Step 0: |
If you want to learn some basic terminology, click here. It's probably not all that necessary because you'll probably learn most of the terminology as you proceed with the method anyways, but it certainly can't hurt.
If you have the patience to learn some cube notation (which will help you better understand this tutorial), click here. This is not totally necessary, as I explain new notation in the tutorial as I introduce it, but again, it doesn't hurt and gives you a good preview.
Java must be installed on your computer in order to view the Java animation cubes used in this tutorial. Click here to download and install Java.
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Step 1: |
| The goal is to make a flower with white petals and a yellow center. In cube terms, you want to get four white edges (A white edge is an edge piece that has a white sticker.) around the yellow center with the white stickers adjacent to the yellow center.
This step is done intuitively, but below are some examples to help you get started.
Examples:
Note: Grey stickers in the animations mean the color of these stickers can be ignored.
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Step 2: |
| The objective is to build a white cross. You want a completely white flower, but you also want the non-white colors of the white edges aligned with their respective centers.
To do this, pick one of the petals of the flower. Look at the side color (the non-white color). Turn the up layer until the side color lines up with the center of the same color. Then spin that center twice. Repeat this process with the three other petals.
| Example: | Animation | Description |
| 1) |
| The red-white petal is chosen first. It is aligned with the red center and then the red center is spun twice. Next, the green-white petal is aligned with the green center, which is then spun twice. At this point, the orange-white petal is already aligned with the orange center, so we simply spin the orange side twice. Lastly, we align the last petal, the blue-white petal, with the blue center and spin that side twice.
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| 2) |
| The orange-white petal is chosen first. It's aligned with the orange center and then we spin the orange center twice. The red-white petal happens to be already aligned with the red center, so we spin the red side twice. Then we align the green petal with the green center and spin the green side twice. Lastly, we find the blue petal already aligned with the blue center, so we just spin blue side twice and we are done.
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Step 3: |
| The goal is to complete one layer, the white layer. Not only do you want the white side complete, you want the non-white colors of the white edges and corners to align with their respective centers.
To complete this step, you must insert the four white corners between the white edge pieces.
Okay. So first, make sure your white cross is on the down side. Yellow should be your up layer and will remain your up layer for the rest of the steps. Once you've done this, search in the up layer for a corner piece that has white on it. Then look at the two non-white colors of that corner. Turn the up layer until the corner is sandwiched between the two sides that are the same colors as the two non-white colors. Hold the cube so that one of those two sides is your front face and the other is your right face. Then decide which side the white sticker of that corner is on and do the corresponding move sequence.
Now a quick cube notation lesson. A letter by itself means to turn that side clockwise 90 degrees. A letter with an apostrophe (') after it, read as "prime" (e.g.: R' would be read "R prime"), means to turn that side counter-clockwise 90 degrees. A letter with a "2" after it means to turn that side 180 degrees (It doesn't matter if you turn clockwise or counter-clockwise because either way, it yields the same result.). R = right, U = up, and F = front. |
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| Location of white sticker on the white corner piece: |
Do: |
Animation |
| R |
| R U R' |
You can rotate the Java animation cubes by dragging (clicking and then holding down a mouse button and moving your mouse around) the white space around the cube. |
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| F |
| F' U' F |
You can also make turns on the cubes by clicking a side while holding down nothing, 'Ctrl,' 'Shift,' 'Alt,' or a combination. |
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| U |
R U2 R' U' R U R'. Note: The last three turns is the move sequence for when the white sticker is on the right side. |
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What if you don't have any white corners in your up layer but your first layer is still not solved? That means you have white corners stuck in the down layer that are either in the wrong place or oriented the wrong way. You'll need to take these corners out and insert them to the correct slot and/or orient them correctly. To take a corner in the down layer out and move it to the up layer, hold the corner at DFR (the corner slot where the D (down), F (front), and R (right) faces intersect) and do R U R'.
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Step 4:
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| When you finish this step, you should have two layers complete, or 2/3 of the cube done (That's not technically correct if you're counting by pieces because 2/3 of 20 cubies to solve is a fractional number of pieces, namely 40/3 cubies, which is closest to the whole number 13, and we have only solved 12 cubies after this step. However, we've solved two out of three layers, so in this sense, we have solved 2/3 of the cube.).
To accomplish this goal, you must insert the four middle layer edges. To do this, first search in the up layer for a non-yellow edge piece. Find one and then look at its side color (the color not on the U face). Turn the up layer until the side color lines up with the center of the same color. Hold the side color on the right face. Now you need to decide whether this edge piece needs to go to the BR slot (the edge slot located at the intersection of the B (back) and R (right) faces) or the FR slot (the edge slot located at the intersection of the F (front) and R (right) faces). Once you've decided where the edge needs to go, do the corresponding move sequence.
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| Target Location for the Edge Piece: |
Do: |
Animation |
| BR |
R U R U R U' R' U' R' |
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| FR |
R' U' R' U' R' U R U R |
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But wait! I can't find any edge pieces in the up layer without yellow on them but my first two layers (F2L) is still not solved. This situation means you have non-yellow edge pieces stuck in the second layer that are either in the wrong slot or oriented incorrectly. You must take them out to the up layer and then put them back the right way or in the right slot. To take an edge in the second layer out, hold the cube so that the edge is at BR. Then do the move sequence above that corresponds to BR. |
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| You should have two layers of the cube solved now. Click below to go to steps 5-8, which will help you solve the last layer (LL).
Steps 5-8 (LL)
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Comments, Questions:
| E-mail me at erwaman@gmail.com.
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