ROBBIE GONZALEZ SCIENCE SEP 5, 2019 2:52 PM

How to Solve a Rubik's Cube,

Step by Step
Follow the eight steps described in this video and you too
can start solving Rubik's cubes faster ... and faster ... and
faster.
 SAVE

EARLIER THIS YEAR, while putting together a video about the

world’s fastest solvers of the Rubik’s Cube, I decided to devote
some time to learning to solve the classic puzzle myself. Tyson
Mao, a cofounder of the World Cube Association, came to
WIRED’s offices and spent about an hour teaching me his go-to
beginner’s method. Afterwards he told me that, with practice, I
could probably get my average solve time down to under a
minute and a half. Ninety seconds is not fast by speedcubing
standards (the world’s fastest cubers average well below 10
seconds per solve), but Mao said it would be a respectable time
for a dabbler such as myself.

I began practicing the next day. My first time solving the cube
on my own took me more than 20 minutes. Brutal. But I kept at
it: For two weeks I spent at least 20 minutes a day scrambling
my cube and solving it the way Mao had taught me. First I
memorized a handful of algorithms (cuber lingo for defined
sequences of moves known to advance a cube closer to its
solved state). Then I practiced performing them faster and more
precisely.

By day three I was solving the cube in under four minutes. I

broke the two-minute barrier a couple days later, on a cross-
country flight to Florida. (Planes are an ideal place to practice
cubing.) The improvements came more slowly after that, but
within a fortnight I’d lowered my average solve time to a little
under 60 seconds.

In the time since we published the video about speedcubing,

several viewers requested that WIRED create another video
demonstrating the method I used when learning to solve the
cube. So we made one! Above you’ll find a visual guide in which
I walk you through the same solving method that Mao taught
me. Below is a written tutorial that summarizes the points in the
video, including the eight steps you’ll follow to solve the cube,
an overview of cube notation, and descriptions of the
algorithms you’ll need to memorize.

The tutorial below was originally created by Mao, so all credit

goes to him. I’ve merely tweaked it for the sake of clarity.

One last thing: While the tutorial can function as a stand-alone

document, it’s really intended as a supplement to the video. In
time, you might come to rely solely on the written instructions,
but don’t be discouraged if you find yourself referencing the
video for help—especially when you’re starting out.
Before You Begin

Here are some things you should know about the Rubik’s Cube.
Some of these points might strike you as trivial at first, but each
affords some insight that will become clearer the more time you
spend with the cube.

The Rubik’s Cube has six faces.

Each face is defined by its center. The face with the blue center
will ultimately be blue when the cube is solved.
Centers don’t move. White is typically opposite of yellow, blue is
typically opposite green, and red is typically opposite orange.
 Corner pieces have three stickers and edge pieces have two
stickers. When solving the cube, try to keep in mind that you are
moving pieces, not stickers. Another way of thinking about this
point is that a red sticker on a corner piece will never move to
an edge position.
Cube Notation

Solving the cube will require you to turn its faces. Each face is
represented by a letter. The direction of a given rotation is
denoted by the presence or absence of a prime (’) symbol.

Right face: R
Left face: L
Upward-pointing face: U
Downward-pointing face: D
Front face: F
Back face: B

R, L, U, D, F, or B means to turn the corresponding face 90

degrees clockwise

R’, L’, U’, D’, F’, or B’ means to turn the corresponding face 90
degrees counterclockwise.

R2, L2, U2, D2, F2, or B2 means to turn the corresponding face
180 degrees.

Step One: Make the Daisy

The goal of this step is to place four white edge stickers around
the yellow center. When you are finished with this step, the top
of your cube should look like this:


TYSON MAO

Note: It doesn’t matter what color the grey squares are. Two
things to keep in mind:

1. Once a white sticker is placed next to the yellow center, it does

not need to be moved.
2. You can turn the top layer without disturbing anything next to
the yellow center.

Step Two: Create the White Cross

For each petal on the “daisy,” match the non-white sticker to the
center piece of the same color. Once matched, turn the face
with the matching center two times. Repeat this process three
more times. When you are finished, the bottom face of the cube
will have a white cross.

Note: For the rest of the solve, the white cross will be on the
bottom. If you ever find the white cross somewhere else,
something has gone wrong.

Step Three: Solve the First Layer

Time to learn your first algorithms. The following “trigger
moves” are the most basic of the bunch:

Right Trigger = R U R’
Left Trigger = L’ U’ L
Look for white stickers on the top layer that face the sides. (If
you find a white sticker on the top face of the cube, or on the
bottom layer of the cube pointing outward, we’ll deal with it
later.) Each white sticker should be on a corner piece with three
stickers. Rotate the top face of the cube so that the sticker
beside the white sticker that is also outward facing (i.e., not the
sticker on the top) diagonally matches the center of the same
color.

Once you’ve paired them, face the color-matched stickers

toward you. If the matched sticker in the top layer is right of the
center, perform the Right Trigger. If the matched sticker is left of
center, perform the Left Trigger.

If you have a white sticker facing the top, position the white
sticker over something that is not white (because it will disrupt
whatever is underneath), and, depending on if the piece is on
the right or on the left, perform the following algorithm:

R, U, R’, R, U, R’

Or

L’, U, L, L’, U, L

If you have an outward facing white sticker in the bottom layer,

face it toward you and position the cube so that it is either in the
bottom left or bottom right corner of the side facing you, and
perform either the left or right trigger, respectively, to relocate it
to the top face of the cube.

Step Four: Solve the Middle Layer

Identify edge pieces on the top layer that do not have yellow
stickers. (If it has a yellow sticker, it belongs on the top and not
in the middle.) Once you find an edge without a yellow sticker,
rotate the top face of the cube until the outward facing sticker
on that edge piece is directly over the center piece of the same
color.

Once it matches, look at the upward-facing sticker on that edge

piece. That sticker will match the center on either the left or the
right.

If it matches on the right, perform the following algorithm:

U + Right Trigger

Doing so will disturb the first layer. Fix the displaced white
corner sticker as you did in step three.

If it matches on the left, perform the following algorithm:

U’ + Left Trigger

Doing so will disturb the first layer. Fix the displaced white
corner sticker as you did in step three.

Occasionally you will find no edge pieces in the top layer

without yellow stickers but the middle layer is not solved. In
such cases, displace them is-matched middle-layer edge piece
by performing the left or right trigger. There should now be an
edge piece in the top layer without a yellow sticker. Solve for it
as described above.
Step Five: Create the Yellow Cross

The goal of this step is to create a yellow cross on the upward-

pointing face of the cube. This entire step hinges on the
following algorithm:

F U R U’ R’ F’
If your top face has no yellow edge pieces, perform ***F U R U’
R’ F’. If your top face has two yellow edge pieces such that they
form a line with the center yellow piece, orient the cube such
that the three yellow stickers form a vertical line and perform
***F U R U’ R’ F’. If your top face has two yellow edge pieces
such that they form a backwards L, rotate the top face of the
cube until the edge pieces are at the 12 and 9 positions of a
clock and perform ***F U R U’ R’ F’. At this point, the top face of
your cube should resemble a yellow cross.

TYSON MAO


 Step Six: Solve the Yellow Face
The goal of this step is to completely solve the top face of your
cube. When you’re finished, that face should be entirely yellow.
For this step, you will use the following algorithm:

R U R’ U R U2 R’

Begin by inspecting the top face of your cube. How many

corners have yellow stickers on top?

If you have zero or two, hold the cube so a yellow sticker is in

the upper right hand corner of the face in your left hand, i.e.
here:



TYSON MAO



...and perform the algorithm R U R’ U R U2 R’.

If you have one corner with yellow on top, it will look like
there’s a fish on the top face of your cube. Rotate that face until
the fish is pointing down and to the left, like so:

TYSON MAO

 ...and perform the algorithm R U R’ U R U2 R’.

You might have to orient the fish and perform the algorithm one
last time. Once you have, the yellow face will be entirely solved.

Step Seven: Position the Corners of the Cube

Time for a new algorithm:

L’ U R U’ L U R’ R U R’ U R U2 R’

The above algorithm swaps corners A and B. Note that the

eighth step of the algorithm undoes the seventh. That’s
intentional, because it will make memorizing the algorithm
easier: Notice that R U R’ U R U2 R’ is the same algorithm you
used in step six.

Use this new algorithm to position all four corners in the correct
place. If you have to switch two corners diagonally, perform the
algorithm once, then reposition and perform it a second time.

TYSON MAO

 Step Eight: Position Edges

The goal of this step is to cycle the position of the cube’s edge
pieces. The following algorithms will cycle the positions of the
edge pieces labeled X, Y, and Z in a clockwise or counter-
clockwise fashion, respectively:

F2 U R’ L F2 L’ R U F2 (clockwise)

F2 U’ R’ L F2 L’ R U’ F2 (counter-clockwise)



TYSON MAO

If one face’s edge pieces are already correctly positioned, orient

that face away from you and perform whichever algorithm will
cycle the remaining edge pieces in the appropriate direction.

If all four edge pieces are misplaced, perform the

counterclockwise algorithm once, position the side with the
solved corners away from you, and perform it a second time.

GET MORE FROM WIRED

📩 Don’t miss our biggest stories, delivered to your inbox every

day
🎧 Our new podcast wants you to Have a Nice Future
 The psychedelic scientist who sends brains back to childhood
Abortion pill use is surging. Now it’s under threat
How to live well, love AI, and party like a 6-year-old
The Reddit blackout is breaking Reddit
Humans aren’t mentally ready for an AI-filled ‘post-truth world’
🌲 Our Gear team has branched out with a new guide to the
best sleeping pads and fresh picks for the best coolers and
binoculars

Robbie Gonzalez is a senior writer at WIRED, covering humanity’s evolving

relationship with science and technology. He was previously the editor of
WIRED’s design desk. Prior to joining WIRED he was the senior science editor of
Gizmodo. Before that, he was a reporter at io9. Gonzalez holds bachelor’s degrees
in... Read more

SENIOR WRITER

MORE FROM WIRED

The Secrets of Covid ‘Brain Fog’ Are Starting to Lift
Scientists are getting closer to understanding the neurology behind the memory
problems and cognitive fuzziness that an infection can trigger.

MAGGIE CHEN

A New Computer Proof ‘Blows Up’ Centuries-Old Fluid

Equations
For more than 250 years, mathematicians have wondered if the Euler equations
might sometimes fail to describe a fluid’s flow. Now there’s a breakthrough.

JORDANA CEPELEWICZ
Physicists Rewrite a Quantum Rule That Clashes With Our
Universe
The past and future are tightly linked in conventional quantum mechanics. A
tweak could let quantum possibilities increase as space expands.

CHARLIE WOOD

The Last 96 Hours of the Titan Tragedy

OceanGate’s lost sub sparked a frantic rescue effort—and resurfaced safety
questions that had been raised years earlier.

ALEX CHRISTIAN
This Hurricane Season Depends on a Showdown in the
Atlantic
The Atlantic Ocean is extremely warm right now—fuel for gnarlier hurricanes.
But will a burgeoning El Niño butt in and stop the storms before they start?

MATT SIMON

At Last, There’s Evidence of Low-Frequency Gravitational

Waves
A globe-spanning group of physicists used pulsars to measure the waves, which
they believe emanated from pairs of supermassive black holes.

RAMIN SKIBBA

How Bad Is the Smoke in the Midwest? Check Out This Map
Yet again, smoke from Canadian wildfires is pouring into the US. This
mesmerizing yet troubling model forecasts how the haze is swirling.

MATT SIMON
The Seaweed Blob Is Heading to a Beach Near You
The 5,000-mile-wide Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt has started to shrink. But it's
very difficult to know where its decomposing remains will wash up.

CHRIS BARANIUK