How to solve a Rubik's Cube

There are many different methods to solve a Rubik's Cube. Theoretically, the shortest solution is 22 moves from a given combination of colors on a mixed-up cube. However, no one has come up with a solution this short that works for all possible mixed-up cubes.

The method I'll describe here is easy to remember, but requires a pretty good imagination, since I can't use pictures or colors. It was derived from Matthew Monroe's presentation of the solution at:
http://www.unc.edu/~monroem/rubik.html
I find his directions to be easier to follow (since he has pretty pictures) but purely mechanical - he doesn't really explain how the moves affect the cube, he just tells you what to do to solve it. My directions attempt to tell you how each move changes the cube, so you can understand how the solution works, but this makes it lots harder to simply follow my directions and get a completed cube. So it goes.

Preliminary stuff
When I talk about the colors of my cube, I'm talking about the standard Rubik's Cube - some of them have different colors, and if someone's taken it apart the colors might be in different places. On mine, the colors are white, red, blue, orange, green, and yellow.

You have to realize that you can't really change the locations of the center pieces on each side. White is opposite yellow, blue is opposite green, and red is opposite orange. No matter how screwed up the cube gets, the center pieces of each side will always be like this. This is important - each face is defined by the center piece. If the center piece is green, that's the green side. If it's red, that's the red side. Your job is to move the edge pieces into place around those center pieces.

Look at one face of the cube. There are 9 ways you can move the cube - you can rotate one of the three vertical 'slices' (left side, vertical slice, right side), the three horizontal slices (top, horizontal slice, bottom), or the three stacked slices (front, middle slice, back). In these instructions, you will only need to move the front, left, top, and the horizontal and vertical slices. I'll write out moves in shorthand as follows:

<letter><number>
where <letter> is one of:
T, for Top
F, for Front
L, for Left
H, for Horizontal Slice
V, for Vertical Slice
and <number> is one of:
1 = "one quarter-turn clockwise"
-1 = "one quarter-turn counter-clockwise"
2 = "two quarter-turns clockwise", or "half a turn, either direction" since direction doesn't matter for a half-turn.

Examples:
L1 = "Turn left face 1 quarter-turn clockwise (towards you)"
T-1 F1 = "Turn top side 1 quarter-turn counterclockwise, then the front side 1 quarter-turn clockwise"

It's important not to change the orientation of the cube as you do these moves, because then you may forget which side is the left and which is the front and so on.

The solution, in 7 phases
I could have said "7 steps", but I dig the word phase.

Phase 1: Solve one side, with the edges correct (you should be able to do this yourself)
Phase 2: Position the corners of the opposite side
Phase 3: Orient the corners of the opposite side
Phase 4: Fill the edges of the opposite side (Keyhole phase)
Phase 5: Fill the keyhole
Phase 6: Position the 4 remaining edges
Phase 7: Orient the remaining edges (Rubik's Move)

RimRod says Thanks to your help, I was finally able to solve a goddamn Rubik's Cube. THANK YOU!

There is a simpler way to solve the Rubik's cube and it involves different phases:

1. Solving one side
2. Solving the middle row
3. Getting the edges of the last row right
4. Getting the corners of the last row right

Much as I would like to divulge the formula here, it would take me *days* of work to represent it in a manner as well as Cow of Doom has. I'll admit my ability at ASCII art sucks.

I am not kidding. I know both this way and the way Cow of Doom described. It is also easier to learn for the absolute beginner (yes, I've tried) as it has fewer formulas to remember. However it is slower to perform - the fastest I could ever do with this method was about 3 minutes while I managed 45 seconds once with the 'standard' (Cow of Doom's) method (and could reliably do uner 2 minutes).

Having said all that, I only learnt how to solve a Rubik's cube when I was 16. My first Rubik's cube was given to me by my grandfather when I was 7 and I solved it, not by taking the stickers off, but by breaking it apart and putting it back together.

• Take a bread and butter knife (one you don't need a nice straight edge on, for preference).
• Insert knife between a corner block and the one to its right.
• Twist gently but firmly until the corner block is loosened enough to be pulled out with your fingers.
• Disassemble the cube completely.
• Reassemble in the correct order.

The last piece will be a corner piece and must be wriggled into position.

Once you have used this method a couple of times, dis- and reassembly become much simpler, as the cube becomes looser.

Note: I have been told this method not only fills lots of time (looking for the missing piece etc) but has the added benefit of totally frustrating anyone who tries to solve the cube in a more traditional manner.

I can't do decent ASCII art and obviously can't use real images, but here's how I solve the cube... it's pretty much the way alex.tan described, and it stems originally from the first way I learned (the instructions that came with my first cube, which I memorized in a day or so) but has been modified with quicker moves from a couple other methods. So, here is...

How A Brown Fuzzy Pokemon Solves The Rubik's Cube

I realize this is similar to rubiks.com's solution, but the way I do the last layer is different, so there.

This assumes you're familiar with the very basic properties of the Rubik's Cube, such as there only being one of each piece and the pieces, not stickers, moving around. Oh, and if I mention which way a piece is "facing", I'm really talking about the sticker that's the color of the face you're trying to solve.

If you want to memorize these moves and be able to solve the cube in a couple minutes, watch what your hands are doing. Most of these patterns are quite pattern-like and either easily understood or easily memorized.

Step 1a: Arrange the edges of the top layer. Pick the side you wish to solve first -- I usually use whatever's opposite white -- and call this the top layer for now. Find an edge piece with one side its same color. I'll refer to the piece you're trying to move as the target piece.

• If the target piece is already in position and oriented correctly, good.
• If the target piece is in position but flipped the wrong way, either give the side it's on a quarterturn so the piece ends up on the middle layer or pick another piece.
• If the target piece is on the middle layer... Turn the side that does NOT have the top color's sticker adjacent to its center. This should put the correctly colored sticker next to the top center piece.
• If the target piece is on the bottom layer facing DOWN, just give the side it's on a halfturn to put it in place.
• If the target piece is on the bottom layer facing OUT, give that side a quarter-turn either way to put it on the middle layer and go from there.

Step 1b: Arrange the corners of the top layer. The concept here is what seems to stump most people who pick up the cube... every time you move a piece, you move others out of position. The trick is to figure out how to break up what you have, place the piece you want with one of the broken bits, and put it all back together. Doing the corners is one of the easiest ways to do this; in fact, go try it now. Or just find a corner you need, find the two edges it fits between, and...

• If the target corner is on the top layer but oriented incorrectly or just in the wrong spot, give one of the sides that share the corner a quarter-turn so the corner ends up on the bottom layer, give the bottom layer a quarter-turn either way, and turn the side you moved back where it was. Try to keep the target corner from facing downwards.
• If the target corner is on the bottom layer facing DOWN, either pick another corner (please) or do this: Turn the bottom layer so that the corner is directly below where it belongs. Give the bottom layer a quarter-turn either way. Half-turn the side that contains both the target corner and its home so they switch places. This moved one or two pieces out of position. Now, turn the *other* side that now contains the target corner so the corner moves AWAY from the side you just turned. Give that other side another half-turn, and restore the target corner. You may have moved a corner out of place; fix it if you did.
• If the target corner is on the bottom layer facing OUT... well, this only requires three moves, and is left for you to figure out ;)

Step 2: Finish the middle layer To complete the middle layer, simply find the four edges that go around the center one at a time in the top layer. Turn the top layer so your target edge's side color matches the side center it touches, and using this side as the front...

• If the target's home is on the right, perform the moveset U R U' R' U' F' U F.
• If the target's home is on the left, perform the moveset U' L' U L U F U' F'.
• If the target is in its correct location but twisted incorrectly, or several edges are switched, use one of the above sequences to move a piece out and put it back in correctly.

Step 3: Orient the edges on the top layer Looking down at the top this time and using it as the front, this step hinges on the simple sequence R' F' D' F D R. You'll need to use it a maximum of three times, usually only once. If NO edges are facing upwards, just use it. If two OPPOSITE edges are facing upwards, turn the top/front so they're oriented horizontally and then use it. If two ADJACENT edges are facing upwards, turn the top/front so the corner between them is in the upper-left and use it. Now all four should be face-up.

Step 4: Position the corners Turn the top layer until the colors on *exactly* two corners match the colors of the sides that share them. If they're adjacent corners, turn the cube so they're both on the left side and again using the top as the front, perform L F' R' F L' F' R. If they're opposite each other, perform the same sequence, then find the now-adjacent corners and do it again.

Step 4: Orient the corners You'll need two sequences here. Again, the top is considered the front for ease of explanation.

• To twist the corners CLOCKWISE, except the one in the lower-left corner, use R F R' F R F² R'.
• To twist the corners COUNTERCLOCKWISE, except the one in the upper-left corner, use R' F' R F' R' F² R.

Step 5: Fix the top edges The cube may be complete now, but odds are it isn't. Most of the time you'll have three edge pieces shuffled around, in which case you should use one of these two sequences. In both cases, the front is the top and the edge you don't want moved is on the bottom.

• To shuffle the edges CLOCKWISE, except the bottom one, use U² F R L' U² R' L F U².
• To shuffle the edges COUNTERCLOCKWISE, use U² F' R L' U² R' L F' U².

Congratulations! You have just solved the Rubik's Cube.

This method is a bit redundant at times, but I've found it has very few sequences to remember while not being very complex. If some of the above is incomprehensible, I apologize; describing the cube is difficult in words. Please tell me what you don't understand so I can clarify.

I can get a consistent two minutes using this method, although there are a couple other slightly sequences I use when I can remember them. If you want to be an utter maniac and do the cube in under 20 seconds, search Google for speedcubing or something similar and have a LOT of free time. Then come laugh in my face because you're faster than me.

thus ends Eevee's Cube Method v1.0

addendum: yes, taking the cube apart DOES bother me, but not nearly as much as people who casually babble on about how they "solved" the cube by TAKING THE STICKERS OFF AND REARRANGING THEM. At least disassembling the cube requires some effort and thought; taking the stickers off accomplishes nothing but making the glue less gluey, especially since the person who does it will probably have the cube rescrambled within three minutes.