Adam's Rubiks Cube Solution
Yet another description of how to solve the cube. My solution was strongly influenced
by conversations with Jeff Varasano, back in the early 80's when the cube was still
popular...
This solution is optimized for visual speed, because the slowest part of solving the
cube is not making the moves, but locating the pieces to place. Hence it is very color
oriented, using easy-to-spot patterns instead of more difficult questions most solutions
normally require, such as "where is the correct position for this corner relative to its
center pieces?"
With a good cube, I was averaging (in 1981) 26 seconds over 100 attempts. Today,
with a bad cube and out of practice, I would probably average around 45 or 50
seconds.
The strategy is as follows:
1. Get the top X (all corners) in any position
2. Solve the bottom X (all corners)
3. Move all corners (top & bottom) into the correct position simultaneously
4. Fill in the edges on one side, except for a keyhole (one missing piece)
5. Fill in the edges on the opposite side
6. Replace the keyhole. The top and bottom are now completely solved.
7. Position the remaining edges (middle slice)
8. Orient the remaining edges
In the illustrations accompanying this page, I've selected the color BLUE as the target
color when possible, so that is the color you should pay attention to unless otherwise
indicated.
During this solution, I've included instructions for both the expert cubist (fastest
possible solution, but requires lots of memorizing), or for the beginner (memorize
only four easy patterns to solve the whole cube, but takes much longer).
Notational Help
These are the symbols used in the moves described below. Should be pretty obvious.
The pictures represent the cube as if you were looking at it straight on, at eye level. In
all cases, the pictures below represent turning just one slice of the cube.
The front face clockwise, counterclockwise, and twice.
The back face twice.
Horizontal slices to the left
Horizontal slices to the right
Vertical slice moves
(can you tell I'm righty? Feel free to transpose the listed moves to have a more left-
handed emphasis).
Also note: any double moves (with a 2 on them) can be turned double in either
direction. Sometimes it's more natural to turn double in another direction than
pictured; I just didn't want to draw pictures for every possibility -- lazy me.
Top X
You're on your own here. Get a single X on one side of the cube, by positioning the
corners and the center piece on the same side. Note: all that matters is to get an X of a
single color, the position of the corners relative to each other does not matter!!
A blue 'X' formed by 4 corners and a center. Choose any color
you like.
Bottom X
Turn the cube over, so that the side with the completed X (from step 1) is facing away
from your, and count the number of corners that are correctly twisted (i.e. touching
the blue center piece). If the bottom X is not already solved, you will see one six
possibilities (note, we are again using BLUE to illustrate the new target corners and
center). When comparing your configuration with the pictures below, take into
account all visible blue corners shown, even those not on the bottom side.
For each possibility, we have listed a direct solution, and, for those who don't want to
memorize many complex moves, we have also listed how the configuration can be
solved by multiple combinations (at most 3) of an easy to remember move, labeled
BX-1. If you remember the inverse of BX-1, you can solve each position in at most
two executions of BX-1 and BX-1 Inverse.
1. One corner correct: Hold as shown and apply BX-1.
BX-1:
If your position better matches this picture (check remaining corners), read
below
This position can either be solved by holding the cube as in the larger picture above,
and executing BX-1 twice, or else holding it as displayed in this picture and executing
BX-1 Inverse:
BX-1 Inverse:
2. Zero corners correct, remaining corners paired.
Hold as shown (target side on top):
Fastest:
or
Easy: BX-1 + turn cube as specified above for 1 corner + BX-1
3. Zero corners correct, separated.
Hold as shown (target side on top):
Fastest:
or
Easy: BX-1 + turn cube + BX-1
4. Two corners correct, remaining corners separated.
Hold as shown (target side on top):
Fastest:
or
Easy: BX-1 + turn cube + BX-1 Inverse
5. Two corners correct, remaining corners together.
Hold as shown (target side on top):
Fastest:
or
Easy: then BX-1 + turn cube + BX-1 Inverse
6. Two corners correct, diagonal.
Hold as shown (target side on top):
Fastest:
or
Easy: then BX-1 + turn cube + BX-1 Inverse
For the curious:
Note: you might wonder "where do these (fastest) patterns come from? Did they just
miraculously appear in someone's head? If I don't like the patterns you gave, how can
I make up my own?"
The strategy for making up new patterns is very simple:
Use the above patterns to start with the top and bottom X completed.
Now make some arbitrary moves that remove one or more corners from the top
X, and then puts them back differently so that the top X is restored. Write the
moves down on paper as you go so you don't forget them.
In all probability, doing this has now "messed up" the bottom X. Well, if you
look at the resulting "mess", you now have a new move for solving that
particular bottom X configuration: just reverse the moves you did to get it like
that. Write it down and move continue until you have patterns for all bottom
flip combinations!
You might ask: how do I know that the list of possibilities for bottom X
configurations listed above is complete? Well, on the cube (according to group
theory), it is not possible to flip only a single corner -- other corners are implicated.
The two minimal flip possibilities are: three corners flip in the same direction (e.g.
clockwise or counterclockwise), or two corners flip in opposition directions (one
clockwise, one counter). So, given that four of the corners are guaranteed to be
correctly flipped (you already have one X), the resulting positions are everything you
can do using these two minimal flip primitives.
Similar logic and rules apply to moving corners, as well as positioning and flipping
edges, all of which we will see very soon...
All X's
Now that we have a top and bottom X, count the number of pairs along the top and
bottom edges of the cube. A pair is when both corners along either the top or bottom
edge of the cube are the same color.
After counting all the pairs along the top and bottom edges of the cube, you will have
one of the five following possibilities:
0 Pairs
Hold cube with the X's on the top and bottom:
1 Pair
Hold pair on upper left side of cube
2 Pair
Fastest: Hold both pairs in front of cube
Easiest: Hold both pairs on the left side of the cube and do 1 Pair + 0 Pairs + 1 Pair.
4 Pair
Fastest: long and complicated, don't bother. 4 Pairs is pretty rare.
Easiest: 2 Pairs twice, starting from anywhere or 1 Pair twice, starting from anywhere.
5 Pair
Fastest: Hold four pairs on the bottom and one pair on the upper left side of cube
Easiest: 0 Pair + 1 Pair
Top side minus keyhole
Choosing one side as the top, fill in three of the edges so that they are correctly
positioned. The last edge position will serve as a keyhole, which we will use to fill in
the bottom side. Make sure that you do not lose the corner alignments when filling in
edges (you should always have 8 pairs).
Three edges on top side completed, one remaining "keyhole"
Bottom side using keyhole
Fill in the bottom edges using this basic strategy:
1. Find a target piece on the middle horizontal slice to be moved to the bottom
side.
2. Position its destination under the keyhole.
3. Turn the middle slice so that the bottom color is on the back side of the cube.
4. Turn the front face of the cube so that the destination moves towards the target
piece.
5. Move the middle slice to insert the target piece into its destination.
6. Return the front face to upright position.
Note: If there are no available target pieces on the middle horizontal slice, move one
there by moving some badly positioned piece under the keyhole, turning the front face
once, moving the piece out onto the middle slice, and repositioning the front face.
Fill in Keyhole
To fill in the last keyhole, use the following basic strategy:
1. With the keyhole in the top front, turn the middle horizontal slice until the
target piece is at the front of the cube, but NOT on the front face..
Step 1. Position target piece (blue) under keyhole.
2. Position one of the bottom pieces into the keyhole by turning the front face,
sliding the middle slice to position the piece, and replacing the front face. Now,
fill in the initial target piece using the strategy defined in the previous section.
Position Remaining Edges
Hold the cube with the two finished sides on the left and right, and consider the
remaining edges of the vertical middle slice.
Only the center slice edges are left!
To cycle three edges, hold the edge that shouldn't move in the lower back area of the
cube.
EC-1: Edge-cycle:
EC-1 cycles the edges in a triangle downwards. Either position the cube so that EC-1
will solve this in a single execution, or else just execute EC-1 twice.
To swap four edges with each other (top two switch and bottom two switch):
Fastest: Edge-swap:
or
Easy: EC-1 plus EC-1.
Flip Remaining Edges
To flip two edges, hold the edges to be flipped on the top side:
EF-1:
Note: you may need to flip four edges; in this case, just flip them two at a time using
EF-1 twice.
If the two corners which need to be flipped are diagonally opposite each other, hold
the cube so that one of the corners to be flipped is in the lower front part of the cube
and then do:
plus EF-1 plus
There are also "fastest" moves for performing the two last steps (positioning and
flipping edges) in a single step. I think I'll leave this as an excercise for the readers to
derive...
Hint: position an edge where you'd like it, move another bad edge into its place, now
reverse the original move to restore the cube.
For other web resources on Rubik's cube, see here
If you have comments or suggestions, email me at [email protected]
