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1 / 15 A scrambled cube solves itself This cube was scrambled to one of its 43,252,003,274,489,856,000 positions. Watch the beginner method put it back, one layer after another, at 16 turns a second.
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01 A scrambled cube solves itself This cube was scrambled to one of its 43,252,003,274,489,856,000 positions. Watch the beginner method put it back, one layer after another, at 16 turns a second.
02 Reading the notation Each letter is a face: R right, U up, F front. A plain letter turns that face clockwise as you look at it, a ′ turns it back, a 2 turns it halfway. Six rounds of R U R′ U′ bring the cube home.
03 The white cross Hold the white centre at the bottom and bring the four white edges down round it, each matching the centre on its side. Seen from below here; it never takes more than eight moves.
04 The first layer Put a white corner above the slot it belongs in, then repeat R U R′ U′. One, three or five times and it drops in the right way round.
05 The second layer Turn the top until an edge lines up with its centre, then use the eight-move formula for its side. An edge stuck in the wrong slot gets pushed out the same way.
06 The top cross Turn the cube over in your mind: yellow is now on top. F R U R′ U′ F′ turns a dot into an L, an L into a line and a line into a cross.
07 The yellow face R U R′ U R U2 R′ twists three top corners and leaves the rest alone. With a top turn before each, it takes one to three goes.
08 The last layer One formula moves three corners round, another moves three edges round. When the last edge lands, every face is one colour.
09 Inside the cube A hub with six arms holds the centres. The edges and corners are not attached to anything: their feet slide under each other and keep the cube together.
10 43,252,003,274,489,856,000 positions 8! × 3⁷ × 12! × 2¹¹ ÷ 2 = 43,252,003,274,489,856,000. Take it apart and put it back at random, and 11 times in 12 it can never be solved.
11 God’s number is 20 In 2010 computers showed that every position can be solved in 20 moves or fewer. The superflip, every edge flipped, needs all 20; the same 20 moves make it and undo it.
12 2×2 and 4×4 The 2×2 has only corners: 3,674,160 positions. The 4×4 has no fixed centres and about 7.4 × 10⁴⁵ positions.
13 The world record The 3×3 single world record is 2.51 seconds (Xuanyi Geng, October 2026). In 1982 the first world champion took 22.95 seconds.
14 Paint your own cube Hold your cube white up and green in front and paint the stickers. The page checks whether it can be solved: this one has a corner twisted in place, so it cannot.
15 Your turn The cube is scrambled. Drag a layer to turn it, or use the buttons, and start with the white cross.
Centre piece Six pieces with one sticker each, fixed to the core. They never change places with each other, so they decide each face’s colour. Edge piece Twelve pieces with two stickers. An edge can sit in its slot either way round; that is its flip. Corner piece Eight pieces with three stickers. A corner can sit in its slot three ways; that is its twist. Core A hub with six arms. Each arm holds one centre with a screw. Screw and spring Under each centre: the screw holds it on, the spring lets the layer give a little as it turns. Layer Nine pieces that turn together. R is the right layer; M is the middle one between L and R. Sticker 54 stickers, nine of each colour. White is opposite yellow, green opposite blue, red opposite orange. Person (1.7 m) A faceless figure for size. Put in your own height under Me. Hands Where your hands hold the cube; the hand on a turning side layer goes round with it. Turn arrow Shows the next turn: on the face for an outer layer, round the cube for a middle slice or a whole-cube turn.
