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Instructions for Solving Rubik's Cube as Presented by Robbie Gonzalez of Wired
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cube_solver.adoc

Attributions

These instructions are an amalgam of steps presented by Wired’s Robbie Gonzalez, Phil of thecubicle.com, and JPerm of YouTube fame.

Definitions

A right trigger is R U R'

A left trigger is L' U' L

An r-alg is R U R' U'

An l-alg is L' U' L U

A correctly positioned corner is a corner that, regardless of orientation to the cube, is between the three faces whose colors correspond to the stickers of the corner piece.

A face is an aspect of the cube that is associated with a color (identifiable by the center piece of that aspect). This is an absolute reference, as the center pieces of the cube never change their position relative to one another.

A side is an aspect of the cube labeled relative to the holder. For instance, the front side of the cube is that aspect of the cube facing the holder. A side can relate to any face; as the holder rotates the cube, each side relates to a different face or color.

Corners are referred to by their three, related sides, with the front or back denoted first, the right or left denoted second, and the upper or downard facing side denoted third. For example, FRU refers to the upper right-hand corner of the cube closer to the front of the holder.

Phase 1: Make the Daisy

  1. Find the yellow face.

  2. Move all white edge pieces such that they surround the center of the yellow face.

Phase 2: Make the White Cross

  1. Match the non-white sticker on an edge piece surrounding the "daisy’s" center to its corresponding face.

  2. Rotate the face in question twice such that the white edge piece is now at the bottom of the cube.

  3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 for all "pedals" in the "daisy."

  4. Keep the bottom face with the white cross facing down at all times from here on out.

Phase 3: Position bottom-layer corners (solving the bottom/first layer)

  1. Find a corner piece on the top layer that has a white sticker.

  2. Position this corner such that it is directly above its correct position on the bottom layer.

  3. Perform r-alg until it is placed in its correct position, with proper orientation.

  4. Repeat from step 1 until all corners are in place on the bottom layer.

Phase 4: Positioning second layer edges (solving the second layer or F2L)

  1. Find an edge piece on the top layer that does not have yellow stickers. This is the relevant piece for the following steps.

  2. Rotate the top layer until the color of the facing sticker of the relevant piece matches the color of a face. Recall that a face’s color is denoted by its center piece.

  3. With the matched face on the front side, determine whether the position of the face that matches the top sticker of the relevant piece.

  4. If the face that matches the color of the top sticker is on the right side, perform the following: U r-alg Y l-alg. If the face that matches the color of the top sticker is on the left side, peform the following: `U' l-alg Y' r-alg'.

Note that this last step has a faster, but less easily memorized algorithm^: * U R U' R' U' F' U F (right) * U' L' U L U F U' F' (left)

Phase 5: First Look OLL (Top Yellow Cross)

If the yellow face has no edge pieces that are yellow ("Dot"): F (R U R' U') F' - f (R U R' U') f'

If there is a small "L" or angle of three yellow stickers on the top layer:+ f R U R' U' f'

Or you can also opt to memorize F U R U' R' F' and repeat it until the yellow cross appears.

Phase 6: 2nd Look OLL (Solid Yellow Face)

Sune and Anti-sune

If the yellow face has the shape of an arrow, rotate it such that the side facing you has a single yellow sticker and the arrow points either to the FLU ("Sune") or FRU ("Anti-Sune") corner.

  • If FRU: L U' L U' L' U2 L

  • If FLU: R U R' U R U2 R'

"Pi"

Turn the cube such that the two, outward-facing yellow stickers are on the right side of the cube. Then do the following: R U2 - R2 U' R2 U' R2 - U2 R

"T"

If there is a block of six yellow stickers with a seventh on the remaining edge piece, along with two yellow stickers facing outward in opposite directions: x - L U R' U' - L' U R U'

"U"

Similar to "T", but the two side stickers are facing the same direction, on the same side. Rotate the top layer such that they are facing toward you before completing the following: R2 D - R' U2 R - D' - R' U2 R'

Phase 7: 1st Look of 2-Look PLL (Top-layer Corners)

With no face having two solved corners: ``

With a face that has solved corners (Adjacent Corner Swap): R U R' U' R' F R2 U' R' U' R U R' F'

Phase 8: 2nd Look of 2-Look PLL

With a solved face at the back side of the cube (B) and a top-layer edge that needs to move from R to L:

R U' - (R U R U) - (R U' R' U') - R2

With a solved face at the back side of the cube (B) and a top-layer edge that needs to move from L to R:
R - R U R U - R' U' R' U' - R' U R'

Adjacent Edge-piece Swap: If the last layer is solved with the exception of its edges, and each of two pairs of edges adjacent to one another need to be swapped (note: M' moves upward rotating away from the holder):
M' U' - M2 U' M2 U' - M' U - U M2

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