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BeginnerMethod
SolvingaRubik'sCubeisusuallydonelayerbylayer.Tryingtodoitfacebyface
ispracticallyimpossible,asyoucan'tcompletethelaterfaceswithoutscrewing
uptheonesyoumayhavealreadydone.
ThiswebsitecoversthreewaysofsolvingtheRubik'sCube:beginner,
intermediate,andadvanced.Iadviseyoutostartwiththebeginnermethod,as
thiswilltakeyoutocompletelysolvingthecubeunaidedevenifyou'venever
pickedoneupbefore.Thefurthertwomethodsassumeyoucanalreadysolvea
cube,sotheseareaimedatthosewhowanttostarttheirspeedcubingjourney
ofwhittlingtheirtimeseverdownwards.
Beforewebegin,Irecommendyougotothenotationpageandfamiliarise
yourselfwithit.Ishallrefertoitthroughoutthisguide,butworrynot!It'sreally
rathersimple.Seriously,goandhavealook.It'salotmorefunnow.

Step1TheCross
Thefirstthingtoknowaboutthecubeisthatthemiddlepiecesdon'tmove.Go
ahead,tryandmovethem.Theyrotate,buttheynevermoveinrelationtoeach
other,whichmeansthateachfacewillalwaysbethatface.Acommonmistake
peoplemakewhentheyfirstapproachanunsolvedcubeistothinktheyhaveto
solve54stickers.Thisiswrong,asthereareonly20piecesthatactuallymove
around8cornerpiecesand12edgepieces.
Throughoutthiswebsite,itwillbeassumedthatthefirstfaceisthewhiteface.
Everysingletimeyoudothecube,youshouldstartwiththewhitefacesoyou
getusedtoalwayslookingoutforthesamecoloursatdifferentstages.IfIwere
topickupacubeandstartwith,say,thegreenface,Iwouldgethideously
confusedwhenitcametothelastlayerbecauseIamsousedtolookingforyellowpieces
insteadofblueones.
Thefirstthingyouhavetodoistocreateacrossonthefirstlayer,likeso:

Grey'cubies'(thesmallercubesthatmakeuptheRubik'sCube)arecubiesthatarenot
importantatthisstage,andyoucanjustignorethem.

Explainingexactlyhowtodothiscanbealittlechallenging,asitreliesmostlyonlogic.
Laterinthisguide,Iwillbeabletotellyouexactlywhichmovestoperforminsequences
calledalgorithms(butyouknewthatalreadybecauseyoureadthenotationpage,you
goodlittlereader)butbecauseyouarestartingwithascrambledcube,thissectionwill
bedifferenteverytime.
Thereare,however,somescenariosyoucanwatchoutfor:

FR

FRU

IfF,R,andUmakenosensetoyou,it'sbecauseyoudidn'treadthenotationpageeven
thoughIdefinitelytoldyouto.
Itisalsoimportanttorememberthattheedgecolourshavetobealignedwiththe
centerslikethis:

andnotlikethis:

Step2TheCorners
Thenextstepistoputthecornersin,likethis:

Justliketheedgepiecesbefore,itisimportantthatthecornerpiecesmatchwiththe
piecesaroundit,i.e.notlikethis:

Thecornerswillmostlikelybeonthebottomlayer.Itisimportanttofirstputthecubie
youwishtomoveunderneathwhereitneedstogo.Thatis,thewhiteblueredcubie
shouldbeunderneaththewhiteblueredcorner.Thereisanalgorithmforeach

situation:

FDF'

R'D'R

R'DRFD2F'
(Thewhitestickeronthecornerisonthebottom.)
Insomecases,thecornerwillbeonthetoplayerbutjustneedsreorienting,forexample:

R'DRFDF'
Thelastthreemovesarefrombeforethecubiejusthadtoputintheproperplace
first.
Ifacornercubieisinthetoplayerbutinthewrongplace,italsoneedstobetakendown
tothebottomlayer.Thiscanbedonewitheitherofthefollowingalgorithms:

FD'F'orR'DR

Oncethecubieisonthebottomlayer,itcanbeputitinthecorrectplacebyusingthe
abovealgorithms.Whenyoucan,alwaystrytouseoneofthefirsttwoalgorithms
insteadofthethirdastheyareshorterandwillsaveyoutime.

Step3TheSecondLayer
Thenextstepistoputthefoursecondlayerpiecesintherightplace,likethis:

Thefirstthingtodoistoturnthecubeupsidedownsoyoucanseewhatyou'redoing:

Thenfindthepiecethatyouneedtoputinthecorrectplaceinthiscasetheblueand
rededgepiece.Turnthetoplayeruntilyoufindoneofthesetwosituations:

or

Toputthepieceinthecorrectplace,youneedoneoftwoalgorithms.Theyarethe
inverseofeachother,andtheymaketheedgepieceinthetoplayergoeitherleftor
right.Thesearethelongestalgorithmsthatyouwillneedtolearn:

URU'R'U'F'UF

Makesthetoppiecegoright

U'L'ULUFU'F'
Makesthetoppiecegoleft
Sometimes,thesecondlayerissneakyandwillthrowthissortofsituationatyou:

Here,noneofthesecondlayerpiecesareintherightplacesbutyoucan'tgettooneof
theabovesituations.Tofixthis,justdothealgorithmanyway.Intheabovepicture,using
thefirstalgorithmontheyellowrededgepiecewilldisplacetheorangegreenpiece,like
so:

Nowthattheorangegreenpieceisinthetoplayer,youcansolveitlikenormal.
Sometimes,youmaymeetthissituation:

Youcansolvethisinthesamewayasbefore,byusingthenormalalgorithmonayellow
edgepieceanddisplacingtheredbluepiecesoitcanbesolvedasnormal.Or,ifyou're
feelingclever,youcanshowitwho'sbossandgiveitabitoftheoldRU'R'UF'U2FUF'
U2F.
Therewillbetimeswherethereisapiecewhereanotherpieceneedstogo,likethis:

Don'tbetemptedtoremovethispieceinordertoputitintherightplace,asthattakes
time.Instead,puttheredandbluepiecetherelikenormalandthiswilldisplacethe
foreignpiece.Thisway,thealgorithmonlyneedstobedoneonceandnottwice.The
foreignpiececanthenbeputinitscorrectplacelikenormal.

Step4TheLastLayerCross
Asthenamesuggests,thisstagecomprisesofcreatingacrossonthelastlayer,likethis:

Thiscan'tbedoneinthesamewayasthefirstcross,sotherearetwosmallalgorithmsto
learn.
Beforeyoubegin,youwillbeinoneoffoursituations:

L,forexample:

Line,forexample:

Dot,forexample:

Cross,forexample:

Eachsituationistreatedslightlydifferently,andforyourconveniencethealgorithmfor
eachsituationiswrittenbelow.Obviously,ifyoualreadyhaveacross,moveontothe
nextstep!

FURU'R'F'

MakesureyouholdtheLinthetopleftcorner(likeinthepicture)

FRUR'U'F'

Makesureyouholdthelinehorizontally

Useboth,ineitherorder.
UsingtheLalgorithmgetsyoutoaline,soyoucanthenusethelinealgorithm,and
viceversa

Step5TheLastLayerEdges
Thisstepwillchangetheorientationoftheedgesofthecrossyoujustcreatedtolineup
withthecenters,likesuch:

Thereisonealgorithmtoachievethis:
RUR'URU2R'U
Itisquiteeasytoremember,asitonlyusestherightandupface,andtheupfaceonly
movesclockwise.
However,thecubemustbeheldinaspecificwaybeforethealgorithmisapplied.Firstly,
twistthetopfaceuntiltwooftheedgesarecorrect.Therewillalwaysbetwothatare
correct,whethertheybeadjacentoroppositeeachother.
Iftheyareadjacent,applythealgorithmwhileholdingonecorrectoneawayfromyou
andoneinyourrighthand,likethis:

Iftheyareoppositeeachother,applythealgorithmwhileholdingonecorrectoneaway
fromyouandtheothertowardsyou,likethis:

Iftheyareoppositeeachother,applyingthealgorithmwillchangeitsotheyareadjacent
toeachother.Youthenapplythealgorithmagain(holdingitcorrectly)andtheywillall
becorrect.

Step6aTheLastLayerCornersA
Thisstepaltersthecornerssotheyareallintherightplacebutnotnecessarilyinthe
rightorientation,likethis:

Thisisjustanexampleyourcornersmaybeinadifferentorientationonceyou've
donethis.
Firstthingtodoistoexamineyourcubeandseeifthereareanycornersthatarealready
intherightplace,e.g.thered,blueandyellowoneinthepictureabove.It'sintheright
place,justnottherightwayaround.Ifthereare,makesureyouholditintheFRUcorner
(thecornerformedoftheFront,Right,andUpface)whenyouapplythealgorithmbut
don'tmovejustthetoplayer,rotatethewholecubetoputitthere.Iftherearen'tany
correct,youcanapplythealgorithmwhenthecubeisheldinanyway(yellowfaceontop
ofcourse).
Thealgorithmisthis:
URU'L'UR'U'L
Afterthealgorithm,thecornercubies(excepttheoneinthebottomrightyourpossibly
correctone)willhavechangedaround.Iftheystillaren'tallintherightplace,applythe
algorithmagainuntilitis.Ifyoustartedwithonecorrect,you'llonlyhavetodothis
algorithmtwice.Ifyoudidn't,itmaytakemore.

Step6bTheLastLayerCornersB
Thisisthelaststep,sowillresultinthecompletedcube:

Iadvisethatyoureadthroughthissectioncompletelybeforeattemptingit.Ifyoumessit
up,you'llruineverything,becomesadandfrustrated,andhavetostartalloveragain.
Thereisonlyonealgorithmforthissection:
R'D'RD

(Reminderitisimportantthattheturnsaredoneasifyouwerelookingdirectlyatthe
face!Don'tlettheDscatchyouout!)
Thisalgorithmgetsappliedmultipletimestoeachincorrectlyorientedcubie(thatis,
everycornercubiethatdoesnothaveyellowonthetop).Ifyoudon'thaveany,
congratulations!You'vesolvedtheRubik'sCube.Butifyoudo,readon.
Youmustholdanyincorrectcubieinthebottomrightoftheupface(theRedBlue
Yellowcornerinthebelowpicture,asBlueisthefront).Thenapplythealgorithm
repeatedlyuntiltheyellowsideofthatcubieispointingupwards.Thiswillbeeithertwo
orfourtimes:

Dothealgorithmtwice.

Dothealgorithmfourtimes.
Oncethetwoorfouralgorithmsarecompleted,twistonlythetopfaceuntilanother
incorrectlyorientedcubieisinthebottomrightofthetopfaceanddothealgorithms
againonthatincorrectcubie.
Whilstyouaredoingthesealgorithms,thebottomtwolayersofthecubemaybecomea
jumbledmess.Worrynot!Theyaresensible,andwillresolvethemselvesonceyouhave
finishedthealgorithmsonthelastincorrectcubie.
Oncethesealgorithmsarecomplete,youareonlyoneortwoturnsawayfrom
completingtheRubik'sCube.
Congratulations!

Examplesolveforstep6b
Thisstepcausesthemosttroubleforpeople,soI'veincludedafancynewexamplesolve
walkthroughviewerdealbelow.PositionyourcubesoUisyellow,Fisblue,andRisred
beforeyoudothescramblealgorithm,soyoucanfollowalongandallofthecolourswill
beintherightplaces.Hopefully,ifyouareperhapshavingtroublewiththissection,
seeingitdonefromstarttofinishwillallowyoutoseewhereyouweregoingwrong.

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Step1of29:
Scramble:R'U2RUR'URUF2U'R'LF2RL'U'F2U

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