right places and 2 corners need to twist.
Example 4: Yellow is facing you. Blue is on top. UFL is home. UFR has green up, which
means it cannot go home with Up-Replace-Down since green and blue are opposites. Turn
the cube so yellow is facing you and UFR is home. Now red is on top. UFL has orange up on
the red side, which means it cannot go home with Up-Replace-Down. Turn the cube so
yellow is facing you and DFL is home. UFR has red on the front and red is now on the bot-
tom of the cube. UFR can go home with Up-Replace-Down. To use the Up-Replace-Down
3-Cycle you need 1 corner in U and 2 in D. Look at the bottom of DFR. It is orange, so the
side of UFL that is on the orange side needs to be facing down on D. Do L2 to make it so.
Now the 3rd corner in the cycle is at DBL. Here are the moves to cycle them all into place.
Turn the cube so UFR becomes UFL with the red side of the corner facing left. Li Ui L D2 Li U
L D2. Turn the cube so yellow is in front and L2.

Orienting Corners
Twisting top corners two at a time if they are all in the right places, but not oriented
correctly. Hold the cube so they are the top left corners. Hold the cube so the color on the
top of each of these twisted corners is the same as the color of the side on the left. Do a
right-handed edge 3-cycle, followed immediately by a left-handed edge 3-cycle. The right-
handed cycle cycles the 3 edges from R to B to L to R. But it also swaps corners UBL with
UFR, and UFL with UBR. It also twists 3 of the corners. Now doing the left-handed edge 3-
cycle moves the edges back where they belong. It also swaps the 2 pair of corners back.
The two on the right twist back to the way they were. The two on the left that needed to be
twisted get twisted to their proper orientation. If you prefer starting with the left-handed 3-
cycle, then doing the right-handed 3-cycle, simply start by holding the two twisted corners
on the right instead of the left.
R U Ri U R U2 Ri Li Ui L Ui Li U2 L twists UFL counterclockwise and UBL clockwise.
Sometimes you end up with 3 corners that are in place but not oriented correctly. That is, 3
corners are twisted. Hold the cube so 2 of them are on the top left and do RHE3C LHE3C.
This solves one of the corners and leaves 2 to be solved. Hold the cube so they are in place
to be solved by another combination of RHE3C LHE3C.

7
Solving the Cube Corners First
There are many ways to solve the cube. Besides solving the cube one layer at a time, you
can get all the edges first, then cycle all the corners into place. There are also many different
block building methods, like Petrus and Roux and Heise. There are also different ways to
solve the cube by getting the corners first. The one I learned was at Adam Cheyer’s site:
www.ai.sri.com/~cheyer/rubiks/rubiks.html
My implementation of it is a little different, but not much. One thing I do differently is mix
yellows and whites on the first two steps and add a third step which separates them. I for-
get where I got the idea for doing it that way. I read about it somewhere online. With Adam’s
method you start by getting a white X, then you get a yellow X, then you proceed to getting
all Xs. I also picked up some ideas at http://rubikscube.info/, Joseph Jelinek’s site. He not
only gives a beginners method of Corner’s First, but also an advanced method known as
Waterman’s Method.

4 Corners on One Side

There are 8 corners. 4 have yellow and 4 have white. Every corner is either a yellow or a
white corner. There are 6 sides. Each side has 9 colored squares facing the same direction.
Each has 4 corner squares, 4 edge squares, and 1 center square. Or we could simply say
that each side has 4 corners, 4 edges, and a center. Glance at each side of the cube looking
for the side with the most yellow and white corners.
If you find a side with all 4 corners yellow and white, hold the cube so this side is on the
bottom and go to the next step, 4 Corners on the Opposite Side.
If you find a side with 3 white and yellow corners, we’ll call the non-yellow or white corner
the bad corner. Hold the cube so the side with 3 corners is on the bottom, and so the bad
corner is at DFR. Look at the corner directly above the bad corner. If yellow or white is on
the right, do R U Ri to replace the bad corner with a good one. If yellow or white is on the
front turn the whole cube so it is on the left and do Li Ui L. Either way you brought the bad
corner Up, Replaced it with a good corner, and put the good corner Down. Up-Replace-
Down. If the yellow or white is facing up on the corner above the bad corner, turn U so a
corner with yellow or white on the side is above the bad color and use Up-Replace-Down
to make 4 good corners on the bottom. Proceed to 4 Corners on the Opposite Side.
There is another way to deal with the bad corner. Since it is a bad corner, it has a yellow or
white on either the front or right. Turn U to line up another yellow or white above the bad
one. Then turn them both down to the bottom. Proceed to 4 Corners on the Opposite Side.
If you only have 2 yellow and white corners at best, find a side you can turn to make either 3
or 4 then work through the above material.

8
4 Corners on the Opposite Side
If there are No yellows/whites up hold the cube so two of the yellow/white stickers are
facing you on the front of the cube.
If you can’t see one on the left or right side on one of the back corners: R2 U2 R
If you can see one on the left or right side on one of the back corners: R U R2 Fi R2 U Ri
If there are 2 adjacent yellow/whites up hold the cube so they are in front facing up.
If you can’t see one on the left or right side on one of the back corners: R U2 R U2 R
If you can see one on the left or right side on one of the back corners: R U Ri Ui Fi Ui F
If there are 2 diagonal yellow/whites up hold the cube so there is one yellow/white
facing you on UFL. Li U L U C(Ui) R Ui Ri. C(Ui) means that you turn the whole Cube the same
direction as Ui.
If there is 1 yellow/white up and the others need to spin counterclockwise, hold the
cube so the yellow/white up is at UBL. Ri Ui R Ui Ri U2 R. If there is 1 yellow/white up and
the others need to spin clockwise, hold the cube so the yellow/white up is at UFL. R U
Ri U R U2 Ri. Actually it doesn’t matter whether you R or Ri at the end, so if you can see that
one is advantageous leading into the next step, do it.
Actually, you do not have to learn all of the above scenarios. I know someone who only
learned the 1-Up moves and uses it to handle all the cases. You just have to figure out how
to hold the cube so that after you do the 1-Up sequence it gives you 1 Up, so you just have
to do it again to have all the corners yellow up.
I prefer the sequence R U Ri Ui Fi Ui F, so I have figured out how to use it to solve all the dif-
ferent cases. If you have None Up, hold the cube so you have a pair of yellows on the right
face. Do R U Ri Ui Fi Ui F then you will have one of the next two scenarios. If you have 1 Up
hold the cube so it is in the front left corner. Do R U Ri Ui Fi Ui F then turn the cube appropri-
ately and do it again. If you have 2 Up Adjacent hold the cube so the adjacent yellows that
are up are on the right. Do R U Ri Ui Fi Ui F then turn the cube and do it again. If you have 2
Up Diagonal, hold the cube so one is at the back left, one is at the front right, and the yellow
on the front left is facing you on the front. Do R U Ri Ui Fi Ui F then turn the cube and do it
again.

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Separate Yellows & Whites
Using moves from U, D, L2 and R2 get all the whites on the top or bottom and all the yellows
on the other. Afterwards, move the yellow and white centers into place. Here are the details
for those that don’t want to figure it out on their own.
There may be one yellow on top and one white on bottom (or vice versa), or two adjacent
yellows on top and two adjacent yellows on bottom, or two adjacent yellows on top and
two diagonal yellows on bottom, or two diagonal yellows on top and bottom.
If there are two adjacent pairs on top and bottom, turn U and hold the cube so that when
you spin the ones on the bottom to the top you have all four on top. Go to Step 4.
If the two yellows on the top are adjacent and the two on bottom diagonal, spin two of
the same color to the bottom, and keep going on Step 3.
If the two yellows on both top and bottom are diagonal, spin two to the top in such a
way that it eliminates the diagonals. Then adjust U and spin a pair to the top that makes all
the top corners one color.
If you have one yellow on bottom, hold the cube so it is in the back. Turn U so the white on
top is also in the back but on the opposite side as the yellow on the bottom. For example, if
the yellow corner is at DRB, you want the white corner at ULB. Either R2 or L2 so 2 yellows
go to the bottom. Turn U so the 2 yellows that are now on top are not on the side you just
turned and turn the side again. In other words, if the 2 yellows on top were on the right, do
R2 U R2. If they were on the left, do L2 Ui L2.
Turn the centers if necessary so you have a yellow X and a white X.

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All Corners into Place
Now that you have the yellow and white Xs, it is time to get all Xs all at once. Look at two
adjacent side faces. There are 4 pairs of colors you are viewing on these sides that are ar-
ranged horizontally. Each pair can either be a direct match (like 2 reds), or a pair of opposite
colors (like red and orange), or a total mismatch (like red and green). If both of the top (it is
the same for bottom) pairs are direct matches, then there are direct matches all the way
around the top and you have 4 matches on the top. If only one of the pairs on top is a direct
match, it is the only direct match on the top. If both pairs on top are pairs of opposite col-
ors, there are no direct matches on top. If only one pair on top is a pair of opposite colors,
then there is one direct match and it is on the opposite side of the cube. Same thing applies
for the bottom. Now you add up how many direct matches you have.
If you have 0 matches do R2 F2 R2 and you’ll have all matches. Grip the back left 2x2x3
block in your left hand leaving R and F to spin freely in your right.
If you have 1 match, hold it on the bottom left side, and do R2 U R2 Ui R2 U R2 Ui R2.
If you have 2 matches, hold them both in the front, and do R2 U R2 U2 F2 U F2.
If you have 4 matches, do the 2 matches thing, adjust the cube, and do it again.
If you have 5 matches, hold the cube so 2 are in front and 4 are on top, and do the 0 match
thing followed by the 1 match thing.
You now have all the corners. If you want, you can turn U and D or E (the layer between U
and D) to line up all the corner colors with their centers. This is unnecessary, but if you do it,
you can see what Adam means by getting all the Xs.

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Three White Edges
It doesn’t really matter whether whites are on the top, bottom, left, right, front, or back. The
best thing to do is to find a spot that you like and use it. Neither does it really matter what
color or pair of colors you solve first. But to keep things simple I must pick a spot and color.
So hold the cube with yellow up. We will begin by inserting 3 white edges. Why not all 4?
We’ll need a working edge—a slot that isn’t solved yet—in the next step when we are get-
ting three yellow edges. As you do all of the checking that follows, remember that we are
going for 3 white edges. As soon as you get 3 white edges it is time to move on to yellows.
Before solving the whites, check to see if any yellow edges are already solved. If they are
turn U so they are not on the right.
Check to see if any white edges are already home. By home now, I don’t necessarily
mean aligned with its non-white center. I simply mean home in relation to its corner neigh-
bors. For example, If the green white edge is between the green white corners with the
whites all facing down, it is home in relation to its neighbors whether or not it is aligned with
the green center. Aligning the non-white centers is not necessary at this point. Ignore these
centers for now.
Check to see if any white edges are in the yellow layer with the non-white color face
up. If so, turn D so the neighbor corners are on the same side as the edge. Hold the cube
so they are on the right side. If there is a white in E, turn E so that it is at FL, with the white
facing you. This is not always possible, and is not absolutely necessary. It is just a way to
get another piece ready to send home while you send one home. Ri E R. See what hap-
pened? See how the white edge was moved from the yellow layer, home? If you loaded an-
other white into the yellow layer at the same time, turn D so its home is on the bottom right
and Ri E R again. Ri moves the visitor Up to the middle layer. E Replaces the visitor with the
owner. R moves the owner Down. Up-Replace-Down.
Check to see if any white edges are in E. If so turn D or E and hold the cube so the home
is on the right and the owner is on the left with the white of the owner edge facing left. R E Ri
if the owner is at FL, or Ri Ei R if the owner is at BL. Again you did Up-Replace-Down to
move the white edge home.
Check to see if there is a white edge with white facing down, but in the wrong place in
the white layer. If so hold the cube so it is at the right and do R E Ri to move it to the yellow
layer. Turn D to bring its home to the right and do Ri E R to move it home.
Check to see if any white edges are in the yellow layer with white face up. R E Ri the
edge into E, turn D to bring the edge’s home to R, then Ri Ei R.

Three Yellow Edges

Now that you have 3 white edges in place, turn the cube over so yellow is on the bottom
and do the same sort of moves to get 3 yellow edges. Just make sure you keep the working
edge that is in the white layer lined up with the yellow edge spot you are filling, so that all of
the white edges that are already solved stay solved.
Re-read the first paragraph in the Three White Edges section. One more thing. It is OK to
solve yellows and whites at the same time if you want.

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Last White and Yellow Edges
Using the techniques for filling in the edges so far, insert either the last white edge into the
last yellow spot, or the last yellow edge into the last white spot. Insert it backwards. That is,
so the yellow side of the edge is on the non-white side of the cube, or the white side of the
edge is on the non-yellow side of the cube. Now putting the last edge in place by the nor-
mal means should put both home.
Sometimes you end up with a situation in which you must remove an edge or both edges
from the last slots because they are oriented incorrectly. Sometimes you end up with one
side totally solved and the other not. Let’s say the white is totally solved and there is one
more yellow to put in place. Put a white edge into the last yellow slot. Make sure the last
yellow edge does not go into the white slot being vacated as you do so. Put the last yellow
edge home and the last white should go home at the same time.

Permuting the Last 4 Edges

After the white and yellow layers are complete, line them up with the other centers correctly.
That is, turn U and D so that the yellow red edge lines up with the red center, and the white
red edge lines up with the red center.
There are different ways to approach the final four edges. The way I learned it on Adam’s
site, you first cycle the edges into place, then you flip them if necessary. Simple. I have
since realized that I can use Up-Replace-Down 3-Cycle to cycle and flip at the same time
when necessary. Or it can even be used multiple times to flip edges, rather than the original
edge-flipping sequence I learned from Adam.
First I present the simple method of permuting the edges, then orienting them. Then I will
present a method using Up-Replace-Down 3-Cycle which can permute and orient at the
same time.
If one of the four middle edges is in place hold the cube so it is at the bottom front, with the
piece that needs to go to the top back located in the top front. A quick way to tell is if it has
one color that matches the top and one that is opposite the front. For example, if the top
center is blue and the front center is orange, then the blue/red edge is the one you want on
the top front. To cycle the three edges do M U2 Mi U2.
If none of the four edges are in place, see if you can hold the cube so that you need to swap
UF and UB, and DF and DB. Do M2 U2 M2 U2.
If you need to swap UF and DB, and DF and UB, do F2 M2 U2 M2 U2 F2.

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Orienting the Last 4 Edges
Sometimes none of the edges need to be flipped and you are done. Sometimes two need to
be flipped. Sometimes four.
To flip UF and UB: Mi Ui Mi Ui Mi d2 Mi Ui Mi Ui Mi U2.
To flip UB and DF: F2 (UF UB flipper) F2.
To flip four, flip two at a time.

Permute and Orient All At Once

If you like the Up-Replace-Down 3-Cycle technique you can use it to cycle the three edges
into place when you see that they are going to need to be flipped after placing them. That
way you can put them home with one Up-Replace-Down 3-Cycle and accomplish two
things at once with a minimum of moves and not too much figuring.

Alternate Flipping Method

Do any Up-Replace-Down 3-Cycle that cycles the two edges along with another edge. Then
figure out another Up-Replace-Down 3-Cycle that puts all three pieces home.
This method is probably slower than the other for me because I have to think about how to
set up the Up-Replace-Down 3-Cycle whereas with the other one, it is just recognize which
pattern it is and whip through the memorized sequence of moves.

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