The guide includes two sections, one for people who have had a cube forever and just want to solve the thing, and another about speedsolving the cube. (in reality there are many more sections than that, the point is that there is something here for you even if you already know how to solve the cube).
I first learned to solve the cube just over two years ago because a few of my friends at school were getting into it and it looked fun.
two weeks later i learned about speedsolving and the more advanced methods.
this is where things got unhealthy, i learned how to solve the cube using the petrus method and soon i was spending literally four hours a day cubing (a verb for solving the cube over and over and over...). around one month and a few terrible course marks later i was the best in my area with an average time of just under a minute per solve. then the school year ended and with no job and no life to speak of (even pre-starcraft) i began to practice the cube SIX hours a day .
i learned COLL (a relatively large set of algorithims that would be considered the 'highest level' of the method i use) and dropped my time to under 30s, and eventually under 20s on average. i was well on my way to being one of the fastest 'cubers' in the world when three things happened.
i got a job assembling barbecues at a hardware store.
school started again.
i discovered starcraft, which subsequently comsumed most if not all of my spare time.
that brings us to the present. my time has dropped back to around 50 seconds on average and i have all but forgotten my COLL, but to my knowledge (and apparantly to the knowledge of the TL manpower thread) i am the only person who can actually solve the cube on TL (awww crap apparantly geo is a top finnish speedcuber.... ah well) anyway
1. A decent cube. (for speedsolving anyway). many of the cheap knockoff cubes you can find at secondhand stores are garbage. you'll probably be wanting one of the official ones. the easiest way to tell is that they come in a hexagonal pakage like this:
If you do not have a store that sells Rubik's cubes near you you could order one from the Official Store or from Cubeforyou which is an amazing site for things like extra sticker sets as well as a wide variety of twisty puzzles.
also if you're really hardcore you could buy a DIY cube from cubeforyou but i would NOT reccomend this for inexperienced people....its not easy to assemble properly.
2. Lubricant (speedsolving only). this is really optional but helps alot especially with a new cube. it just makes the cube easier to turn. in my opinion there is no better lubricant than the fine dust that forms as plastic is ground away when you use the cube, but sprays are definitely an option. DO NOT USE WD40, or any oil based sprays on the cube. eventually they cause it to slow down, i have no idea why but a cube that has WD40 in it becomes all gummy and amazingy hard to turn, hence useless for speedsolving. i personally use a can of silicon based automotive lubricant, some say latex based sprays also work but i haven't tried them.
Really its not hard, you just have to get over the fear of breaking the cube.
now somehow i fail to mention this, but obviously we are only spraying the black sides of the pieces, the stickers do not need to slide well.
thats it for the physical hardware... now on to...
3. Patience. while it may be frustrating at times mastering the cube will provide hours of (very portable) entertainment for you and for any small children or first time observers you happen to be with.
4.Hands! (preferably with fingers) ....but seriously thats all you need to start down the road to becoming a formidable cubist!
...cubist ...i swear its an actual term... this brings us smoothly to....
lol... wut?....
Algorithm: a series of moves which, when used in a specific situation, will bring the cube one step closer to being solved.
Move: moving one of the faces of the cube one quarter of a full turn.
Layers: it is beneficial to think of the cube as three layers rather than faces or sides (never ever think of the cube as stickers). as in, a top, middle, and bottom layer. (first, second, and last respectively).
F2L: The first two layers
LL: The last Layer
Center: one of the six immobile 'squares' in the center of each face. they are a part of the core of the cube.
Cube notation can be hard to get used to but is an indispensable tool for learning algorithims and ensuring your cube is properly scrambled (using a scramble generator).
F means you rotate the side facing you (The Front) clockwise one quarter turn B means you rotate the side facing away from you (the Back) clockwise one quarter turn U means you rotate the top (Up) face of the cube clockwise one quarter turn D means you rotate the bottom (Down) face clockwise one quarter turn L means you rotate the Left face one quarter turn clockwise R means you rotate the Right face one quarter turn clockwise a ' symbol after any of these letters (eg: F' ) means you turn that face, but turn it counterclockwise as opposed to clockwise a 2 after any of these letters (eg: F2 ) means you do a half turn with the face instead of a quarter turn.
so therefore, B U' L2 is telling you to turn the back face clockwise a quarter turn,then the top face counterclockwise a quarter turn, and then the left face a half turn.
also, always remember to think of the cube as pieces (edges and corners held in place by the core), and layers (top, middle, and bottom). NEVER think of the cube as stickers.
while its not absolutely necessary you memorize this now it will make understanding what is to come alot easier (read: possible)
enough already! when do i get to learn to SOLVE the cube?!
also known as the layer by layer method
First off, mess up your cube. try to get it nice and scrambled.(unless of course your cube is already hoplessly scrambled )
Step One: The First Layer
Your first objecitve is to make 'the cross'. To begin, select a face of the cube to use as the 'top' or 'up' face. i will be using white and i suggest you do the same because it will be easier to follow. use the whie center sticker to locate the whie side (centers never move).
the cross is made by getting the four white edge pieces oriented correctly in the correct position. this is done intuitively.
for example, in the picture below, the white and orange edge (outlined in red) is in the correct position, but is oriented incorrectly.
This is no good, first lets make two moves to orient the edge correctly... F R (i bet you're happy you learned that notation about now).
That brings us to the situation in the picture below. notice that while the edge is now oriented correctly, it is out of position.
from here a move of U will return the edge to its correct position, only this time it is oriented right as well as being in the right position.
next you do this for the other three white edges. if you have trouble orienting and positioning the other edges without disturbing the one(s) already in place, dont be afraid to move the correctly positioned edges a quarter turn here and there as long as you move them back before things get screwed up.
The completed cross looks like this:
fun fact: the cross can always be completed in eight moves or less
The other part of solving the first layer is 'inserting' the corners where they belong. this should be done intuitively.
For example:
in the picture below on the left the orange/blue/white piece needs to go in the orange/blue/white corner spot on the first layer (outlined in red and currently occupied by the wrong piece -- as seen in the picture on the right)
by making the moves F D F' (with the blue side being F) we put the corner in the correct position.
If you are still having trouble, try to pay attention to how the corner reaches its destination in the above example. the same idea can be applied to any corner sllotting situation.
once you have finished placing the corners you are done the first layer! congratulations.
yay!
Step Two: The Second Layer
Completing the middle layer is as simple as inserting the four middle edge pieces in their proper spots. for this step you will have to learn two algorithms (in reality its only one algorithm and then the 'mirror' of it for the mirror case)
There are two cases for each edge (shown below). in each of these the blue/orange edge is oriented differently, and has been aligned with the blue/orange center. the red outline shows the edge, and the green outline shows where it has to go.
which case you have determines which algorithm you must perform to place each edge (note that the orange face will be F for both of the following algorithms).
For the case on the left: do D' F' D F D L D' L' to place the edge
For the case on the right: do D L D' L' D' F' D F to place the edge
either way the cube will end up looking like this:
Oh, and if an edge is in the right place, and oriented incorrectly like this:
simply perform either of the two algorithms listed above to get it back to the bottom layer, from where it can then be placed correctly.
Once you have done this for all four edges, you are done the middle layer. good job! now comes the most confusing part of the solution.
almost there! Step Three: The Last Layer
before we begin we are going to re-orient the cube so that the yellow face (formerly the D face) is facing up (it becomes the U face). this is because we have already solved the F2L (first two layers) and will need to see yellow face (but not the white) to complete the cube.
The last layer is done in four parts
Part One of Four: making the cross on the bottom (orienting the LL (last layer) edges).
there are four possible cases here
Case One: all the edges are oriented correctly (the cross is laready there), you can proceed to part two of four.
lucky you!
Case Two: Two adjacent edges are oriented correctly, the other two are not. Position the two adjacent edges as they appear in the image below.
one is on the left and one is on top of the cross
From this position the algorithm F U R U' R' F' will orient the remaining two edges,once this is done you can move on to part two of four.
Case Three: Two edges on opposite sides of the bottom face are oriented correctly, the other two are not. Position the face as it appears in the image below:
the incorrectly oriented edges are on the 'top' and 'bottom' of the cross while the correctly oriented ones are on the 'left' and 'right'
From this position the algorithm F R U R' U' F' will orient the two remaining edges. once this is done you can move on to part two of four.
Case Four: None of the edges are oriented correctly.
This case is really a combination of cases two and three. simply perform the algorithm for either of those cases an you will be presented with one of case two or three. refer to whichever case you get to orient the edges. when that is done, you can move on to part two of four.
fun fact: problems come in pairs, three and one correctly oriented edge(s) is impossible unless someone has been messing with you cube
Part Two of Four: Positioning the LL corners.
In this part we are not worrying about the orientation of the LL corners, only the position, what this means is that it might look wrong at first because the coloured stickers do not match up on all sides. do not panic. we will orient the corners at a later stage. For example, the corner outlined in green below is in the correct position despite not being oriented correctly:
note that the edges will not always be positioned correctly at this stage, so the two edges beside the corner will not always be the correct colour. for this reason it is better to look at the centers to determine whether or not your corner is placed correctly
There are only two cases for this step and an easy way to recognize them is by turning the yellow ( U ) face of the cube trying to put a corner in its proper place. once one is in the right place, the case you have will become much easier to see.
Case One: Two Adjacent corners need to be swapped.
the two corners outlined in red must be swapped
For this case, position the cube so that the two corners which need swapping are on the right ( R ) face. then perform the following algorithm: L U' R' U L' U' R U2. this will swap the two corners, allowing you to move on to part three of four.
Case Two: Two diagonal corners need to be swapped.
the two corners outlined in red need to be swapped
For this case, simply perform the algorithm used for the first case on any two corners. then examine the cube. there should now be a case one for you to solve. when you have done this you can move on to part three of four.
Part Three of Four: Now that we have the edges oriented right and the corners placed right, its time to orient the corners.
This can be done with one simple algorithm: R U R' U R U2 R' The algorithm changes the orientation of three corners, leaving one unchanged. (it also moves edges, which is okay right now).
before we can use this algorithm effectively we need to understand that it has a ' target'. (this is because while there are seven cases, through understanding of the target concept we can get away with learning only three. (understanding this will also help immensely if you plan to learn the Petrus (advanced) method later in the guide as it is used there as well).
The target of this algorithm is the sticker on the left side of the corner opposite from the side the first turn of the algorithm is made on ( the R side) (you might want to read that again and try to locate it on the cube). For example, in the image below, the target is highlighted in green, and the left, top, and front sides are labelled with L U F.
So on the cube below, if you wanted to target the sticker outlined in green, what would you label the red and green sides as?
Once you understand that the rest of this is easy.
If you have zero correct corners, target a yellow sticker. this will leave you with one correct corner.
If you have two correct corners, target any non-yellow sticker, this will leave you with one correct corner.
If you have one correct corner, hold the cube so that the correct corner is facing you (at an angle, like in most of these pictures), then target this sticker:
now one of two things will happen. either the corners are all oriented correctly (if this is the case, move on to part four), or only one of them is oriented correctly. if this just happens simply do what you did above once more to finish orienting the corners. Once this is finished you may move on to part four.
youre so very close.... Part Four of Four: Positioning the LL edges.
This step uses one algorithm and is mostly intuitive (because of a very nifty algorithm). thankfully the algorithm is much simpler to ' target' than the last one and you only need to use it a maximum of two times to finish the cube.
The algorithm is as follows: L2 U or U' (see below) F' B L2 F B' U or U' (see below) L2
Explanation: for the second move you turn the top face a quarter turn in whichever direction you want the edge on the left to go. for example if the Blue/Yellow edge is on the red side, you would make the red side L and then do U' as the second move when doing the algorithm to have it end up on the blue side (its correct position). If the blue/yellow edge was on the orange side, you would make the orange side L and then do U as the second move. notice how when you make the turn you are turning the edge towards its correct position. The second last move you make will be the same as the second one. (U if you did U and U' if you did U' ).
to clarify, if the second move is U and the second last move is U, the algorithm does this to the edges:
and if the second move is U' and the last move is U', it does this:
Now on how to use this wonderful algorithm.
If all four edges are in the wrong position do the algorithm with any side as L to get a situation where only three are wrong.
One or two misplaced edges is impossible and zero is the solved position soo...
If three edges are out of position, make the side that has a correctly positioned edge R when doing the algorithm. you will then have incorrect edges on the other three sides, with the one on L being in the 'middle'. Use the algorithm again, making sure that your second move brings the edge on L towards where you want it to go. once you have done this, the cube is solved (unless of course someone has been messing with your stickers or assembled the cube incorrectly! >)
Congratulations! you have just solved the rubik's cube!
but it doesnt end there...
for people who want to get fast
The idea behind the petrus method is that when you solve the cube with a layer by layer method, you have to break the first layer, do something, then put it back together again. with this method you make a 3x2x2 block of solved cube, then finish the first two layers by twisting only two sides. when the first two layers are finished there will always be a cross on the bottom, and from here you solve the last layer in the same way as the beginner's method with a few added algorithms for greater efficency (unless you want to learn COLL, a set of 40 algorithms).
this method will allow you to achieve faster times than the layer by layer method (fewer moves) and is much easier to learn than the freidrich method (57 algorithms).
There are seven steps to this method:
Step One: 2x2x2 block.
this step is pretty self explanatory (and should be done intuitively), you need to correctly position/orient one corner and the three edges that go next to it. choose a corner piece with a white sticker on it the first few times you solve, it will make the guide easier to follow. how i usually do this step is find my corner, then 'join' it with the non-white stickered edge before putting it where it needs to go. then i put the white edges next to the corner and move on to....
Step Two: 2x2x3 block
in this step you expand the 2x2x2 block by positioning two more edges around a second corner. this step shoud also be done intuitively. building the block is the most important part of this method to practice in my opinion. this is because there are so many ways to form the block, where the rest of the solve is pretty linear. as you get faster, try to learn to make blocks with all the colours instead of just white/whatever/whatever. you will develop your own ways to spot patterns and make the block faster and faster as you solve the cube more and more. once the block has been made, move on to...
Step Three: orient the seven remaining edges
count 'em also dont worry if this makes no sense right now
this is by far the most difficult concept you will have to understand to solve the cube using this method. this step allows you to finish the first two layers by turining only the two faces that are not part of the block, and sets you up with a cross on the last layer when you are done. first off, you have to learn the difference between a 'right' edge and a 'wrong' edge. the first thing to know is that wrong edges come in pairs (you can have none, two, four, or six).(also note that we will be holding the cube by the 'block' we made earlier, and only turning the two sides with pieces in the wrong spot in fact, we will not be interfering with the block at all for this step).
important, do not break the block!
there are four rules to follow when looking for wrong edges. for these rules we will be labelling the two sides (not part of the block) X and Y, which is which really does not matter.
1. an edge on the X face that has an X colour sticker next to the center is right
2. an edge on the X face that has an X colour sticker away from the center is wrong
3.an edge on the Y face that has an X colour sticker next to the center is wrong
oops! the x and y sides are technically the other way around, but the diagram still applies
4. an edge on the Y face that has an X colour sticker away from the center is right
if you are having trouble identifying which edges need to be flipped with the above rules, turn each edge so that it is between the X and Y centers (yellow and blue below). if there is a yellow sticker beside the blue center or vice versa, that edge is wrong.
examples of wrong edges using this method
these 'wrong edges' need to be flipped (oriented correctly) before we can solve the rest of the cube. how do we do this? with one simple move sequence.
this mini-algorithm fixes two edges at once, and the edges need to be in one of two positions (really the same position but a mirror image). the positions are highlighted below:
so really you need one misplaced sticker on top of the F face and one on the right or left of the F face, your U face needs to be the other side not part of the block.(you can make the other face your F face if you want, to solve other pairs faster).
if the wrong edge is on the left of the F face, do the mini-algorithm L' U L, if it is on the right, the moves are R U' R'. both of these move sequences 'swap' the two edges involved, orienting them correctly in the process.
in blatant disregard of the turn only two sides rule!
"but my edges arent beside each other like in the pictures!" Never fear netizen!, simply rotate the two faces we have been using for this step until they are, it will always work.
when you have oriented all the remaining edges correctly, move on to the next step...
Step Four: Finishing the first two layers (F2L)
in this step, like the last, it is very important to turn only the two unsolved sides, reccomend you keep a firm grip around the 2x2x3 block to avoid 'breaking' it
Our first goal for this step is to allign one of the remaining F2L corners with its two edges, then put them in place. remember that you may turn only the two unsolved sides. (the corner/edges are in green).
do this in the same way you did the first and second steps, intuitively! (although you will need to manouver a bit more with only two sides to turn).
the next part is a bit more difficult, but can be done incredibly fast once you get the hang of it.
now it is more important than ever to keep a firm grip on that original 2x2x3 block, if you turn it at all, wrong edges will reappar and you will have to go back a step.
we have to align the remaining F2L edge and the last F2L corner on the bottom layer, then 'slot' them into their proper spot. however we can only move the side with the 2x2x1 (corner / 2 edges) block we made earlier in this step one quarter turn at a time. there is no real shortcut or nifty trick here, just keep wiggling that side one quarter turn and turning the other (bottom) side until you have the two pieces joined and then slot them in the right position.
once this is done we can move on to the last layer
Step Five: position the LL corners (i'll bet this looks farmilliar....)
because it is...
this is exactly the same as part two of four of the last layer in the layer by layer method! simply swap the corners using that handy L U' R' U L' U' R U2 algorithm we learned and then you're ready to move on to...
Step Six Orient the LL corners (not again!)
while this step can be done in the same way as part three of four of the last layer in the layer by layer method, we're going to learn the reverse of R U R' U R U2 R' (remember how to target?), this will allow us to solve the layer in two applications of the algorithm maximum instead of three.
The reverse is L' U' L U' L' U2 L. it is targeted in the same way as the normal algorithm except the target sticker is on the right instead of the left. the 'what to target' instructions still apply. + Show Spoiler [how to target the mirror] +
if we want to target the highlighted sticker (which will orient all the edges correctly ala the targeting rules from the beginner guide) we must perform the mirror with our faces like they are labelled above.
when you have oriented the corners you may move on the the last step...
Step Seven: positioning the LL edges (once again the same, but with a twist)
this step can be done in the same way as the last step of the layer by layer method, but we're going to make things a bit more complicated by adding two new algorithms to the mix. these will allow us to always complete this step in one algorithm maximum, instead of two.
The first of these two new algorithms will be used to solve the case where all the edges need to be swapped with the edge opposite them.
it does this
it doesnt matter which way you hold the cube as long as the unsolved (bottom - yellow in this case) face is the U side.
the algorithm is F2 L2 R2 B2 D B2 R2 L2 F2.
dont worry if it feels akward at first, you'll get faster with practice.
The second new algorithm is for when the four edges need too be swapped with the edge adjacent to them.
it does this
to perform this algorithm, make sure that the last layer is the U side as normal, and that two of the edges you need swapped are on the F and R sides (the other two to be swapped on the B and L sides respectively).
the algorithm is L2 R2 D F2 L2 R2 B2 L2 R2 D' L2 R2. this one is very akward but learning to do it quickly will do you a world of good.
if three edges need to be swapped just do what you learned to do in the layer by layer method.
well thats alll you need to know to solve the cube using the petrus method. with this you should be able to achieve times of under 30 seconds if you practice alot .
but what if i want to be even faster?
well then the next step is to learn COLL, which is a set of 40 algorithms which combine steps five and six. i wont list them all here, but This Page is where i learned it from (and it has a handy printable version too!).
you might also check out the section on..
a few things to make you fast
The most important thing no matter which method you choose to use is to practice all the time. five spare minutes waiting for the bus? you could solve the cube at least seven times while you wait. finish dinner at a fancy restaurant but need to wait for the rest of your party?, pull out that cube!. picking up women and need to look smart? ... okay maybe not, but you get the idea. the cube is very portable and taking advantage of that can make you a much better cubist.
Maintain your cube. stretch the springs and lubricate it often (see lubricating your cube and taking the cube apart videos). even if it has little to no effect it will make you think your cube is faster, bestowing you with additional confidence.
learn the colour scheme of the cube. the standard one is blue opposite green. red opposite orange, and white opposite yellow, with red being to the right of blue. this will help particularily if you are using the perus method as it gives you more options when making the 2x2x2 and 2x2x3 block.
commit algorithms to muscle memory. while notation is useful for beginners and for learning new algorithms, you dont want to be repeating the notation in your head while solving the cube. do the algorithm to a solved cube over and over and over and over until you can do it without thinking. then learn to spot when to apply it as quickly as possible. the next step is to learn to do the algorithms more efficently. once you know which sides to turn in which order inside and out, you can rotate the cube to make it easier to perform, and you will develop your own finger tricks.
finger tricks. these are just something you develop as you practice with a mind to improve your speed. they are ways you have to execute specific move sequences more quickly. things like combining two face turns into one smooth motion (much easier with a well lubricated cube) are finger tricks.
always always give yourself 15 seconds before any timed solve to inspect the cube. during this time you should be planning as many moves as you can in advance. (for example the formation of the 2x2x2 block). why 15 seconds? i honestly have no idea but that is what you get at competetions.
a good way to gauge your improvement is to do 'time trials'. that is, solving the cube a decent number of times (with a 15s inspection time), then removing the best time, and the worst time, and then averaging the reamining ones.
make sure your cube is well scrambled, most online timers will have a random scramble generator (you scramble the cube by following the notation it spits out). a good scramble is at least 25 moves with no moves that cancel each other out (eg: U2 U2, or L L' ).
a good online timer that gives you the option to save your times can be found here
something else to note is that the petrus method is not the only more advanced method out there, just my personal favourite. other excellent speedsolving methods in clude the fredrich method (the layer by layer method, but you do the middle edges with the corners, then a two step last layer with 57 algs) and the roux method (often used for fewest moves competitions, this involves making two 1x2x3 blocks and solving the cube from there).
if you have any questions feel free to pm me or post in the thread
i would also be very grateful to anyone who points out a spelling mistake or a misplaced image (oh god i hope not!)
what about the 4x4x4, 5x5x5, and larger cubes? well these cubes are solved by getting them to the point where they can be solved like a 3x3x3, and then solving them like a 3x3x3, you only need one additional algorithm for each of the larger cubes, and they are clunky to solve. i prefer the 3x3x3 for this reason.
thanks to all of TL.irc for helping me with my spelling requests (stupid notepad), thanks to photobucket (because this WILL BE READ by them) for hosting all the images, a big anti thanks to shackpics for failing hard after i uploaded half the images, forcing me to reupload them, shoutout to clan 404 for being supportive (mainly nintu), and also thanks to LTT for his guide guide, giving me a few valuable tags.
most importantly, thanks to Teamliquid for being such an awesome site.
all the images, videos, and text in this guide with the exception of the cube in hex packaging, was/were shot, recorded, and written by me
I had a friend that would solve these 4x4 cubes then he moves on to 5x5 and finally bought a massive 6x6 and solved it. I was in awe of his abilities and he did it without reading the solutions on the internet.
good guide for beginners! I think easier PLL edge swap algorithms are: [R2 U] [R U R'] [U' R' U' R'] [U R'] and [R U' R] [U R U R] [U' R' U' R2] (the brackets are for seperating the algorithm into finger tricks)
I too was a speedcuber, official average of 26s with official best time of 20s (unofficial 22s average, 16s single), so you're not alone =)
also i chose the algorithms i did for the beginner method because they are also used for the petrus method, which i also teach in the guide. i like the L2 U or U' F' B L2 F B' U' or U L2 alg, maybe its just personal preference but i think its more intuitive to use.
good guide i'd disagree with the whole lbl > petrus > coll progression though i mean, that's one way but you kinda made it sound like the only way. should mention alternatives (like just practicing basic fridrich)
hmm i was looking for my cube to solve it again but i can't find it anywhere blah, only have a 4x4 lying around. i was decently fast at one point, have a sub 25 solve on youtube somewhere
Very nice guide. Two things that are important to be able to pick up nonchalantly at a house party and do well are play the guitar and solve a rubiks cube.
I got a DIY from cube4you, but it doesn't turn as well as I expected.. so I made the screws very loose and it turns well, but it pops often. Anyway, do you think I should compress the springs? like screw in all the screws as far as possible and leave it overnight? or maybe put washers in it? I can tell it should be turning a lot better. Try to leave lubricant out of your answer, I've tried siliconing it
by the way, you might want to get tiles from cubesmith, yours are really worn out. tiles are made of bulletproof plastic.. pretty much last forever
what you should do is tighten the springs so the sides are hard to turn, then solve the cube a ton of times, after this you should loosen the screws again. stretching the springs also helps. the most important part i think is to get the cube sliding smoothly by grinding down the sides. after that just tinker with the screws until you get a configuration you like
Cube is right. in terms of tightness for DIYs, a popular amateur mistake is to make them too loose. I personally have one from cube4you which works great, It was pretty tight/non-turny for the first month-ish, but then i used Jig-A-Loo some kind of lube and it got really smooth and fast.
On June 15 2009 16:13 Cube wrote: i still have trouble with my DIY :<
what you should do is tighten the springs so the sides are hard to turn, then solve the cube a ton of times, after this you should loosen the screws again. stretching the springs also helps. the most important part i think is to get the cube sliding smoothly by grinding down the sides. after that just tinker with the screws until you get a configuration you like
I could try that, I might hurt my hands solving it so many times when its hard to turn
Why would stretching the springs help though, that would make them more resistant, sort of undoing what I'm trying to do
I was thinking of cutting maybe 1/4 cm from the ends of each spring, but that maybe kind of risky =P
On June 15 2009 16:25 Cube wrote: honestly you should just work through the pain!
i have never tried cutting springs but would not reccomend it
i have no idea why stretching springs helps, it just does
mm going to have to do better than that lol
maybe i'll just leave it loose and try to control the popping, but I dont really see anything wrong with cutting the springs - its basically making making the same tension but with the screw heads closer so it dont pop
My Great Uncle gave me a book on how to solve the Cube when I was a child, which was back when they were first popular in Britain.
Once my primary school teacher found out I could do it she initiated a process which concluded with me having to stand up and do it in front of the entire school. It was terrifying.
Cubing is so fun! I haven't practiced seriously in YEARS, but I also used the Petrus Method (just about learned a 2-look LL when I stopped). I probably topped out somewhere in the mid-20s though.
I think the cube4you DIYs are just fine, and pretty consistent. If you have trouble with a tough cube, just rough it out for a week, sand the insides of the pieces, and lube it up, and it might just "break in"... I've had some toysrus cubes turn out beautifully that way. Regarding the cubesmith stickers, I actually don't like them very much. They do last forever, but the problem I found with mine is that they don't give you enough grip to do some quick moves... the cube slips out of my hands sometimes, but maybe that's just me
edit- just tried now, and after a lot of false starts, got a time of 52 =(. I forgot half of my algorithms to orient corners... The problem is, I had done a weird orient-first version of the Petrus method, so I have no idea where my algorithms came from!
On June 15 2009 15:44 Resonance wrote: Wow best REAL guide I have read. This better get a beta key.
That's exactly what I was thinking when I read this. I read the whole thing and am very impressed with the amount of detail and information provided. Great stuff, Cube. Some spelling/grammar mistakes aside, your guide appears very effective and certainly readable. I hope you get a key also.
Personally, I'm a fan of the V-Cubes. They're all very smooth, as soon as you get them.
Also - I came up with my own technique for solving larger cubes that is very efficient (it's a modification to the corners-first method, but I came up with it before I found out about the corners-first method. Hell, I came up with it before I learned anything more than the beginners method.....). I can do a 20X20 on Gabbasoft in under 1.5 hrs.
I've averaged around 40 seconds a solve with a traditional cube, and I've never practiced as much as you seem to have.
The first method I learned was kinda unique... you solve the corners on one side first, then solve the corners on the opposite side. Then you usually have to solve the four remaining sides (all done at the same time), and do the edge pieces last. It's pretty slow (2-3 minutes as soon as you finish learning it), but because almost all the steps are 2-3 moves each you can learn to solve it with only ONE algorithm. Usually the last two edge pieces end up in each other's spots, and you have to do one long sequence to switch them.
I'd like to learn a more efficient method, but my cube broke and I haven't gotten around to replacing it yet!
Hey this is really cool! I was really into solving the cube in high school, it got to the point where instead of reading a book before sleeping I'd spend an hour trying to solve the cube.
Holy shit when I finally solved it I was so happy though...
I'm loving the advanced method though, I'll have to try it out when I get back home (why oh why don't I have my cube with me here!)
Cool guide, I actually just learned a similar beginner's method recently and it takes me ~ 2 minutes to solve the cube now. About 4 minutes to solve "cube-in-a-cube-in-a-cube" and other cool patterns. I'm gonna have a look at the more advanced methods you provided. Thanks!
Very good guide. It explains the Petrus method better than Petrus' own site imo. However the Fridrich method is way more popular among faster cubers (<30 seconds) and is used by pretty much 100% of the sub-15 guys, so it deserves more attention that what you gave it.. Still an awesome guide though!
On June 15 2009 16:04 Manifesto7 wrote: Very nice guide. Two things that are important to be able to pick up nonchalantly at a house party and do well are play the guitar and solve a rubiks cube.
Haha true ,but unfortunately 99% of the time said guitar is hopelessly out of tune because the real owners never ever actually play it.
At least with the cube nothing can stop you, except way too much alcohol.
I'm a speedcuber (I can solve 3x3x3 in 15s or less) ... playing Starcraft too... I'm really surprised that Beta Key is awarded for cube guide... But I'm surely positively surprised It looks like really detailed and easy guide. Good work
nope, i have nightmares about twisty puzzles like that one.
this is one of my problems with following guides like these :p not only are they highly susceptible to forgetting the algorithms thus rendering you basically useless, but also are completely not scalable to higher cubes like 4x4x4 or other twisty puzzles like megaminx or sq-1
should write an intuitive tutorial imo (commutators, conjugates, basics of the cube etc). not only does it fix the above flaws but it's like one of the fastest/best "methods" to follow for both blindfold and fewest moves solving! downside is that it requires thinking, of course, and thus not really good for sighted speedsolving which really relies on muscle memory and memorization instead
On June 16 2009 05:16 1337o wrote: Very good guide. It explains the Petrus method better than Petrus' own site imo. However the Fridrich method is way more popular among faster cubers (<30 seconds) and is used by pretty much 100% of the sub-15 guys, so it deserves more attention that what you gave it.. Still an awesome guide though!
yea, the fridrich method is by far the most common among the world's best, but I enjoyed reading about the petrus method because my knowledge was previously very limited. maybe you didn't include fridrich on purpose because of the sheer amount of algorithms required to master it, hehe
I know some sort of corner's first method. I like it because I only have to remember 2 algorythms one is 7 rotates, and the other is 12 rotates (theres also one with 3 rotates repeated 5 times... ). I've learnt it on a site some years ago but I can't find it anymore. It's 8 steps. It's not so fast, but it relies on repeating things to get most steps completed, so it's lovely! Also with my own simplfications it relies on the solver's brains at some part. I can complete the cube in 1-2 minutes. I've also wrote it down, but first I send it to Cube what is he thinking.
i learned the cube from a polish speedcuber last summer. he used a custom version of the friedrich method....i don't know any of the algorithms other than what he taught me in a week :/ I continued learning using the friedrich method when I got home and got under 1 minute average in about 2 months. It's a very intuitive method IMO, if people have trouble with this, they might want to take a look at some alternative methods
On June 16 2009 01:45 Biochemist wrote: The first method I learned was kinda unique... you solve the corners on one side first, then solve the corners on the opposite side. + Show Spoiler +
Then you usually have to solve the four remaining sides (all done at the same time), and do the edge pieces last. It's pretty slow (2-3 minutes as soon as you finish learning it), but because almost all the steps are 2-3 moves each you can learn to solve it with only ONE algorithm. Usually the last two edge pieces end up in each other's spots, and you have to do one long sequence to switch them.
I'd like to learn a more efficient method, but my cube broke and I haven't gotten around to replacing it yet!
I think I know the same method, but I haven't realized that particular alogrithm. It's efficient enough for me , and I like the simplicity of it. The user can see through the algorythms because of their shortness.
top times are separated by like tenths of seconds now
1 Tomasz Zolnowski 10.63 Poland Warsaw Open 2009 2 Yumu Tabuchi 10.83 Japan Osaka Open 2009 3 Erik Akkersdijk 11.11 Netherlands Benelux Open 2009 4 Yu Nakajima 11.28 Japan Kashiwa Open 2008 5 Andy Tsao 11.42 USA Berkeley Fall 2008 6 Edouard Chambon 11.48 France Murcia Open 2008 Harris Chan 11.48 Canada Toronto Open Winter 2009 Takumi Yoshida 11.48 Japan JRCA Kanto Summer 2009 9 Keisuke Hiraya 11.68 Japan Japan Open 2008 10 Rowe Hessler 11.70 USA Cumberland Valley Open 2009
Notice 2 things: the top 10 are separated by ~one second. Also, they're all recent records (the earliest were last year's, and only 4 of those), meaning people are still getting noticeably faster. There isn't even a super-14 time in the top 100 (the gap between 10th and 100th is just a bit over 2 seconds)
On June 22 2009 02:26 JeeJee wrote: top times are separated by like tenths of seconds now
1 Tomasz Zolnowski 10.63 Poland Warsaw Open 2009 2 Yumu Tabuchi 10.83 Japan Osaka Open 2009 3 Erik Akkersdijk 11.11 Netherlands Benelux Open 2009 4 Yu Nakajima 11.28 Japan Kashiwa Open 2008 5 Andy Tsao 11.42 USA Berkeley Fall 2008 6 Edouard Chambon 11.48 France Murcia Open 2008 Harris Chan 11.48 Canada Toronto Open Winter 2009 Takumi Yoshida 11.48 Japan JRCA Kanto Summer 2009 9 Keisuke Hiraya 11.68 Japan Japan Open 2008 10 Rowe Hessler 11.70 USA Cumberland Valley Open 2009
Notice 2 things: the top 10 are separated by ~one second. Also, they're all recent records (the earliest were last year's, and only 4 of those), meaning people are still getting noticeably faster. There isn't even a super-14 time in the top 100 (the gap between 10th and 100th is just a bit over 2 seconds)
I personally don't know the answer to your question but those times may be an avg of a series of a certain number of cubes instead on an individual cube.
single solves are silly. the thing that convinced me was when ron (i think, or maybe arnaud) got a 2x2x2 scramble which he noticed during preinspection could be solved in an R U R' U' trigger (or maybe R U' R'; something like that anyway), resulting in a WR time that's basically unbeatable unless you get a scramble that's just as imba. he asked for a rescramble though so that's okay.
and yeah, figures you'd link erik ^_^ he has had quite a history with lucky scrambles lol "getting lucky isn't a crime"
edit:looking at xeo's video, that's what i'm talking about ^_^ there's a pll skip and (i think) an entirely 2gen f2l edit2: nope nevermind found the scramble and his solution, there's a rotation i missed. still, not a standard solve
my fastest recorded time atm is 3:20 and I first touched a cube on Saturday
I'm gonna try and see if I've gotten faster since yesterday. Its also the first day that I don't need to look at the algorithm cheatsheet I made. *brb*
Rubik Cube inventor devises new puzzle to drive us all to distraction
RUBIK 360
The creator of Rubik’s Cube is back with his first new puzzle for almost 20 years and early indications are that it is going to be every bit as irritating as the original.
Rubik’s 360, which goes on sale next week, features six small balls inside three interlocking spheres. The task is to lock each ball into colour-coded capsules on the outermost sphere. Professor Rubik said of his cube that it was “easy to understand the task, but hard to work out the solution”. It is just as aggravating to crack the 360
man...i havent been serious about cubing for over a year now...it was right around the time i decided to take up real sc (not the fastest map crap that i used to do)
fastest time is 39 seconds, but that was ages ago, and im not as fast as i used to be ^^;
I've been using this guide every day for the past couple of weeks. It took a while to get the hang of some of the steps (as with all rubik's cubes guide, the steps aren't all quite explained 100% completely), but this guide has been the best of the ones I've tried.
I have the first method for solving it 99% memorized.... I still need to look up the algorithm for swapping corners a little bit but I'm basically there! Eventually I might try speed-methods like the Petrus method you mention.
Thanks cube for writing this guide. I think other people should check it out (since it hasn't been bumped in over 2 years!)
edit: btw: I seem to often have a situation where I'm not sure what to do... and I need to play around a bit. I don't think cube explained all the cases of each step so I lose a lot of time trying to figure out how to accomplish the next objective... not sure what to do about that haha.
I smile every time I see a thread about cubing. I keep my Type D with Cubesmith rough tiles on my desk as a trophy. Too bad I can't say the same for my Eastsheen 4x4x4, hes in million little pieces... never loosen and lube.
Skimming the guide, it looks pretty good. I remember using youtube videos when I was stuck (when I was learning the beginner solve), they helped a lot.
This is amazing. I learned the beginners method like 4-5 years ago when I had nothing to do (lol middle school) and I'll be sure to try learning the petrus method sometime. :D
Awesome guide, I still have to try Petrus method. I've learned how to solve the Rubik's cube with a Youtube video, a little bit easier than the one on the OP. + Show Spoiler [video] +
Then I advanced to Fridich method, which I thought it was the fastest speed-cubing method. D: For anyone struggling to learn how to solve the Rubik's cube, I'd suggest watching to video in the spoilers. (:
On October 10 2011 00:13 Hoon wrote: Awesome guide, I still have to try Petrus method. I've learned how to solve the Rubik's cube with a Youtube video, a little bit easier than the one on the OP. + Show Spoiler [video] +
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsQIoPyfQzM
Then I advanced to Fridich method, which I thought it was the fastest speed-cubing method. D: For anyone struggling to learn how to solve the Rubik's cube, I'd suggest watching to video in the spoilers. (:
I watched that video... after getting the cross he says to do this crazy algorithm over and over again... even though he could have just done it in 4 moves lol... not sure why he did it that way... I guess he's trying to keep it as generic as possible.
I can't say i make the cross first, i always complete one side first, then make the middles line up, then swap the corner pieces in and out (yeah ive no idea why he did that algorithm to put the corner pieces in.. crazy) no idea if it's faster or not, just how i learned to do it, it's also very easy to explain and see done in front of you so people can learn it quickly.
Ooh this thread. I actually started writing that intuitive tutorial method I mentioned earlier in this very thread Maybe one day I'll finish.. I think it's a more fun way to solve the cube -- all you need is one concept and an understanding of the cube, so nothing to memorize (thus nothing to forget), plus you can use it to solve a 4x4 or other twisty puzzles, while you can't do that with the standard 3x3 methods. Writing a guide for it is more difficult than I thought it would be .. I can write out the actual method in a paragraph but to be able to apply it needs some background knowledge of cycles and notation. And I think I suck at explaining things. Blah.
On October 10 2011 00:13 Hoon wrote: Awesome guide, I still have to try Petrus method. I've learned how to solve the Rubik's cube with a Youtube video, a little bit easier than the one on the OP. + Show Spoiler [video] +
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsQIoPyfQzM
Then I advanced to Fridich method, which I thought it was the fastest speed-cubing method. D: For anyone struggling to learn how to solve the Rubik's cube, I'd suggest watching to video in the spoilers. (:
I watched that video... after getting the cross he says to do this crazy algorithm over and over again... even though he could have just done it in 4 moves lol... not sure why he did it that way... I guess he's trying to keep it as generic as possible.
Yeah, exactly. It is an awesome way to learn if you have no idea on how to start solving the cube. Some of my friends can't see the cross and how to make it without algorithms. When you get the hang of it, you don't even need algorithms to make the initial cross. (:
On October 10 2011 00:13 Hoon wrote: Awesome guide, I still have to try Petrus method. I've learned how to solve the Rubik's cube with a Youtube video, a little bit easier than the one on the OP. + Show Spoiler [video] +
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsQIoPyfQzM
Then I advanced to Fridich method, which I thought it was the fastest speed-cubing method. D: For anyone struggling to learn how to solve the Rubik's cube, I'd suggest watching to video in the spoilers. (:
I watched that video... after getting the cross he says to do this crazy algorithm over and over again... even though he could have just done it in 4 moves lol... not sure why he did it that way... I guess he's trying to keep it as generic as possible.
Yeah, exactly. It is an awesome way to learn if you have no idea on how to start solving the cube. Some of my friends can't see the cross and how to make it without algorithms. When you get the hang of it, you don't even need algorithms to make the initial cross. (:
I found for the top layer the algorithms actually help you (me being a beginner). Once you get to working on the edges of the second layer however the algorithms become necessary from then on XD
On October 10 2011 00:13 Hoon wrote: Awesome guide, I still have to try Petrus method. I've learned how to solve the Rubik's cube with a Youtube video, a little bit easier than the one on the OP. + Show Spoiler [video] +
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsQIoPyfQzM
Then I advanced to Fridich method, which I thought it was the fastest speed-cubing method. D: For anyone struggling to learn how to solve the Rubik's cube, I'd suggest watching to video in the spoilers. (:
I watched that video... after getting the cross he says to do this crazy algorithm over and over again... even though he could have just done it in 4 moves lol... not sure why he did it that way... I guess he's trying to keep it as generic as possible.
Yeah, exactly. It is an awesome way to learn if you have no idea on how to start solving the cube. Some of my friends can't see the cross and how to make it without algorithms. When you get the hang of it, you don't even need algorithms to make the initial cross. (:
I found for the top layer the algorithms actually help you (me being a beginner). Once you get to working on the edges of the second layer however the algorithms become necessary from then on XD
The top layer in any solving method is really hard to understand without any speed-cubing knowledge. D: The guy from the video makes it as understandable as possible. ^_^ Oh, and even after learning a more advanced method, I still use those algorithms for the mid layer. :D
I just timed myself for the first time.... I made a dumb mistake a couple of times and decided to just reset... but after a couple of tries I got it (without cheating by looking at any algorithms) in 2 minutes and 30 seconds. Not too bad using the beginner's method (as per this guide) I think!
On October 10 2011 00:13 Hoon wrote: Awesome guide, I still have to try Petrus method. I've learned how to solve the Rubik's cube with a Youtube video, a little bit easier than the one on the OP. + Show Spoiler [video] +
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsQIoPyfQzM
Then I advanced to Fridich method, which I thought it was the fastest speed-cubing method. D: For anyone struggling to learn how to solve the Rubik's cube, I'd suggest watching to video in the spoilers. (:
I watched that video... after getting the cross he says to do this crazy algorithm over and over again... even though he could have just done it in 4 moves lol... not sure why he did it that way... I guess he's trying to keep it as generic as possible.
Yeah, exactly. It is an awesome way to learn if you have no idea on how to start solving the cube. Some of my friends can't see the cross and how to make it without algorithms. When you get the hang of it, you don't even need algorithms to make the initial cross. (:
I found for the top layer the algorithms actually help you (me being a beginner). Once you get to working on the edges of the second layer however the algorithms become necessary from then on XD
The top layer in any solving method is really hard to understand without any speed-cubing knowledge. D: The guy from the video makes it as understandable as possible. ^_^ Oh, and even after learning a more advanced method, I still use those algorithms for the mid layer. :D
I just realized I mistyped... I meant the top layer algorithms actually hurt you. I don't use algorithms for them even though I do for everything else.
On October 10 2011 07:25 micronesia wrote: I just timed myself for the first time.... I made a dumb mistake a couple of times and decided to just reset... but after a couple of tries I got it (without cheating by looking at any algorithms) in 2 minutes and 30 seconds. Not too bad using the beginner's method (as per this guide) I think!
On October 10 2011 00:13 Hoon wrote: Awesome guide, I still have to try Petrus method. I've learned how to solve the Rubik's cube with a Youtube video, a little bit easier than the one on the OP. + Show Spoiler [video] +
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsQIoPyfQzM
Then I advanced to Fridich method, which I thought it was the fastest speed-cubing method. D: For anyone struggling to learn how to solve the Rubik's cube, I'd suggest watching to video in the spoilers. (:
I watched that video... after getting the cross he says to do this crazy algorithm over and over again... even though he could have just done it in 4 moves lol... not sure why he did it that way... I guess he's trying to keep it as generic as possible.
Yeah, exactly. It is an awesome way to learn if you have no idea on how to start solving the cube. Some of my friends can't see the cross and how to make it without algorithms. When you get the hang of it, you don't even need algorithms to make the initial cross. (:
I found for the top layer the algorithms actually help you (me being a beginner). Once you get to working on the edges of the second layer however the algorithms become necessary from then on XD
The top layer in any solving method is really hard to understand without any speed-cubing knowledge. D: The guy from the video makes it as understandable as possible. ^_^ Oh, and even after learning a more advanced method, I still use those algorithms for the mid layer. :D
I just realized I mistyped... I meant the top layer algorithms actually hurt you. I don't use algorithms for them even though I do for everything else.
There are some really cute .java timers around the internet that provides scramble algorithm, statistics and .txt file saving support. Here's the one I got: + Show Spoiler [JNetCube] +
http://www.strangepuzzle.com/jnetcube.html
And man, I feel like the top layer algorithms are the most necessary ones. ._. For me, with this method, the first layer can be done without any algorithms, but after that, I HAVE to use them. <_<
The first two algorithms (white cross then white corners) are easy to visualize and understand what's happening. They don't need to be magic... you can figure them out yourself. I just haven't gotten that same vibe from solving the second or third layer at all... I'm just using the algorithms given to me (which were a bitch to memorize hahaha)
On October 10 2011 07:37 micronesia wrote: The first two algorithms (white cross then white corners) are easy to visualize and understand what's happening. They don't need to be magic... you can figure them out yourself. I just haven't gotten that same vibe from solving the second or third layer at all... I'm just using the algorithms given to me (which were a bitch to memorize hahaha)
Haha, yeah I agree. It took me like 3 days to memorize the algorithms. I'm still not quite sure how people can honestly solve a rubiks cube in 30 seconds. My fastest time is 1 minute 47 seconds.
On October 10 2011 07:37 micronesia wrote: The first two algorithms (white cross then white corners) are easy to visualize and understand what's happening. They don't need to be magic... you can figure them out yourself. I just haven't gotten that same vibe from solving the second or third layer at all... I'm just using the algorithms given to me (which were a bitch to memorize hahaha)
I don't really get the thing about just memorizing algorithms to solve the first time. For getting faster, learning move sequences by heart is necessary (I know this for having competed in speedcubing for almost five years). But I recommend trying to solve the cube by yourself the first time around, it's just such a feeling to have solved the bloody thing after hours and hours of hard studying, desperation and anger.
Nice to see that there are speedcubers here too. And great post by OP.
On October 10 2011 07:37 micronesia wrote: The first two algorithms (white cross then white corners) are easy to visualize and understand what's happening. They don't need to be magic... you can figure them out yourself. I just haven't gotten that same vibe from solving the second or third layer at all... I'm just using the algorithms given to me (which were a bitch to memorize hahaha)
You're referring to the 2nd layer algs listed in the OP right? The D'F'DFDLD'L' and its mirror?
I suppose I can try and explain the intuition behind what you're doing there. This is for the left case, it's the same for the right case, simply mirrored. I'll use the colours/pictures from the OP tutorial so you can refer to them.
Basically you're trying to put the edge piece into its slot (so the blue-orange piece between blue and orange centers) without affecting anything else in the first two layers. That's impossible without messing them up a bit first -- so this algorithm has two steps
1) Take out the blue-orange-white corner and put it beside the blue-orange edge so that they're joined together. I'm going to call this a "pair" or "paired" pieces 2) Put the corner-edge pair back where it came from
When trying to follow the below explanation, trace the corner and edge as they move, so it'll all make sense (hopefully)
In terms of the actual moves, this is how it works: D' relocates the edge piece so that when you take out the corner, it's automatically put into the right place. This'll make more sense in a sec. F'DF takes out the corner, and if you'll look carefully, you'll notice it's right beside the edge piece! That was the purpose of the D' originally. If you didn't do the D', the corner piece would be beside a different edge piece.
This completes step (1) above
Now we have to put this pair back where it came from. Actually what you're doing here is the same way you put the corners in. If you think about it, you already put the corner in while doing the first layer, except it was paired with the wrong edge piece.
So to put the corner in, you do D to align LD'L' to slide in the corner-edge pair.
At the cost of redundancy, you get a much simpler method. If you think about it, what you're doing is basically -cross -put in the corners with wrong edge -take out the corners, match them up with right edge -put them back in
You can combine and pair the corner-edge pairs right away, as you get more advanced.
Hope this provides some intuitive explanation for the algorithms in the op!
e: Explanations are never my strength so apologies if this doesn't make any sense. Let me know if I can clear some parts up..
mm i used to be able to do it.. my best time was sth like 2:11 .. but my cube SUCKED it broke up and shit when i moved it to fast..with a decent one i could have done it in 1 minute probably
On October 10 2011 10:53 Diglett wrote: is speedcubing still popular? it was very popular in high school but i don't see anyone with them in college :[[
Doesn't matter that much, I made it popular in my own high school back then. It was funny, I borrowed it from a friend, took it to school, on the first few days I was no clue about how to solve it, then checked on the internet, then everyone was soooo impressed, many people bought their own cubes after.
Quickly looking through this guide: I wish I found that back then when I learned how to solve rubik's cube. I'm trying to learn all of Fridrich's method, but I'm getting really lazy and stopped after F2Ls, so I average something around 35 seconds.
On October 10 2011 10:55 RogerX wrote: I cheat, I take the stickers off and stick them back on so it looks like I completed it ):
I love how people do this because there is a MUCH easier way. you can just take the whole cube apart and put it back together. the mechanism is not exactly the most perplexing thing. Id be especially amused if people took off the center stickers.
On October 10 2011 10:55 RogerX wrote: I cheat, I take the stickers off and stick them back on so it looks like I completed it ):
That still takes longer than the rate that some people can legitimately solve it at D:
Not many things can be done under 10 seconds in terms of cheating the rubik's cube. Maybe if you took 6 paint brushes and brushed all 6 sides simultaneously you might be able to beat the world record. lol.
On October 10 2011 10:55 RogerX wrote: I cheat, I take the stickers off and stick them back on so it looks like I completed it ):
That still takes longer than the rate that some people can legitimately solve it at D:
Not many things can be done under 10 seconds in terms of cheating the rubik's cube. Maybe if you took 6 paint brushes and brushed all 6 sides simultaneously you might be able to beat the world record. lol.
My personal best is 10.xx seconds, and I average 14.xx seconds. I have been speedcubing for maybe a year though.
On October 10 2011 07:37 micronesia wrote: The first two algorithms (white cross then white corners) are easy to visualize and understand what's happening. They don't need to be magic... you can figure them out yourself. I just haven't gotten that same vibe from solving the second or third layer at all... I'm just using the algorithms given to me (which were a bitch to memorize hahaha)
Haha, yeah I agree. It took me like 3 days to memorize the algorithms. I'm still not quite sure how people can honestly solve a rubiks cube in 30 seconds. My fastest time is 1 minute 47 seconds.
We just memorized more algorithms, learned finger tricks and practiced a looooooot.
I've been working on a 3x3x3 cube using a different strategy than the ones in the OP, and I'm really really close to complete (I think). Maybe you guys can help me finish.
My strategy is to get the corners in correct place first (as though you were solving a 2x2x2 cube), and then use algorithms that preserve corners to rearrange the sides.
I like that it doesn't require a layer-by-layer approach and I can focus on any area that I want provided that the corners remain intact, and it's generally easy to reestablish corners if I ever experiment too far.
The only problem is that I haven't formalized a lot of the corner-preserving algorithms, and sometimes you will try one to achieve something, but with unknown side-effects for other sides. Fortunately the side effects are minimal, such that I was able to pretty easily direct everything down to a near-complete state.
There's an app for that. No, litterally there's an app for that that shows you the most efficient method possible for solving every cube. Pretty impressive database in there. Probably took some kind of savant to come up with all the solutions.
On October 10 2011 12:29 mmp wrote: I've been working on a 3x3x3 cube using a different strategy than the ones in the OP, and I'm really really close to complete (I think). Maybe you guys can help me finish.
My strategy is to get the corners in correct place first (as though you were solving a 2x2x2 cube), and then use algorithms that preserve corners to rearrange the sides.
I like that it doesn't require a layer-by-layer approach and I can focus on any area that I want provided that the corners remain intact, and it's generally easy to reestablish corners if I ever experiment too far.
The only problem is that I haven't formalized a lot of the corner-preserving algorithms, and sometimes you will try one to achieve something, but with unknown side-effects for other sides. Fortunately the side effects are minimal, such that I was able to pretty easily direct everything down to a near-complete state.
So there are three sides YR, BY, and RB that need to be swapped. The other 3 faces are complete.
Any ideas what algorithm can rotate these 3 pieces without affecting any others?
Sure. I could run a solver and give you the optimal solution but that's boring. We should learn to create algorithms! Here's one approach Quick notation: F=front face, B=back, Left Right Up Down. If I say UL that means the U part of the Up-Left edge piece. So for your cube, if red's on the top and yellow's in front, UL would be red-blue (LU would be blue-red since that would be the left part of the up-left piece) Clear so far?
So, let's assume red is on top. You wish to move pieces as follows (if I'm reading your drawing correctly): RU -> UF -> RF -> RU
Notice how this forms a cycle.
To solve a typical cycle like this, without going way too indepth (that would border on writing a full guide), we want two pieces in one interchangeable layer (basically where we can put one piece into the others' place with one move), and the third piece somewhere else.
We already have this here, since RU and RF are on the same layer and are easily swapped with R or R'
So all we need to do is move the UF piece somewhere more useful so we can move it around without affecting the other two pieces. I'll call this setup moves, since they set up the solution.
We can do this with M2 D To make it easier to visualize from now on, let's do a quick rotation (f') So now, we simply have to insert that piece into the R layer without messing up any other piece in that layer (we can mess up everything outside of that layer because we'll undo it later) We can do that with M' D' M
Now we swap it with the other piece U' and undo our insertion M'DM
Now we undo the swap U and now we undo the setup (remember we rotated so we undo that too!) (f) D' M2
So final alg: M2D (f') M' D'M U' M'DM U (f) D' M2
I did this in my head so my apologies if I made a mistake somewhere. e: Oh yeah, M follows R if that's an ambiguity. so M' is like R' but for M layer. e2: I found a cube and tested it, it worked! hurrah.
On October 10 2011 12:29 mmp wrote: I've been working on a 3x3x3 cube using a different strategy than the ones in the OP, and I'm really really close to complete (I think). Maybe you guys can help me finish.
My strategy is to get the corners in correct place first (as though you were solving a 2x2x2 cube), and then use algorithms that preserve corners to rearrange the sides.
I like that it doesn't require a layer-by-layer approach and I can focus on any area that I want provided that the corners remain intact, and it's generally easy to reestablish corners if I ever experiment too far.
The only problem is that I haven't formalized a lot of the corner-preserving algorithms, and sometimes you will try one to achieve something, but with unknown side-effects for other sides. Fortunately the side effects are minimal, such that I was able to pretty easily direct everything down to a near-complete state.
So there are three sides YR, BY, and RB that need to be swapped. The other 3 faces are complete.
Any ideas what algorithm can rotate these 3 pieces without affecting any others?
Sure. I could run a solver and give you the optimal solution but that's boring. We should learn to create algorithms! Here's one approach Quick notation: F=front face, B=back, Left Right Up Down. If I say UL that means the U part of the Up-Left edge piece. So for your cube, if red's on the top and yellow's in front, UL would be red-blue (LU would be blue-red since that would be the left part of the up-left piece) Clear so far?
So, let's assume red is on top. You wish to move pieces as follows (if I'm reading your drawing correctly): RU -> UF -> RF -> RU
Notice how this forms a cycle.
To solve a typical cycle like this, without going way too indepth (that would border on writing a full guide), we want two pieces in one interchangeable layer (basically where we can put one piece into the others' place with one move), and the third piece somewhere else.
We already have this here, since RU and RF are on the same layer and are easily swapped with R or R'
So all we need to do is move the UF piece somewhere more useful so we can move it around without affecting the other two pieces. I'll call this setup moves, since they set up the solution.
We can do this with M2 D To make it easier to visualize from now on, let's do a quick rotation (f') So now, we simply have to insert that piece into the R layer without messing up any other piece in that layer (we can mess up everything outside of that layer because we'll undo it later) We can do that with M' D' M
Now we swap it with the other piece U' and undo our insertion M'DM
Now we undo the swap U and now we undo the setup (remember we rotated so we undo that too!) (f) D' M2
So final alg: M2D (f') M' D'M U' M'DM U (f) D' M2
I did this in my head so my apologies if I made a mistake somewhere. e: Oh yeah, M follows R if that's an ambiguity. so M' is like R' but for M layer. e2: I found a cube and tested it, it worked! hurrah.
I'll have to walk through this step-by-step, but thanks!
On October 10 2011 12:29 mmp wrote: I've been working on a 3x3x3 cube using a different strategy than the ones in the OP, and I'm really really close to complete (I think). Maybe you guys can help me finish.
My strategy is to get the corners in correct place first (as though you were solving a 2x2x2 cube), and then use algorithms that preserve corners to rearrange the sides.
I like that it doesn't require a layer-by-layer approach and I can focus on any area that I want provided that the corners remain intact, and it's generally easy to reestablish corners if I ever experiment too far.
The only problem is that I haven't formalized a lot of the corner-preserving algorithms, and sometimes you will try one to achieve something, but with unknown side-effects for other sides. Fortunately the side effects are minimal, such that I was able to pretty easily direct everything down to a near-complete state.
So there are three sides YR, BY, and RB that need to be swapped. The other 3 faces are complete.
Any ideas what algorithm can rotate these 3 pieces without affecting any others?
Sure. I could run a solver and give you the optimal solution but that's boring. We should learn to create algorithms! Here's one approach Quick notation: F=front face, B=back, Left Right Up Down. If I say UL that means the U part of the Up-Left edge piece. So for your cube, if red's on the top and yellow's in front, UL would be red-blue (LU would be blue-red since that would be the left part of the up-left piece) Clear so far?
So, let's assume red is on top. You wish to move pieces as follows (if I'm reading your drawing correctly): RU -> UF -> RF -> RU
Notice how this forms a cycle.
To solve a typical cycle like this, without going way too indepth (that would border on writing a full guide), we want two pieces in one interchangeable layer (basically where we can put one piece into the others' place with one move), and the third piece somewhere else.
We already have this here, since RU and RF are on the same layer and are easily swapped with R or R'
So all we need to do is move the UF piece somewhere more useful so we can move it around without affecting the other two pieces. I'll call this setup moves, since they set up the solution.
We can do this with M2 D To make it easier to visualize from now on, let's do a quick rotation (f') So now, we simply have to insert that piece into the R layer without messing up any other piece in that layer (we can mess up everything outside of that layer because we'll undo it later) We can do that with M' D' M
Now we swap it with the other piece U' and undo our insertion M'DM
Now we undo the swap U and now we undo the setup (remember we rotated so we undo that too!) (f) D' M2
So final alg: M2D (f') M' D'M U' M'DM U (f) D' M2
I did this in my head so my apologies if I made a mistake somewhere. e: Oh yeah, M follows R if that's an ambiguity. so M' is like R' but for M layer. e2: I found a cube and tested it, it worked! hurrah.
I'll have to walk through this step-by-step, but thanks!
Sure no problem. And just for kicks, jacube tells me the optimal solution is FULDR F'R'D'L'U'
And the most finger-friendly solution is R'F'R'F'R'F'RFRFR2 Or rotated so that F's become U's: (r) R'U' R'U' R'U' RU RU R2 (r')
While way better than my alg, unfortunately I can't tell you why or how they work. Ah the mysteries of the cube..
I recently got a guhong best cube purchase I've ever made. I don't speedcube anymore though, just during loadscreens sometimes. Forgot half the PLL's already
There's actually a (based on my experience) faster method then the Petrus method listed here, which is done by first solving the cross, then solving the first two layers in edge-corner pairs. The downside is that you need to learn a lot more OLLs, because the edges in the last layer aren't automatically oriented correctly. I use it when I'm just idly solving a cube when I'm watching a stream, and I usually solve it in around 30 seconds.
lol this makes me want to get back into speed cubing and try for sub 18s. too bad i forgot most of my OLL so i would have to go back and find all of my preferred algs. i picked and chose them from different sites so its not like i can just go back >_<. at least i still have like 3 of my good speed cubes.
On October 10 2011 22:50 Necosarius wrote: The Petrus method was easier to learn imo O.o I want to get down under 1 minute, I'm stuck at 1:10 right now
idk maybe im biased because i learned the f2l method, but i feel f2l is abit less complicated because after getting the cross, you just do the same thing 4 times. as opposed to each step being abit different for the petrus.
I did not read all.... BUT I am going to write my master thesis in group theory by analyzing the rubics cube, so I might have something to add when I am done (in May next year... ). I probably won't look at speed solving, but at solvability (solving algortihmes that always will work, however slow), orbits (for those who know what that is) and subgroups.
On October 10 2011 23:07 Xiphias wrote: I did not read all.... BUT I am going to write my master thesis in group theory by analyzing the rubics cube, so I might have something to add when I am done (in May next year... ). I probably won't look at speed solving, but at solvability (solving algortihmes that always will work, however slow), orbits (for those who know what that is) and subgroups.
- Xiphias
Dude, whats you major? I'm really interested in your master thesis as I'm a big fan of Rubik's cube in general. :D
On October 10 2011 23:07 Xiphias wrote: I did not read all.... BUT I am going to write my master thesis in group theory by analyzing the rubics cube, so I might have something to add when I am done (in May next year... ). I probably won't look at speed solving, but at solvability (solving algortihmes that always will work, however slow), orbits (for those who know what that is) and subgroups.
- Xiphias
Dude, whats you major? I'm really interested in your master thesis as I'm a big fan of Rubik's cube in general. :D
hes probably a math major. group theory is very pertinent to the designing of algorithms for OLL and PLL because the easier/more intuitive algorithms are essentially performing a set of actions, then something in the middle to displace or orient some pieces and then doing and inversion of the first set of actions.
On October 11 2011 03:46 Jaso wrote: I used to cube a lot.. got down to a sub30s average.. Stopped for a while and I can barely average under 40 ><
I'm currently using intuitive F2L and whatever I can remember of 2-look OLL and PLL.. Any recommendations on other things to try?
Are you looking for a more advanced version of your method or something else entirely?
For a step-up, I'd learn ~7 algs to insert the last ce pair while orienting LL edges. Algs and recognition are both very simple iirc. Then you can finish up OLL in one step, and PLL in one step. It's kind of a 1look OLL, but way less than 57 algs for a traditional approach. It was actually my "cop-out" and how I solved the cube when I was speedsolving, so I'm quite partial to it. I think it's a nice compromise, since that 57 is such a big number... At least I never got around to learning the full OLL
For something else entirely.. try another speedsolving method like roux. Or even move away from speedsolving and try blindfold or fewest moves. Both of those are tons of fun; I found blindfold more impressive for onlookers but fewest moves was more rewarding for myself.
Hell, you can even do a different puzzle, like square-1!
oh wow, this brings back a lot of memories. I used to love rubik's cubes and I always prided myself in figuring out the solution entirely on my own. I had gotten down to like 32 seconds or so at some point. Now, I would probably have a lot of trouble even breaking a minute and a half. My fingers have gotten stronger so I always overshoot all of the turns hahaha
On October 11 2011 03:46 Jaso wrote: I used to cube a lot.. got down to a sub30s average.. Stopped for a while and I can barely average under 40 ><
I'm currently using intuitive F2L and whatever I can remember of 2-look OLL and PLL.. Any recommendations on other things to try?
i would say relearn the full OLL+PLL. and also be on the lookout for new algorithms that you feel more comfortable with or can do faster. just keep practicing. really when you are practicing focus alot on the F2L. while you are doing each CE pair try to be looking ahead to the next pair. learning to do the OLL and PLL algs faster will just come in the course of trying to practice F2L since getting better at F2L takes so much longer.
try to get sub20. its very achievable and very rewarding.
also if you are bored you can try some one handed solving. this hurts alot but it actually helps you with looking ahead on the F2L since you cant turn the cube so fast so you might as well be looking ahead instead of rushing to finish the CE pair.
*edit note the reason why i say focus on F2L is that thats where most of the time will be made up for you. most of my OLL and PLL algs in my prime were maybe a second slower than the best of the best. but i was still 18s to their 10s. all of their time was made in the F2L.
I do spend way too much time on F2L and cross.. I'm not exactly sure what to do; I guess just more practice haha.
I'll try going from 2-look OLL and PLL to 1-look PLL, then maybe full OLL.
Also, what would you say are the best cubes right now? I have a couple F2s (favorite) and AlphaVs. I like the AlphaV's sharpness and preciseness, but I tend to pop A LOT when using it; I never pop with the F2, but it doesn't feel as clean and I tend to slow down on corners.
Should be lubing these? I bought them pre-assembled and they were fine when I opened them so I just never bothered.. I do have silicone spray on hand though.
I know i'm not contributing anything to this thread but i never knew that people were so hardcore about their Rubik's Cubes. This just made my day lol.
On October 10 2011 23:07 Xiphias wrote: I did not read all.... BUT I am going to write my master thesis in group theory by analyzing the rubics cube, so I might have something to add when I am done (in May next year... ). I probably won't look at speed solving, but at solvability (solving algortihmes that always will work, however slow), orbits (for those who know what that is) and subgroups.
- Xiphias
Dude, whats you major? I'm really interested in your master thesis as I'm a big fan of Rubik's cube in general. :D
hes probably a math major. group theory is very pertinent to the designing of algorithms for OLL and PLL because the easier/more intuitive algorithms are essentially performing a set of actions, then something in the middle to displace or orient some pieces and then doing and inversion of the first set of actions.
Ooh, that's interesting. And I thought math was all about calculating integers and derivatives of stupid and useless functions (I'm an Electronic Engineer undergrad. :p)
On October 11 2011 05:16 Xinder wrote: I know i'm not contributing anything to this thread but i never knew that people were so hardcore about their Rubik's Cubes. This just made my day lol.
You should look for some championships and leader boards. There are some websites that follows the whole speed cubing scene with all the worldwide records and average times. ^_^
I started cubing somedays ago (avg 4 minutes using layer by layer method D i was wondering if you can achieve the same times using lbl, petrus or friedrich?
You can achieve sub-20 with lbl and sub-15 with petrus maybe even less. Fridrich is the main speedcubing method though and all 3x3 world records (excluding 1982) have been achieved with it. Top cubers average as low as sub-8 of 10 solves with it.
I actually learnt the Rubix cube like over a year ago. I remember this thread and it was one of my goals to learn it. I spent about 2 hours on YouTube to learn the algorithms... I made it look harder than it seemed. Now its pretty easy. Got a personal record on about 1 min. I've also learnt it to 10+ people at my school. Cubing really is fun :D I also learnt the 4x4 & 5x5. Next step is to learn the Petrus method on the 3x3.
i use fridrich's method and a year or so ago my average was around 20 seconds. haven't cubed in a while, but i think i can solve at around 35 seconds no problem now.
I can get 1 minute easily if I had a decent cube. The main problem is that if you don't play as much, or you play too much, it gets very sticky and it's a huge pain to relube it every other week. So I've given up. Just one of the fun things you have to learn in life, and now it's not a super mystery like it was before. Still impresses some people, while being called a nerd by others. Hehe.
Haven't tried the other methods because there's a lot more things to do nowadays, and it's enough that I can solve it; I don't feel like I need to be good good.
On October 10 2011 23:07 Xiphias wrote: I did not read all.... BUT I am going to write my master thesis in group theory by analyzing the rubics cube, so I might have something to add when I am done (in May next year... ). I probably won't look at speed solving, but at solvability (solving algortihmes that always will work, however slow), orbits (for those who know what that is) and subgroups.
- Xiphias
Dude, whats you major? I'm really interested in your master thesis as I'm a big fan of Rubik's cube in general. :D
hes probably a math major. group theory is very pertinent to the designing of algorithms for OLL and PLL because the easier/more intuitive algorithms are essentially performing a set of actions, then something in the middle to displace or orient some pieces and then doing and inversion of the first set of actions.
Yes, math major is correct. It will be a study in symmetry groups. Haven't started writing it yet though.
Okay question... I learned this with a working corner on the first layer and then solved the last corner peices (4 on 3rd layer and the working corner on the 1st layer) using these algorithms:
When using these you move the block from the Front upper left corner to the Back buttom right corner. So which ever peice I want to move starts at Front upper Left corner.
L B2 L' U/U2/U' (depending on which I corner from the 3rd layer I want move to the working corner position) L B2 L. F' B2 F U/U2/U' (See above) F' B2 F.
Then just use these 2 to get all the corners in the correct position AND correct orientation.
I have the working corner away from me at the buttom and the 4 corners from the 3rd layer on top.
Maybe I can't remember all from that guide I used but I seem to e unable to orient the corner peices correctly using only these 2 algorithms. I can't find the guide I used and every other guide I find uses the method from the OP. I can combine the 2 by solving the working corner peice and then just use the OP way, but I would like to know how to solve it "my way" and if someone could tell me what I'm missing...
Reason I want this method is that It is intuitive for me and I really don't remember any algorithms at all (Only wrote it down so you might understand what I'm doing)
If anyone can find the/a guide which solved it like this I would be grateful.
On July 11 2012 21:42 Dirkzor wrote: Okay question... I learned this with a working corner on the first layer and then solved the last corner peices (4 on 3rd layer and the working corner on the 1st layer) using these algorithms:
When using these you move the block from the Front upper left corner to the Back buttom right corner. So which ever peice I want to move starts at Front upper Left corner.
L B2 L' U/U2/U' (depending on which I corner from the 3rd layer I want move to the working corner position) L B2 L. F' B2 F U/U2/U' (See above) F' B2 F.
Then just use these 2 to get all the corners in the correct position AND correct orientation.
I have the working corner away from me at the buttom and the 4 corners from the 3rd layer on top.
Maybe I can't remember all from that guide I used but I seem to e unable to orient the corner peices correctly using only these 2 algorithms. I can't find the guide I used and every other guide I find uses the method from the OP. I can combine the 2 by solving the working corner peice and then just use the OP way, but I would like to know how to solve it "my way" and if someone could tell me what I'm missing...
Reason I want this method is that It is intuitive for me and I really don't remember any algorithms at all (Only wrote it down so you might understand what I'm doing)
If anyone can find the/a guide which solved it like this I would be grateful.
Thanks!
At first I wasn't quite able to figure out what your algorithms are trying to do. I think you mixed up the notation, and whenever you wrote B (back face), you actually meant D (down face). Also I think there's a mistake in your first alg, the last L should be L'.
Hopefully what i said is true, because otherwise I just wasted a lot of time with the rest of this post lol.
The two algorithms you listed are actually mirror images of each other, and you have to use the correct one based on what the current orientation of the corner already is.
For the white-green-orange corner, if the white color is facing to the right, then you want to do the first alg. Otherwise, you want to do the second alg. BTW, the working corner is in the back bottom and not visible from this POV.
In the case of the first cube in my picture, I'd have to do one extra move (either U or U', doesn't matter) because of the position of the corner. Example Alg: U' L D2 L' U L D2 L'
Final Note: One thing I noticed about this algorithm is that it only moves 3 of the corners, and keeps all the other pieces in place. Is this an intentional result because your method needs to maintain all the other pieces? The reason I ask is because if all you're trying to do is solve the first layer corners, you can do it much more efficiently (3-4 moves instead of 7-8).
I totally forgot to answer you Slithe. You were right that I miswrote my algorithm. The one you wrote was the one I was thinking about. I figured this out on my own eventually but thank anyway.
And yes I use this method to keep all other peices where they are since I solve the upper layer corners + the working corner in the buttom layer last. So I solve buttom layer (minus the working corner), mid layer, upper layer cross, upper layer corners + working corner.
I started learning Fridrich Method the other day and even doing it slowly it has cut my time significantly on the f2l compared to the beginner method. I am having trouble though once i have 3 out of 4 sides finding the correct way to quickly get my 4th pair together without messing up the others.
On October 10 2011 23:07 Xiphias wrote: I did not read all.... BUT I am going to write my master thesis in group theory by analyzing the rubics cube, so I might have something to add when I am done (in May next year... ). I probably won't look at speed solving, but at solvability (solving algortihmes that always will work, however slow), orbits (for those who know what that is) and subgroups.
- Xiphias
Dude, whats you major? I'm really interested in your master thesis as I'm a big fan of Rubik's cube in general. :D
hes probably a math major. group theory is very pertinent to the designing of algorithms for OLL and PLL because the easier/more intuitive algorithms are essentially performing a set of actions, then something in the middle to displace or orient some pieces and then doing and inversion of the first set of actions.
Yes, math major is correct. It will be a study in symmetry groups. Haven't started writing it yet though.
Thesis done! Bringing up this thread again to post my thesis if anyone is interessted in reading it:
On October 10 2011 23:07 Xiphias wrote: I did not read all.... BUT I am going to write my master thesis in group theory by analyzing the rubics cube, so I might have something to add when I am done (in May next year... ). I probably won't look at speed solving, but at solvability (solving algortihmes that always will work, however slow), orbits (for those who know what that is) and subgroups.
- Xiphias
Dude, whats you major? I'm really interested in your master thesis as I'm a big fan of Rubik's cube in general. :D
hes probably a math major. group theory is very pertinent to the designing of algorithms for OLL and PLL because the easier/more intuitive algorithms are essentially performing a set of actions, then something in the middle to displace or orient some pieces and then doing and inversion of the first set of actions.
Yes, math major is correct. It will be a study in symmetry groups. Haven't started writing it yet though.
Thesis done! Bringing up this thread again to post my thesis if anyone is interessted in reading it:
EPT![[image loading]](http://i642.photobucket.com/albums/uu147/cubesoup/header_one-1.png)
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(preferably with fingers) ....but seriously thats all you need to start down the road to becoming a formidable cubist!![[image loading]](http://i642.photobucket.com/albums/uu147/cubesoup/header_three-1.png)
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