Solve a 2x2 Rubik's Cube

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R is the right face, L the left, U the top and D the bottom.

Watch the highlighted layer. Clockwise is judged looking straight at the named face. You can pause after every move.

Name the faces. Hold the cube still. R means the face on your right, L the face on your left, U the face on top, and D the face underneath. The front face stays toward you while you follow a move sequence.

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Practice: turn R, then undo it with R-prime.

Watch the highlighted layer. Clockwise is judged looking straight at the named face. You can pause after every move.

Read a move. One letter means turn that face a quarter-turn clockwise as you look straight at that face. A prime mark means turn it counterclockwise. Watch the arrows, then practise R and R-prime so you can undo your own move.

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Practice: do all four moves - R-prime, D-prime, R, D.

Watch the highlighted layer. Clockwise is judged looking straight at the named face. You can pause after every move.

Practise the four-move pattern. Follow these arrows slowly: R-prime, D-prime, R, D. Say each move as you make it. Always finish all four moves, even if the cube looks strange halfway through.

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Now a real solve. White is on top at the front-left. Its sides are red and blue.

Watch the highlighted layer. Clockwise is judged looking straight at the named face. You can pause after every move.

Pick a starting white corner. Find any corner with a white sticker. Turn the whole cube so that sticker is on top. The corner's other two colors tell us what its two neighboring sides should be.

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The white, blue and orange corner belongs at the top-front-right.

Watch the highlighted layer. Clockwise is judged looking straight at the named face. You can pause after every move.

Find the next white corner's home. Find another piece with white. Compare its two other colors with the growing white layer. Rotate the cube so the place it belongs is at the top-front-right.

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Turn only the bottom layer to bring a corner here. This white, blue and orange corner is already right under its home.

Watch the highlighted layer. Clockwise is judged looking straight at the named face. You can pause after every move.

Put the piece below its home. Turn only the bottom layer to bring that new white corner to the bottom-front-right, directly below its target place. Turning the bottom layer keeps the white corners on top safe. Check that the piece sits right under its home before you start the four-move pattern.

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One full round of the four moves lifts this white corner into its home.

Watch the highlighted layer. Clockwise is judged looking straight at the named face. You can pause after every move.

Lift it into place. Repeat R-prime, D-prime, R, D until the white corner rises into the top-front-right with its side colors matching. Finish every four-move round. If the piece is not right yet, do another whole round.

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Turn the whole cube, lift the next corner in, and do it again. Now the top is all white and each side's top colors match. Stuck white corner? Turn the whole cube so it's at the top-front-right, do the four moves once, then place and lift it.

Watch the highlighted layer. Clockwise is judged looking straight at the named face. You can pause after every move.

Complete the white layer. Use the same find, place, and lift steps for the last white corners. Check that the entire top is white and each side has a matching color pair along its top edge. If a white corner is stuck in the wrong place on top, turn the whole cube so that corner is at the top-front-right, and do the four moves once to drop it to the bottom. Then place and lift it again.

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Turn the whole cube over: white goes on the bottom, yellow on top.

Watch the highlighted layer. Clockwise is judged looking straight at the named face. You can pause after every move.

Flip the whole cube. Turn the entire cube over so the completed white layer faces down and the yellow layer faces up. Keep white underneath for the rest of the solve.

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Count the yellow corners that are in the right place: here, none. So do the eight moves next. If exactly one is right, turn the whole cube so it's at the top-front-right.

Watch the highlighted layer. Clockwise is judged looking straight at the named face. You can pause after every move.

Find a correctly placed yellow corner. Ignore whether its yellow sticker points up. A corner is in the right place if its other two colors match the color pairs directly below it. If all four are correct, skip to turning the yellow stickers upward. If exactly two are correct, turn only the top layer one quarter-turn and check again. If none are correct, do the eight moves in the next step once and check again. Repeat these checks until one or all four corners are correctly placed. If one is correct, turn the whole cube, not just the top layer, so that corner is at the top-front-right. Keep white on the bottom.

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None were right, so do all eight moves, then count again.

Watch the highlighted layer. Clockwise is judged looking straight at the named face. You can pause after every move.

Move the yellow corners. With that corner at the top-front-right, follow all eight arrows in order: U, R, U-prime, L-prime, U, R-prime, U-prime, L. Keep the cube facing the same way and do not stop after the first four moves.

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Two right? Turn just the top layer. One right? Turn the whole cube so it's at the top-front-right, then do the eight moves again until all four are right.

Watch the highlighted layer. Clockwise is judged looking straight at the named face. You can pause after every move.

Check the yellow positions. Look again at the side colors, not the direction of the yellow stickers. If all four yellow corners are in their right places, continue. Otherwise, return to the checks in step 11 and use the eight moves again as directed until all four corners are placed.

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Keep holding the cube the same way. Four full rounds turn this corner's yellow sticker to the top.

Watch the highlighted layer. Clockwise is judged looking straight at the named face. You can pause after every move.

Turn one yellow sticker upward. Keep the cube in the same position. Put a corner whose yellow sticker is sideways at the top-front-right. Repeat the familiar R-prime, D-prime, R, D pattern until that corner's yellow sticker points up. Finish each four-move round.

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Turn only the top layer to bring the next sideways corner over. Two rounds fix it. Then turn the top past the corners that are already done.

Watch the highlighted layer. Clockwise is judged looking straight at the named face. You can pause after every move.

Bring the next corner over. Turn only the top layer to move another sideways-yellow corner to the top-front-right. Do not rotate the whole cube. Repeat the four moves until its yellow sticker points up, then work through any others the same way. The cube can look mixed up between corners; keep going.

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Turn the top layer to line up the sides. Then turn the whole cube to check: all six faces are solid colors!

Watch the highlighted layer. Clockwise is judged looking straight at the named face. You can pause after every move.

Check all six faces. When all yellow stickers face up, turn the top layer if necessary to line up the side colors. Every face should now be one color. If a corner is in the wrong position, return to the yellow-placement step and then turn the stickers upward again.