Tips to Solve a Magic Cube

1.Know the colors of your cube. You must know which color is opposite which, and the order of the colors around each face. For instance, if white is on top and red in front, then you must know that blue is on the right, orange in the back, green on the left and yellow at the bottom.

2.Know the color to start with. Yu can always start with the same color so that you know where each color goes, or you can choose a color which is easier to solve the cross and try to be efficient.

3.Keep practicing. Practice makes perfect. Spend some time with your magic cube to learn how to move pieces around. This is especially

important when you are learning to solve the first layer.

4.Think ahead before you begin. Before you begin to solve the cube, try to think ahead about how to move them into position without actually doing it. With practice and experience, this will teach you ways to

solve it in fewer moves. And in a competition, participants are given 15 seconds to inspect their cube before the timer starts.

5.Try to figure out how the algorithms work. While executing the algorithm, try to follow key pieces around to see where they go. Try to find pattern in the algorithms. For instance :

•In the algorithms (2.a) and (2.b) used to permute corners of the last/top layer, you execute 4 moves (at the end of which all first/bottom layer and middle layer cubies are

back in the first/bottom and middle layers), then turn the upper layer, and then execute the reverse of the first four moves. therefore this algorithm does not affect the

first/bottom and middle layers. •For the algorithms (4.a) and (4.b), note you are turning the top layer in the same direction that you need to turn the three edges. •For the algorithm (5), Dedmore "H" Pattern, a way to remember the algorithm is to follow the path of the flipped edge on the top right and the pair of corners around it for the

first half of the algorithm. And then for the other half of the algorithm, follow the other flipped edge and pair of corners. You'll notice that you perform 5 moves (7 moves if

counting half turns as 2 moves), then half turn the top layer, then reverse those first five moves, and finally half turn the top layer again.

6.Progress further. For the last layer, if you want to solve the cube fast, you will need to do the last four steps two by two. For instance, permute and orient the corners in one step, then

permute and orient the edges in one step. Or you can choose to orient all corners and edges in one step, then permute all corners and edges in one step

There’s more than one method here. For instance, the Petrus method, which solves the cube in fewer moves, consists in building a 2×2×2 block, then expanding it to a 2×2×3,

correcting edge orientation, building a 2×3×3 (two layers solved), positioning the remaining corners, orienting those corners, and finally positioning the remaining edges.

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