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Advanced MethodThis is the full CFOP (or Fridrich) method. 'CFOP' refers to the steps involved - Cross, F2L, OLL and PLL. Thisinvolves remembering a lot of algorithms to cope with dierent situations, so you can use some 2-look OLLand PLL to reduce the amount of algorithms you need to know.

This page is quite heavy on the old word count. This is because the dierent sections need a bit ofexplaining (I'm looking at you, F2L) because they're so dierent from the beginner method. If you are happyjust being able to solve the cube, I'd stick to ol' reliable, the beginner method. But if you want to startproperly speedcubing and pushing down your solve time, you're going to need the methods outlined here.I'm sure if you're actually interested in speedcubing and the fame, money, and glory it will certainly bringyou, you won't mind reading a few paragraphs.

Step 1 - The CrossThis step is the same as all the other methods - forming a cross on the rst layer to get this:

The more astute among you will notice something dierent about this picture. It is upside down becausethere is one key dierence - the rst cross is done on the bottom layer. This means that you can't alwayssee what is happening with the cross, which sounds like a good way to just make solving the cube moredicult. The reason for doing the cross on the bottom layer is that you then don't have to turn the cubeover when starting the second layer. This saves time not only by not physically moving the cube, but whileyou are completing the cross you can be looking ahead for your rst move of F2L.

At this stage, a lot of people still nd it quite dicult to intuitively manipulate the cube. This means thatdoing the cross on the bottom is dicult, as they have come to rely on algorithms for moving pieces thatsuddenly don't work because everything is upside-down. It is dicult to teach intuition, but through practiceit will eventually just click. Don't be disheartened if doing the cube on the bottom takes many times longerthan doing it on the top - if you're doing it at all, you're improving. Also, don't be afraid to be move on in theadvanced method while not being able to do the cross on the bottom. I have found that F2L (the nextsection) hugely helps people to understand how to move cubies to where they want them, a skill that theycan later use for the cross. You may never even go back to the cross, and continue doing it on the top. Thisis ne for most people, but if you really want to be pushing your time down to less than 20 seconds, you willneed to learn at some point.

F2

U' R' F R

F R2 D2

All of that being said, I will give you some situations to look out for whilst doing the cross on the bottom.Some of them may seem obvious, but they are here for people who need them.

The rst two cases here are quite similar to those given in the beginner method for the rst cross on the toplayer. They are quite simple, and you should be able to deal with them with relative ease. The third case is alittle more complicated. You should, by now, be able to immediately recall that green is opposite blue andorange is opposite red. So instead of putting the white-orange edge piece where it needs to go and then thewhite-green edge piece, they can both be put in the opposite locations, i.e. the white-orange piece in thewhite-red location and the white-green piece in the white-blue location. After a simple D2, they are both inthe correct place.

If you can comfortably form the cross on the bottom layer, your work is still not over. Now you need to startpractising doing it eciently. This means looking ahead, i.e. thinking about what you are going to do nextwhen you've completed whatever it is you are doing. Again, this is not something that is easily taught -dierent people will solve the same cube in dierent ways, and will likely disagree on the best or mostecient way of doing something. However, a good method for practising this is solving the cube very, very,slowly but without stopping. The biggest problem with eciently solving the cube is not performingalgorithms quickly, but deciding which algorithm to perform. By solving slowly but smoothly, you'll bepractising this ability and you will get quicker and more condent with the cube until you too have your ownversion of the best way.

Step 2 - F2LThis step involves solving the rst layer corners and second layer at the same time, to get this:

The basic idea behind F2L is to pair a corner piece with its edge piece and then put them both where theyneed to go. We can see in this basic example that a simple R would pair up the white-red-blue corner withthe blue-red edge piece. A further U aligns the two pieces to the red-white edge piece on the red face, and aR' puts the two pieces where they need to be.

R

U

R'

There are a few dierent situations. In this example, the corner cubie has the white face pointing upwards.We'll solve this in two parts - pairing the edge and corner pieces, and then putting them in the right placetogether.

R U2 R'

U R U' R'

Another important part of F2L is solving the situation without aecting any of the other F2L cases you mayhave already solved. For example, in this situation:

F U2 F'

Doing F U2 F' does successfully pair the red-blue corner and edge pieces, but it also lifts out the blue-orangepair that had already been solved and ruins it. Instead, we should do this:

U' R U2 R'

A simple U' at the start means that the pieces from the rst and second layers that are lifted out are wherewe want the blue-red pieces to go. The lifted pieces are ones we don't care about, as they weren't supposedto be there anyway. This process of using the destination of the pieces we want to solve in order tomanipulate those pieces is crucial in learning F2L.

Before you dive in to F2L and start trying to gure it all out, there are a few more things you should try tobear in mind. The rst of which is that cube turns are bad. They are slow to do, as you have to shift the cubefrom one hand to the other. While this might seems trivial, you're probably reading this page because youwant to get better and faster at cubing, and a few seconds can be very important. Nearly every one of thealgorithms for F2L below can be performed without shifting the cube, as most only use two faces that onehand can easily do. To this end, some of the algorithms use d instead of U y', as the y' means turning thecube. I'm sure you remember that d is a double layer D, i.e. turning D and the middle layer at the same time,because you read the notation page (notation).

Try to also remember that you (probably) have two hands. While also an excellent life tip, some situationsare just better handled on a specic side of the cube. Take this example:

You might do something like y' U R U' R' U y' R' U' R, as your natural instinct will likely be to use your righthand. Instead, L' U L U L' U' L works a lot better, as you avoid the slow cube rotations.

One last thing - slow and steady will make you win this race. In much the same way as the previous sectionwith the cross, practising F2L in a slow but continuous way will allow you to practice your lookahead skills,allowing you to constantly be looking for the next move while you are in the middle of performing another.

Ok, so on to actually learning the F2L. When doing this, it is really useful to have a table of algorithms so youknow the best way of handling each situation you come across. Some of them, such as the rst twoexamples, are relatively trivial and you may be able to easily see the best, simplest way of solving thatparticular situation. While this intuitive thinking will take you far in F2L, there are a few cases where a simplealgorithm is far less obvious but a much quicker way of doing it. For example, this situation:

R U R'

F' U' F

U R U' R'

An intuitive way of thinking about it might produce an algorithm like (R U2 R') (F' U2 F) (U' R U R'). If youremember, the brackets in the algorithm only serve to split up the algorithm, usually into parts that are easyto perform. Here, the algorithm has split into three parts: taking the two pieces into the top layer,separating them, and lastly rejoining them and putting them where they need to be. Indeed, an intuitiveapproach. However, the algorithm (R U R' U') (R U R' U') (R U R') is much faster to perform, as it is essentiallythe same move performed three times.

Here are the cases that you should watch out for, as the listed algorithm is not an intuitive one:

Here are all of the F2L cases. They are here so you can see optimal ways for each situation, so don't rely onthem for every single F2L case you encounter - try and do each case intuitively. I'm going to say it one moretime. Intuition good. Memorising bad.

Type 1: Basic casesThese are the four most basic cases, some of which you might remember as an upside-down version of step2 of the beginner method. A lot of the F2L cases revolve around getting to one of these four cases and thensolving them normally.

U' F' U F

(U' R U' R' U) (R U R')

(U F' U F U') (F' U' F)

(U' R U R' U) (R U R')

(U F' U' F U') (F' U' F)

(U F' U2 F U') (R U R')

(U' R U2 R' U) (F' U' F)

Type 2: Corner pointing outwards and edge in top layerFrom here, the algorithms are bracketed to show the two parts of the algorithm: putting the two pieceswhere they can be easily solved (usually a basic case), and then solving them.

(R U' R' U) (d R' U' R)

(F' U F U') (d' F U F')

(U F' U2 F) (U F' U2 F)

(U' R U2 R') (U' R U2 R')

(U F' U' F) (U F' U2 F)

(U' R U R') (U' R U2 R')

(R U2 R') (U' R U R')

Type 3: Corner pointing upwards and edge in top layer

(F' U2 F) (U F' U' F)

(U R U2 R') (U R U' R')

(U' F' U2 F) (U' F' U F)

(U2 R U R') (U R U' R')

(U2 F' U' F) (U' F' U F)

(R U R' U') U' (R U R' U') (R U R')

y' (R' U' R U) U (R' U' R U) (R' U' R)

In these last two, the two adjacent Us in the middle could be a U2, but it's split to show that the rst and secondbracketed bits are the same. Sometimes it's easier to perform two Us than a U2!

Type 4: Corner in bottom and edge in topYou might remember the rst two algorithms here from step 3 of the beginner method!

(U R U' R') (U' F' U F)

(U' F' U F) (U R' U' R)

(F' U F) (U' F' U F)

(R U' R') (U R U' R')

(R U R') (U' R U R')

(F' U' F) (U F' U' F)

(U F' U F) (U F' U2 F)

Type 5: Corner in top, edge in middle

(U' R U' R') (U' R U2 R')

(U F' U' F) (d' F U F')

(U' R U R') (d R' U' R)

(R U' R') (d R' U R)

(R U R' U') (R U R' U') (R U R')

(R U' R' U R U2 R') (U R U' R')

(R U' R' U' R U R') (U' R U2 R')

Type 6: Corner in bottom, edge in middle

(R U R' U' R U' R') (U d R' U' R)

(R U' R' d R' U' R) (U' R' U' R)

(R U' R' d R' U2 R) (U R' U2 R)

R' U2 R U R' U R

L' U R U' L U R'

L U' R' U L' U R U R' U R

Step 3 - OLLThis step involves orienting all of the last layer cubies so the yellow face is complete, like this:

Crosses

R U R' U R U' R' U R U2 R'

R' F' L F R F' L' F

R' F' L' F R F' L F

R2 D R' U2 R D' R' U2 R'

R U B' l U l2' x' U' R' F R F'

R' F R F' U2 R' F R y' R2 U2 R

y L' R2 B R' B L U2' L' B M'

R' U2 x R' U R U' y R' U' R' U R' F

R' U2 F R U R' U' y' R2 U2 x' R U

Dots

F (R U R' U) y' R' U2 (R' F R F')

R U R' U R' F R F' U2 R' F R F'

M' U2 M U2 M' U M U2 M' U2 M

L' R U R' U' L R' F R F'

M' U' M U2' M' U' M

R U' y R2 D R' U2 R D' R2 d R'

R' U' y L' U L' y' L F L' F R

F U R U' R' U R U' R' F'

L' B' L U' R' U R U' R' U R L' B L

All Corners

Lines

R' F R U R' F' R y L U' L'

L F' L' U' L F L' y' R' U R

R B R' L U L' U' R B' R'

L' B' L R' U' R U L' B L

F R U R' U' F'

R U R' U' R' F R F'

R' F R U R' U' y L' d R

L F' L' U' L U y' R d' L'

Big Ls

Ts

Zs

Cs

R U x' R U' R' U x U' R'

R U R' U' x D' R' U R E'

F R U R' U' R U R' U' F'

F' L' U' L U L' U' L U F

L U' y' R' U2' R' U R U' R U2 R d' L'

R' F R' F' R2 U2 x' U' R U R'

R' F R F' U2 R2 y R' F' R F'

L F' L' F U2 L2 y' L F L' F

L F R' F R F2 L'

Little Ls

L' B' L U' R' U R L' B L

U2 r R2' U' R U' R' U2 R U' M

U2 l' L2 U L' U L U2 L' U M

x' U' R U' R2' F x R U R' U' R B2

R' U' R y' x' R U' R' F R U R'

R U R' y R' F R U' R' F' R

R2' U R' B R U' R2' U l U l'

U' R U2' R' U' R U' R2 y' R' U' R U B

U' R' U2 R U R' U R2 y R U R' U' F'

R' U2 l R U' R' U l' U2 R

F R' F' R U R U' R'

r' U2 (R U R' U) r

r U2 R' U' R U' r'

L d R' d' L' U L F L'

R' d' L d R U' R' F' R

F U R U' R' F'

F' U' L' U L F

L U L' U L U' L' U' y2' R' F R F'

Ps

Ws

R' U' R U' R' U R U y F R' F' R

x R2 D2 R U R' D2 R U' R

x z' R2 U2 R' D' R U2 R' D R'

M2 U M2 U2 M2 U M2

R' U' R2 U R U R' U' R U R U' R U' R' U2

R' U R' U' R' U' R' U R U R2

Step 4 - PLLThis step involves permuting all of the last layer cubies so the cube is complete, which you probably knowlooks like this:

Here are all of the PLL case algorithms, again in what I think is a logical order:

R2 U' R' U' R U R U R U' R

R' F' L' F R F' L F R' F' L F R F' L' F

U' R' U R U' R2 F' U' F U R F R' F' R2

R U R' U' R' F R2 U' R' U' R U R' F'

R U R' F' R U R' U' R' F R2 U' R' U'

L' U' L F L' U' L U L F' L2 U L U

R' U2 R U2 R' F R U R' U' R' F' R2 U'

L U2 L' U2 L F' L' U' L U L F L2 U

R' U R' U' B' D B' D' B2 R' B' R B R

F R U' R' U' R U R' F' R U R' U' R' F R F'

R' U R U' R' F' U' F R U R' F R' F' R U' R

R U' R' U l U F U' R' F' R U' R U l' U R'

y R2' u R' U R' U' R u' R2 y' R' U R

R' U' R y R2 u R' U R U' R u' R2

y R2' u' R U' R U R' u R2 y R U' R'

y2 R U R' y' R2 u' R U' R' U R' u R2