Lars Vandenbergh's CubeZone

Speedcubing taken one step further

Square-1 solution method - Overview

This section describes the method I use for solving Square-1. The various steps of the solution are listed below together with a short description. Throughout the solution I will use a certain notation for the move sequences, which is explained further on the notation page.

Description Result
Step 1: Make both layers square
There are two ways of completing this step: I provide you with a simple edge-pairing technique that is suited for people who are just starting off. The more advanced can gradually learn the diagram of shapes which enables you to make both layers square in the optimal number of moves. With the advanced method, you can always complete this step in 7 twists, although you'd rarely need more then 5 twists.
step 1
Step 2: Bring the corners in their correct layer
This is a short and intuitive step. The idea is to bring all corners which have the same color on top in the same layer. This doesn't require any algorithms and can always be done in 3 twists or less. I'll still provide you with some tips to make this step quicker.
step 2
Step 3: Bring the edges in their correct layer
This is also a short step and it only requires 7 algorithms.
step 3
Step 4: Permute the corners within their layer
Once again, this is also a short step that can be completed very quickly. It requires 5 easy algorithms to be able to permute the corners of both layers in one look.
step 4
Step 5: Permute the edges within their layer
This is the hardest step to be able to do fast. The more algorithms you know, the better you get at it but there are plenty of sequences to learn and they are quite lengthy as well.
step 5
Step 6: Correct middle layer and swap layers if necessary
For this step you only need to know some simple sequences to flip the middle layer and to swap the layers.
step 6