How To Solve Rubik - S Revenge-Adams PDF
How To Solve Rubik - S Revenge-Adams PDF
How To Solve Rubik - S Revenge-Adams PDF
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HOW TO SOLVE
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HOW TO SOLVE
Rubikp SM
Revenge
FULL-COLOR STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUC-
TIONS TO SOLVE THE SUPERCUBE
JEFFREY ADAMS
Published by
The Dial Press
1 Dag Hammarskjold Plaza
New York, New York 10017
1. Introduction .................... 6
2. Guide to the Solution ............. 8
3. Basic Moves .................... 14
4. Summary of Notation/Color Key . . 20
5. Step-by-Step Solution ........... 22
1. Corners ................... 24
II. Edges ..................... 32
111. Centers ................... 50
6. Shortcuts ..................... 54
7. Alternative Solution ............. 56
8. More Useful Moves .............. 60
9. Patterns ........................ 62
10. Afterword - for the Expert ....... 64
Introduction
6
able to dispense with the step-by-step solution, and re-
member only these moves. To make things even sim-
pler, the Basic Moves (with one exception) are all
based on a single Basic Basic Move, called a commu-
tator (see pg. 14). It is one of the marvels of the Super-
cube that one simple procedure allows you to solve
this fantastically complex puzzle. There is very little
memorization needed! And if you are familiar with the
original cube, you will soon see that solving the Super-
cube isn't much harder.
Don't worry about speed at first. This solution is
conceptual and easy to follow rather than fast, and re-
quires very little memorization. Anyhow, no matter
how fast you can solve it there's bound to be someone
half your age who can do it twice as fast! The beauty
of the puzzle lies in its extraordinary complexity yet
ultimate simplicity, in its symmetry and in its pat-
terns. With an understanding of the Supercube you
can begin to explore the fascinating world of Super-
cube patterns.
For those of you set on breaking records (and
wrists) there are shortcuts to help you speed up the so-
lution. We have included a sketch of an alternative so-
lution in which you solve the centers first. You may be
interested in some more advanced processes, and a
sample of possible Supercube patterns. And for the
experts there is a brief section on Supercube-theory.
Happy Cubing!
7
Guide to the Solution
corner-cube
edge-cube
% center-cube
8
There are 6 faces consisting of 16 visible sub-
cubes. These are labelled as follows: Up, Down, Left,
Right, Front and Back; or U, D, L, R, Fand B for short.
Lef
It
left '
fl
I -i-t
IWIJL
9
Guide
We label positions within the cube as follows: the
position at the Front-Up-Right corner of the cube is
called the Front-Up-Right position, or FUR-position.
The Front-Left-Up position is called the FLU-position,
and so on.
It is not enough to refer to the ULF-position for an
edge position since there are two such; we distinguish
them by using UF(r) and UF(l).2 The same holds for
FR(u) and FR(d),X UR(f) and UR(b), and so on. We will
not bother labelling centers.
cl .| cl-
FR(u)
position
:R(d)
position _ - position
10
Guide
UR(f)-position. (The FR(u) and FR(d) edges have the
same colors, and are essentially indistinguishable,
see pg. 34).
As another example in Step I you fix the FLU-
corner.4 This determines the rest of the corners. For
example, if your cube is like this one 4the FUR corner-
cube is the one with the red, blue and green sides. The
FRD corner-cube has blue, green and yellow sides.
Sn 11
Guide
Moves
R means: turn the Right face one turn (90 degrees)
clockwise. The clockwise move is determined by
looking directly at the face. Similarly L, F,B, U and D.
r means: turn the right slice one turn (90 degrees)
clockwise. Clockwise for the right slice is determined
by looking at the Right face. I, f, b, u and d are
similar.; Note that r and I appear to go in opposite
directions.
d
mob
12
Guide
R' ("R-prime") means: turn the Right face one turn
counter-clockwise,;also L', F', B', U', and D'; and r',
I', f', b', u' and d'. I X,
III-
i
I_
13
Basic Moves
(A 13Y-jA-o
Z76K=
14
They are the building blocks of the solution. It is easy
to break up any process you like into smaller ones
achievable with commutators. Although this does not
always give the fastest way to do something, remem-
ber, what we are after first is clarity, not speed. Speed
will come later.
All the Basic Moves but 7 and 8 are commutators,
and Basic Move 8 has a commutator in it. Sometimes,
,as in Basic Moves 5 and 6, we build commutators on
top of commutators and voilA: a ten-move sequence
that only affects three edges.
Another essential part of this solution (any solution,
for that matter) is a similar process - po n
This allows you to increase the usefulness of any
process. For example Basic Move 3 very conveniently
orients two adjacent corners. But what if (as happens
in Step I.C., pg. 30) you want to orient two opposite
corners? No need to find a whole new process; simply
move the two corners into adjacent positions, apply
the given move (Basic Move 3) and move them back
the way they came. That is in this case, one applies
L [Basic Move 3]L'.
Anyimove ofibtelrmi. rove A) [move Bltinverse of
move Ad is called a conitfat of move B. It has the
same effect as move Mon different parts of the cube.
Brackets [ ] are used to point these moves out-they
are used extensively in Step II.
Co)w U
JiUfrk>' -
/1\- rl ._/
15
Basic Move 1: (Steps I-A and B)
R'URU'
Also
(R'URU')2
orients the FUR corner. It also
orients three corners on the
Back face, and moves three
pairs of edges. Its inverse is
(UR'U'R) 2 .
L'(URU')L(UR'U')
16
Basic Move 3: (Step I-C)
______ ... ...... ---
move w = jRi URU')-rtUml U R
move X = (F'rFr')U(rF'r'F)U'
17
Basic Move 6: (Steps Il-B and C)
moveY = (FT''FI)U(Q'F'IF)U'
This also moves three edges;
see Basic Move 5. This is in-
cluded for the sake of com-
pleteness. In the step-by-step
solution we use only Basic
Move 5. We use this move in
the shortcuts;
-s invrs see Section 6.
is_move
its inverse is move Tr =
U(F'I'FI)U'(I'F'IF).
V 18
Basic Move 9: (Steps IIl-A and B)
R'(fr'f')R(frf')
19
Summary of Notadon
Faces:
F- Front L- Left U - Up
B- Back R - Right D - Down
Slices:
f - front I - left u - up
b - back r - right d - down
Sub-cubes and Positions:
FUR: Front-Up-Right corner (cube or position)
UF(r): Up-Front-(right slice) edge (cube or
position)
Moves:
R: turn the Right face one turn clockwise
R': turn the Right face one turn counter-
clockwise
r: turn the right slice one turn clockwise
r': turn the right slice one turn counter-clockwise
RB'I F: R,then B', then 1,then F
(RB') (IF): RB'IF
(RB'IF)': RB'IF "Inverse" = F'T'BR'
(RB'IF) 2 : =RB'IFRB'IF
R[UD]R': = RUDR' (same as parentheses but
only used in conjugation)
t:see shortcuts (Section 6)
20
Color Key
21
Step-by-Step Solution aU...
OUTLINE OF THE SOLUTION
STEP I
SOLVE THE CORNERS
A. Solve the
Front -corners
B. Put remaining
corners in place,
not oriented
C. Orient
remaining corners
22
STEP If
SOLVE THE EDGES
A. Solve the
Right-edges
B. Solve the
left and right
slice-edges
C. Solve the
remaining edges
STEP III
SOLVE THE CENTERS
A. Solve the
Front-centers
B. Solve the
remaining centers,
one face at a time
23
STEPl WM
SOLVE THE CORNERS
24
cube solved, i.e. in its correct position and orientation.
This completely determines what the final position of
every corner-cube must be.
FLU-
corner
25
I.A. Up-corners
b. The FUR-cube is at the FUR-position, possibly
incorrectly oriented. If it is correctly oriented, i.e.
the Front and Up sides of it match the Front and
Up sides of the FLU-corner, go to step 3. If not,
and it wants to turn counter-clockwise, apply
(R'URU') 2 ,; if it wants to turn clockwise apply
(UR'U'R)2. Go to step 3.
bz
26
L.B. Remaining corners, position
Rotate the Up face to put the FUR corner-cube
in its correct position.2
FUR
I 2
27
I.B. Remaining corners, position
If the other correct Up-corner is adjacent to the
FUR-corner (i.e. at FLU or UBR) apply U.
There is now one correct Up-corner (UBR or
ULB) and three wrong; rotate the whole cube
keeping the Up face Up, to put the correct one
at FUR.' You are now in the situation of step ii
so go to step ii.
28
I.C. Remaining corners, orientation
to orient the Up-corners one or two at a time. This
is a spot where it is easier to do this yourself than
describe it explicitly, but nontheless:
There are four possibilities:
i. All Up-corners are already correctly oriented.
Go to step 11.
ii. All four Up-corners are oriented wrong. If the
FUR corner-cube wants to be turned counter-
clockwise, apply move W; if it wants to be
turned clockwise, apply move W'. There
are now two or three corners oriented incor-
rectly. Go to step iv or iii.
29
I.C. Remaining corners, orientation
iv. There are two corners wrong, and two correct.
There are two possibilities:
(1). The two incorrect corners are adjacent.
Rotate the whole cube, keeping the Up face
Up, to put the incorrect corners at FLU and
FUR. If the FUR-corner wants to be
turned counter-clockwise apply move W; if
it wants to be turned clockwise, apply
move W'. All corners are now completely
solved. 8 Go to step 11.
(2). The two incorrect corners are opposite.
Rotate the cube, keeping the Up face Up, to
put the incorrect corners at FUR and
ULB. Apply L to put these at FLU and
FUR as in (1). If the FUR-corner wants to
be turned counter-clockwise, apply move W;
if it wants to be turned clockwise, apply
move W'. Apply L' to return the cube to its
previous position. That is, apply L[move W
or move W']L'. All corners are now com-
pletely solved. Go to step II.
30
I.C. Remaining corners, orientation
III L
OR
31
STEP I1 EM g a
SOLVE THE EDGES
32
fti
! '\ move X =
i /K\ (F'rFr')U(rFYrF)U'
move Y =
(F'I'FI)U(I'F'IF)U'
33
II.A. Right-edges
As indicated in the Basic Moves, we actually only
use move X in the step-by-step solution. We eliminate
the need for move Y by the use of move X in conjunc-
tion with Basic Move 7. The solution is less compli-
cated this way, with fewer cases to analyze; but possi-
bly takes a few more moves to execute since Basic
Move 7 may be used a few extra times. Places where
move Y may be used are indicated by at and given as
shortcuts in Section 6.
Generally when the first of a pair of adjacent
edges is placed, you may be sloppy and use
Basic Move 4. However, when doing the second one
you must be more careful and use move X.
One last comment before getting down to business.
Unlike on a 3 x 3 x 3 cube, it is impossible to flip edges
in place. What happens is, if the FR(d) edge is in the
correct (FR(d)) position, it is necessarily correctly ori-
ented. But remember the FR(u) edge looks identical to
the FR(d) edge - if it is put in the FR(d) position, it will
necessarily be oriented wrong. So if an edge looks ori-
ented wrong, it's not, it's in the wrong position! We will
still use the term 'incorrectly oriented" to mean an
edge which looks likle it wants to be flipped in place (but
actually wants to change places with its neighbor).
So without further ado:
34
II.A. Right-edges
landr
)elstoe
F(I)
id UF(r)
)sitions
35
II.A. Right-edges
ii. It is in the Left face. Rotate the Left face enough
times to put it at UL(f or b), apply
IF FBLU(,B'R' F')' to put it in the I or r
slice, and rotate the Left face back to where it
was (thus fixing the corners). Go to step b.
UIL(f orb)
FD(Ioi
36
II.A. Right-edges
37
II.A. Right-edges
e. If both UR(f or b) edges are correctly oriented, go
to step 2. If they are both incorrectly oriented,
apply Basic Move 7: R'U 2 R2 UR'U'R'U 2LFRF'L',
and go to step 2.
38
l1.B. Slice-edaes
() B. Solve the I and r slice edqes.
Allthe edges on one face are now solved. Move
.* the whole cube to make this the Left face. You now
solve the I and r slice edges.^
landr
slice edges
39
II.B. Slice-edges
i.: It is in the Right face. Rotate the Right face
enough times to put it at FR(u or d)." Apply
(RBLF)U(F'L'B'R')U' to put it at UF(I or r),g;
a rotat~ee igi ace back to where it was.
Go to step b.
FR(u 4
UF( or r)
I
I
biOne UF(I or r) edge is now in the UF(I or r) position,
possibly incorrectly oriented. To minimize the num-
ber of decisions you have to make, it is best to
have this at UF(l). If it is at UF(l), fine; if it is at
UF(r),- apply Basic Move 7:
R:U!H2RIUPRU'R U2LFRF'' to put it there.
40
II.B. Slice-edges
41
II.B. Slice-edges
way). Apply (RBLF)U(F'L'B'R')U' to put it in the
Right face, anro a e`tee cube back to where
it was. Since the UF(I or r) edge in question is
now in the Right face, go to step i.
42
II.C. Remaining edges
ii. It is at UB(lorr).
Apply .BRUfffLF1UiFRL)BB
to put iTaueUF(orr).,
Go to step b.
(Ior r)
43
II.C. Remaining edges
iii. It is at UL(f or b).
Apply R'UI(RBLF)gF'L'B'RJ')UR
to put it at UF(l or7T
Go to step b.
UL(f or
,,
UF(
44
11.C. Remaining edges
i. It is at UR(f or b). If it is at
k *VRU1L apply B'R'[move X]RB,
. U
* apply FU[move X']U'F',
and go to step c.
UR(f)
45
II.C. Remaining edges
iii. It is at UL(f or b). If it is at
* A apply R'U'[move X]UR, 4
* b)applyLF[moveX']F'L',5
and go to step c.
46
II.C. Remaining edges
'3DThe UL(f), UL(b) and UF(I), UF(r) edges are now
solved. Rotate the whole cube, keeping the Up
face Up to put the unsolved edges at UF(I or r)
and UR(f or b).
47
I.C. Remaining edges
iii. One is at UF(I or r), and one at UR(f or b).
* If the one at UF(I or r) is at UF(I),;ME>:;;
go to step b.
* If the one at UF(I or r) is at UF(r),;
apply Basic Move 7:
R'U2 R 2 UR'U'R'U2 LFRF'L',
and go to step b.
I
(There is now a UF(I or r) edge at UF(I) and the
other one is at UR(f or b).
If the other one is at:
UfapplybR'b'[move XbRb',
b), apply cb'[move X']bRb
arid go to step c.
48
lI.C. Remaining edges
he UF(I or r) edges are now both at UF(l or r),
and the UR(f or b) edges are both at UR(t or b).
You now orient them.
There are three possibilities:
i. All four of the UF(l or r) and UR(f or b) edges are
incorrectly oriented Apply Basic Move 7:
R'U 2 R2 UR'U'R'U 2 LFRF'L' to remedy this,
and go to Step 11.
ii. Exactly two (adjacent) edges are incorrectly
oriented. Thus you want to switch these two
edges. (This cannot be done on a 3 x 3 x 3
cube, but this is a Supercube!) Move the whole
these at UF() and UF(r).: Apply
49
STEP III OME.
SOLVE THE CENTERS
50
There are two possibilities:
i. It is on the U, R, D or L face. Rotate the whole
cube, keeping the Front face to the Front, to
put this blue center-cube on the Right
face.' Rotate the Right face to put this blue
center-cube in the upper left-hand slot on the
Right face.X Rotate the Front face to put any
non-blue center-cube in the upper right-hand
slot of the Front face. (Remember how you did
these two things, you need to undo them in a
moment.) Apply ['f'Rfr'to bring the
desired blue center-cu e to the Front
face. Rotate first the Front face and then the
Right face to undo what you did a moment
ago, thus restoring all corners and edges to
their solved positions. It is easy to figure out
how to do this by looking at the corners and
@ = edges, and by remembering to move the Front
Ao face first. Go to step 2.
:@ C-
51
III.A. Front-centers
iiYThe desired blue center-cube is in the Back face.
You apply the same procedure as in step i to
move this blue to another face adjacent to the
Front face. You can then apply step i to move it to
the Front (blue) face. Move the whole cube to
put the Back face, the one with the blue center
you want, to the Right, and also some other face
whose centers are not yet solved to the
Front."' Rotate the Right face to put the desired
blue center-cube in the upper left-hand slot of the
Right face. Apply R'(frT)R(frf to bring this
blue center-cube toe Frontface, and rotate
the Right face back to where it was.
Move the whole cube to return the blue face to
the Front. Go to step i.
C-
52
III.B. Remaining centers
2. Repeat step 1 up to four times to get each of the
blue center-cubes onto the Front (blue) face one-
by-one. After four times through, the Front face
is completely solved.-
I II
53
tShortcuts
54
to put it at UF(l), and rotate the Right face back to
where it was. Go to step c.
Il.C.1 .b. (pg. 44) Solving the Up-edges:
If the UF(I or r) edge is at UF(r),
find the other UF(l or r) edge.
There are three possibilities:
i. It is at UR(f or b); apply FU[move Y']U'F' or
B'R'[move Y]RB respectively,
and go to step c.
ii. It is at UB(I or r); apply B'R'[move Y']RB or
FU[move Y] U'F' respectively,
and go to step c.
iii. It is at UL(f or b); apply LF[move Y']F'L' or
R'U'[move Y]UR respectively,
and go to step c.
II.C.3.a. (pg. 47) Solving the final four edges:
This is similar to the preceding two shortcuts. At
possibility iii, if there is a UF(I or r) edge at UF(r),
do the following. The other one is at UR(f) or
UR(b); apply f'R'f[move Y' or move Y]f'Rf
respectively, and go to step c.
Solving the Up-edges may be considerably
speeded up by the use of moves 6.a-d, pg. 61,
which give four different ways of moving three
Up-edges in only eight or ten moves.
IlI.A.1 .ii. (pg. 52) Solving the centers; the desired
blue center-cube is in the Back face:
The blue center-cube may be brought directly to
the Front face as follows. Rotate the Back face to
put the blue center-cube in the upper left-hand slot
(as viewed from the Back) of the Back face. Rotate
the Front face to put any non-blue center-cube in
the lower left-hand slot of the Front face. Apply
(Fu2 F'd2 )2 , and rotate the Front and Back faces
back to where they were.
55
Alternative Solution
0@
The advantages of doing things in this order are:
1. Centers, being first, go very quickly.
2. Edges are a little easier than before. You don't
have to worry about corners, and except for Basic
Move 8 and some slice moves, the moves used
before do not affect centers anyway. You need to
modify your use of slice moves, and find a
replacement for Basic Move 8.
3. Corners are just like on a 3 x 3 x 3 cube with
which you are probably familiar.
56
The disadvantages are:
1. You must make sure to solve the centers in the
correct arrangement of colors. This is not so
much a problem to do as it is cumbersome to
describe in words.
2. You don't have centers to kick around anymore.
So you may need to exchange two edges without
affecting any centers (Basic Move 8 affects some
centers). You may need to apply Basic Move 8-
once (see below).
3. You may need to exchange two corners without
affecting anything else. This is not so bad; see
Basic Move 1O.-
57
Alternative Solution
Basic Move 7 - (Steps IlF-A, B and C)
Same as Basic Move 7.
Basic Move 8 - (Step I--C)
Now you need u2B2[(f'I'fb'r'f')d(frbf'If)-
B'L'U2 [move X']U2 LB]B2u2 which exchanges
the FR(u) and FR(d) edges but does
not affect centers.
Basic Move 9 - (Step I )
In place of R'(fr'f')R(frf') you may simply use
F'uFu' which also essentially switches two cen-
ters. (It actually moves five centers). It moves
some edges but now you don't care about this.
Basic Move 10- (Step IIw-B)
(F2 r2 F2)(U 2 r2 ) 3 (F 2 r2 F2 )-U'.
F2 B2 D[R2 F2 B2 L2 F2 B2 D' B2 F2
This moves four corners, and nothing else.
Following it by (URU')L'(UR'U')L (i.e., inverse of
Basic Move 2), exchanges the FUR and
UBR corners.
58
Alternative Solution
belong where, that is what the final arrangement of
colors must be. You can do this by remembering what
the solved cube looks like, or by studying the corners
and one way or another imagining them solved and
hence telling you where the centers belong.
59
More Useful Moves
60
2. F'uFu'
Essentially exchanges the upper left-hand center
of the Front face with the upper right-hand center of
the Right face, and also moves five edges. See
Basic Move 9-, pg. 58.
3. b'u'bu
This commutator cycles a pair of triplets of cen-
ters for a total of six, one on each face. Useful conju-
gates of it are:
3a. RU 2 LB2[b'u'bu]B2 L'U2 R'
3b. R'PL'D2[b'u'bu]D2 LF2 R
4. (U2r2)3 = U2r2U2r2U2r2
Exchanges two opposite pairs of Up-edges and
opposite Up-corners, and also four centers. So:
4a. (F2r2F2)(U2r2 )3(F2r2F2).U2
Exchanges just two opposite pairs of Up-edges.
4b. (F2 r2F2)(U2 r2) 3(F2r2F2).U .
F2 B2 D[R 2 F2 B 2 L2 F2B2]D'B 2 F2
Moves only four corners, following it by
(URU')L'(UR'U')L exchanges just two corners.
See pg. 58.
5. (R'F'R'F'R')(FRFRF)
Moves six edges.
5a. R'[(R'F'R'F'R')(FRFRF)]R
Moves six edges just like Basic Move 4 but with
different orientations.
6. a. (LF'L')f'(LFL')f
b. f(R'FR)f'(R'F'R)
c. b'(U'RUR')b(RU'R'U)
d. (FU'F'U)b(U'FUF')b'
Moves three edges in the Up face. See pg. 55.
7. (r'uru')R(ur'u'r)R'-F(ur'u'r)F'(r'uru')
Switches two centers on the Right face, and two on
the Front face.
61
Patterns
62
63
Afterword - for the Expert
64
1:----4-III
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