Cube Terminology

Face - One side of the cube. There are six faces on the cube, the color of the center square on each face is the color of that face.

Facelet - One colored square, there are nine on each face and 54 total.

Misplaced facelet - A facelet that does not match the color of the center square.

Quarter-twist - A 90 degree turn of a face.

Half-twist - Two quarter twists, a 180 degree turn of a face.

Inverse - A sequence of twists played backwards.

Cubie - One of the 26 mini-cubes that make up a regular cube, each of the 8 corner cubies has three facelets and each of the 12 edge cubies has two facelets.

Split - On a Starter Cube the split is the number of colored corners on the two opposite faces with colored centers. Use the mouse to turn each cube so you can see the bottom face.

Rows go all the way around the cube as shown on the following:

Center Slice - The middle row (or column) between two opposite faces is a center slice. The sequences show the center slice twist as a single move as shown on the first cube below (press right arrow button to play). However, it is done manually with two moves as shown on the second cube.

Important Concept

A half-twist on a 3-color cube never changes the number of misplaced facelets so it allows you to move misplaced facelets to desired locations with minimal side-effects. When solving the edges, half-twists can be thought of as neutral moves which are used to relocate edge facelets in order to make setups for the solving sequences without messing up the corners which are already solved.

Solving Tip
On a 3-color cube the last move of any sequence can be in either direction. Also, on any cube, half-twists can be in either direction so feel free to customize the sequences to your liking.


Media Player Usage Tips

The initial cube view shows three sides, use the mouse to turn the cube image to view the rest of it. To rotate the cube press & hold the left mouse button while moving the cursor in the direction you want the cube to turn. For cubes that also allow the faces to be turned, you can either turn individual faces or rotate the cube depending on whether the cursor is touching the cube or outside the cube when you start the move.

The buttons are used to play the sequences.

• The Reset button is the leftmost button. Use it after turning the cube to reset it back to its initial position before playing a sequence.

  
  

• The center button shows the Mirror-Image of the cube. It is also used as Stop button while a sequence is playing.

  
  

• The Play button is to the right of the mirror button, it will play the sequence all the way through.

  
  

• To Single-Step through the sequence use the button to the right of Play.

Making Your Own 3-Color Cube

While you can always use the cube simulators on this web-site to learn this solving method it is easier if you have an actual 3-color cube to work with, you can create one with stickers from sources available on the web.