Solving the Rubik Cube Part 3

This is the final tutorial on the rubik cube. By now you should had solved 2 layers. The last will involves some steps but they are quite straight forward. Take a look at your top (opposite of the strawberry which was chosen as the based). If you see something like this, you are good.


Don't panic if you do not. Just apply the following formula (a few times if necessary). Remember that you DO NOT change your F. The pattern above should appear on your U (up) side.
Formula :
F, R, U, R1, U1, F1

After you get the invert "L" above, the next one you will see if a straight line like this on the U side:


Continue with the formula and you will reach this :


Notice the cross or + is very similar to the first step in tutorial one, except you may realized this if you look at the other sides. The middle top pieces does not match the middle piece on the side. Turn the cube to the side which does not match an make that your F. Try to keep the correct side as your B or your R to avoid moving them. Remember, the U and D face do not change, just play around with your 4 sides.
Apply this formula :
R, U, R1, U, R, U, U, R1, U
You may have to do it a few times, eventually, but quite quickly, you will find your cube to have the matching middle matching the sides like this :



So, how many pieces are left? 4. Right. If you are lucky (maybe), you will see one of your corner in your U side is correct.


If this is the case, make the yellow Pear as your F. Keeping that piece on your R side. This will not move that piece. Apply this formula :
U, R, U1, L1, U, R1, U1, L
This is the last, but hardest part. There are ways out there which you may be able to tell how to get each piece right, but by doing this repeatly, you will eventually get it. Just remember the formula only shift the corners on the U side. So you can turn the cube around a bit, keeping hte U and D side to apply this formula. I would say with a bit of luck, you will finally get this :


Yes, its done finally. Congratulation. I had completed this a few times thanks to the methods describe here. haha, if you notice there is another trick in my cube, the facing of the fruits. You can change that with a slightly different formula, but thats out of topic here.

If you feel you would like more information, try this :
http://jeays.net/rubiks.htm
or
http://peter.stillhq.com/jasmine/rubikscubesolution.html
or
http://rubikscube.info/

You may encounter another fast method known as the corner first method. Of course, if you are interested, go ahead and try that. This method is used by many winners and champions. Given the full potential, some of them claim it can solve the cube in 60 or less moves. Its out of my topic here too.

Solving the Rubik Cube Part 2

Ok, here is the 2nd part. We will solve the 2nd layer in this section. To be honest, I think this is the hardest part. OK, we need to define some simple notation. First turn the cube upside down. The strawberry side which is completed should be at the bottom covered. Take a look at this picture :


OK, now the side facing you we will call it F (Front). The side on your left and right will be L and R respectively. The top side will be T (Top) and the strawberry side will be D (Down). Finally the side that on the opposite you are looking away from you will be B (Back).

The black region will be the region that is completed in Part 1. Now we need to locate some special pieces on the top...


Find one of these pieces in black. Notice how this piece should be on the right in the blue region? There is a formula to move this there. Move this face to be your F (Front) to start. For notation, to rotate a side clockwise (means that you imagine you are looking at that side and turning the side clockwise), we will use F,B,U,D,L,R. To rotate it anticlockwise, we will use F1,B1,U1,D1,L1,R1. Got it?

To move the top pieces in black to the blue region on the right, the formula is :
U, R, U1, R1, U1, F1, U, F

OK, I mentioned don't ask why. This guide is simply to help you complete it. to understand why you may want to look at it step by step and figure it out.

If you have not figure it out, the formula for moving the top to left side in the similar case will be :
U1, L1, U, L, U, F, U1, F1

The piece should be in the blue region as shown here :


You may also find that sometimes you have a wrong piece in place like this below :


In this case, you will need to swap that piece out using the above formula moving L or R depending which side you choose to be F. You will also need to do this if you cannot find any pieces on the top to do the step above. simply move them out using the formula. If you have done it right, it will be something like this :


Now you can use the Grape side as F and move the top piece (in black region), which you had moved out just now, to the right side using the same formula again.

Do it for all the pieces (there are 4 only actually) in layer 2 and you should be having something like this :


Layer 2 for all side should be correct to end this part of the tutorial.

Solving the Rubik Cube Part 1

The Rubik cube has existed long before many of us. I still remember having to struggle to complete it when I was like.. 6? That's crazy then. There is no Internet or FAQ out there then. But today, its different now.

There are many guides on the Internet and I believe this page is not the first you came across looking for a way to complete it. Unlike other sites, I do not want to go through too much trouble about the history, how and why the method works etc. I just want to put it plain and simple. To solve the cube. Its not the fastest way to do it, but I will try to make this the simplest around.

This is divided into 3 parts and each concentrate on solve 1 layer of the cube. Before we start, lets go through some simple notation I will use later. Basically look at the cube you have now. Mine is a bit cute because it has fruits on it, yours will be color usually (OK, or super model if yours is the Playboy edition).

First, some basic. The cube consist of 6 sides and each of the has a center. The center pieces will never change. Relatively. Keep that in mind. There are 8 corners, these pieces wil lalways be corners... and the same goes for the mid side pieces. With that in mind, play around until you are able to join multiple same patterns around etc...

OK, I like strawberry, so this tutorial will pick strawberry as the base and start from there. The aim will be to create a + or cross shape as shown.


But thats not just any cross, you will have to match the side to the middle pieces on the side as well. See below :


The side pieces must match with the center pieces on the side. There are only 4 combinations, so this shouldn't be a problem even for beginners.

Next you will need to put in the 4 corner pieces and you will have to get them right as well. I am not providing much tips here because these should be very simple. If you are still struggling doing this, then you need more practice before you can go on... It will get harder.


This is how your cube should be at the end of this part. 1 Layer fully solved. With pieces matching the center of the side as well.