Your Goal for Step 1:
Your goal is to get four white pieces around the yellow piece in the center. Can you do it?
1. Find the “yellow side.”
Which side is the “yellow side”, you ask? We already covered this. You weren’t paying attention!!!?? No big deal. The cube has six sides. The “yellow side” is the side of the cube where the center piece is yellow.
2. Point “yellow side” towards the ceiling.
This is as easy as it sounds. Put the cube on a table or on the palm of your hand. You should see the yellow side on top.
3. Imagine there are roads on TOP and FRONT of Cube
Focus your attention on the TOP of the cube and the FRONT. Ignore everything else. On the top, there is a center piece that is yellow. Imagine that the yellow piece is a house. Keep the yellow house on top! Cars can drive all around the house. Cars can also drive down the front of the cube. (crazy, right?). But then there’s a median where no cars can drive.
4. Are there any cars on the road?
Imagine that white pieces are cars. Ask yourself, “Are there any cars on the road?” Take a look.
- Cars on the Road: If its on the road, drive the car home!
- Cars in the Median: Cars don’t go on medians! If it’s on the median, move the car onto the road where it belongs.
- Cars on a Corner: Ignore any cars on the corner. (Those corner cars are trouble.)
- No Cars: Look on a different side of the cube. (Always keep yellow pointing up.)
5. Drive the cars home – 4 cars total
Your first move. Up to this point you haven’t tried to change the cube. Now it’s time. When you find a car on the road, simply drive it home. Twist that side upward until the car is parked comfortably next to the yellow house. If you see another car ready to drive home, then get on with it. If there are no cars on the road, look on another side. (No matter what side you are looking at, always keep the yellow house on the top!)
What if my car is in the median?
If you see a car in the median, rotate the front of the cube (the side facing you.) Then your car will end up in the road where it belongs.
Don’t let the cars crash!!!
Before driving a car upward, make sure there isn’t a car already in that parking spot! If it is, simply twist the yellow side. (In other words, twist the top of your cube). Twist the top as many times as it takes until a free parking space is made available.
I’m still missing a car!
If you checked all sides and you are still missing a car… that’s fine. In fact it’s better than fine. It means your missing car is special. The missing car doesn’t drive–it teleports. Cool right? Glance on the bottom of your cube. That’s where it will be. See if there is a parking spot on the top of the cube in the exact opposite position. In other words, the car is in the right spot, but just upside down. Once again, to solve the problem, we spin the top. (The top is the yellow side.) Don’t be afraid to spin the top as much as you want. You want your free parking spot on the top to be lined up with your car that’s hidden underneath. To teleport, you just flip one side in a complete 180.
That’s it! After all 4 cars are on the road, you’ll see that you created a daisy pattern.
Creating the “Daisy” Pattern is actually pretty easy once you do it a couple of times. Practice this step over and over again. Get really good at it. Mess up the cube and set a timer.
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What Cube Do You Use?
Some have wondered what cube i’m using. Happy to help. I’m using the Classic Rubik’s Cube https://amzn.to/3xiB64y If that is too old-school, here is the AP-enabled cube, which is pretty cool looking. https://amzn.to/3GYXy7d
Your 1 minute Challenge!
Don’t proceed until you can complete the Daisy in under 1 minute! Can you do it? Are you sure? Get out the timer. Lets see your skills. Post below what your first few times are. Really curious how quickly your time will improve. After you get good, I’ll see you on the next step.
“I can solve the Daisy in under a minute and am ready for the next step.”
what if all of the cars are on the corners?
Edie,
on the daisy page, scroll down to step 4. It will tell you to ignore corner cars (aka corner whites). You will deal with corner whites later on. So just ignore the corner cars for now.
Why waste time with the daisy? Why not begin with the white cross?
Great Question! I’m surprised you are the first to ask this. Thanks for bringing this up. The reason is explained on the first page of the site. I teach like you are an 8-year-old. I don’t teach the fastest method. I don’t teach the most efficient method. I definitely don’t teach the best method.
From this site you will learn the EASIEST method of solving a cube.
If you want to upgrade to speed-solving there are tons of sites and YouTube channels that will cover that very well.