The timer needs JavaScript: turn it on or update your browser.

PB Timer

READY

0.00

hold anywhere to start

mo3 — · ao5 — · ao12 — · ao50 — · ao100 —

STATS · Main BESTPB —

ao5 —

ao12 —

ao50 —

ao100 —

GAN 14 Maglev UV

Analytics

Trend

Single ao5 —

ao5

—

ao12

—

ao50

—

ao100

—

Mean

—

Solves History

Step 1 of 4

Cross

What you should end up with

Four white edges sit around the white centre, and their other colours match the side centres. The cross is built on the bottom without rotating the cube. Any cross can be solved in 8 moves or fewer.

The diagram shows the cube from below, where the white face is.

How to do it

Hold the cube with yellow on top and green towards you. That keeps the pieces for the next step in view. If you still build the cross on top or through a daisy, that is a fine start: begin with a couple of easy edges on the bottom.
Learn the colour order. Seen from above, going clockwise: green, red, blue, orange. It tells you whether two edges are right relative to each other, even when they are not over their centres.
What counts is not where an edge is relative to its centre but relative to the other edges. Place them right relative to each other, then line everything up at the end with one turn of the bottom face.
Look for moves that place two edges at once rather than solving them one at a time. Inspection gives you 15 seconds: try to plan the whole cross, then solve it almost without looking.

An edge on top

White up Turn the top so the edge is above its place: here at the front. F2 brings it down.

F2

White to the side Turn the top so the edge is on the right. R' drops it into the middle layer next to its place, F places it, and R returns the bottom edge that moved. On the left it is mirrored: L F' L'.

R' F R

An edge in the middle layer

White to the side, next to its place The edge is at the front right with white to the right: F is enough. At the front left with white to the left: F'.

F

White to the front The edge is at the front right with white towards you. D brings its place under the right face, R' places the edge, and D' puts the bottom back.

D R' D'

At the back The edge is at the back right with white to the right. R2 carries it to the front, F places it, and R2 returns the right face.

R2 F R2

An edge on the bottom, but wrong

In place, but flipped White faces the front instead of down. D' takes the edge to the left, L' lifts it into the middle layer, D puts the bottom back, and F' now places it correctly. The diagram shows the cube from below.

D' L' D F'

Two edges have swapped Both have white down but stand in each other's places. Lift one, place the other, then bring the first back. The diagram shows the cube from below.

F2 U' R2 U F2

All right relative to each other The cross is built but turned: one turn of the bottom is enough. That is why it does not matter at first whether an edge matches its centre. The diagram shows the cube from below.

D

A whole example

A cross in 6 moves Scramble: F2 R2 D' U2 R2 B2 D R2 F2 R2 U2 L' D2 U R F D U2 B L', with white on top and green in front, then turn the cube over with yellow on top. R F places the orange edge, R2 the blue one, B' the red one and L' the green one. Now all four are right relative to each other, and D lines the cross up with the centres.

R F R2 B' L' D

Tips

›In the timer, the Cross button above the scramble shows the number of moves and the shortest solution for that scramble. Find your own first, then compare.

›Among the training sets there is also Cross: short scrambles just for practising the cross.

›An exercise: plan the cross during inspection, close your eyes and solve it. Then open them and check.

›An X-Cross is the cross and the first F2L pair at once. Do not do it every solve, only when the pair is already close.

›Later, try finding the first F2L pair in advance too: then there is no pause after the cross.

Notification