Goal for step 4:

Your goal of the ABC step is to have most of the cube complete. The top two layers will be completely solved.

Cube with all completed sides except for the layer closest to floor.

You’re becoming a pro at this cube. Just look at how much you have done already. Okay… on to the ABC step. This step can be confusing at first, so watch out! But once you get the hang of it, its most people’s favorite step. It’s fun!

Warning: You need to know the 26 letter alphabet to continue! Are you ready? A good prerequisite for this course is kindergarten.

During this entire step 4, the yellow cube will almost always be facing you. We will be looking at different tops, but yellow side will still face us.

 Let’s begin!

So your cube should look something like this right now. Reposition your cube so the white side is in the back and the yellow side is facing front.

Previous step was cube all white on top, with upside down tetris shapes on each side. Now, reposition the cube so yellow side is facing you.

 

1 – Focus piece does not contain yellow.

A yellow square behind a red circle-slash 'no' symbol.

Shun Yellow Pieces!

Up to now, the only specific color that has mattered is white. The other colors were all treated the same way. In this step, we avoid yellow pieces.

Lets look at what I call the “focus area”. Look at the focus area in the image below. This step is all about the pieces surrounding the yellow center. Notice the cube on the right. The focus piece has two parts: red & blue. If the red or blue were yellow, we couldn’t use that piece.

During this step we will be looking at areas surrounding the yellow center. This is the side facing you. Our area of focus will always be on the piece on top. The corner piece in the center/top facing you is outlined to show focus area.   What do you do if your focus area includes yellow? Rotate the cube to find another piece that works. (Of course, the yellow side will still be facing you as you rotate.)

Look at the focus area. (area highlighted is corner of top and middle facing you) But if yellow is in the focus area, reject it! (Notice that the yellow side of the cube is always facing you.)

When both parts of your focus piece are non-yellow, you are ready to move on to the “T” move.

Question!  What if all of my potential focus areas have yellow? Am I stuck now? I can’t advance to the “T” move until I find a non-yellow piece surrounding the yellow center. But they’re all yellow!!!!!!!!!

Easy. Calm down. Refer to the section further down called, “All of my potential focus areas have yellow! Now what?”

 

2 – Make the “T”

Now that we have a non-yellow focus area, we can make the “T”. Look at the top color in the focus area. What color is it? In the example below it’s blue. Find its matching side. While holding the front yellow side, we will turn the back two rows until you find the matching color. It should make a large “T” shape!

In the focus area, what is the color on top? Blue!

Leave the front side alone! Turn the back two layers. Keep turning until you find the matching color! Makes a 'T'

 

3 – Declare key word and do ABC’s

For the ABC move we need to first know our key word. Then after we do the ABC move, we find a new key word and do the ABC move again. So how do we find the key word each time? Simple. You just look at the color at the tip of the “T” you made. In the example below, its red. Now where is the red side of the cube? Is it left or right? The answer to that becomes your keyword. In the example below, the key word is “Left”, because red is on the left side.

Info you could probably ignore: Notice the question marks on cube image. Those question marks show where we are about to move the highlighted piece. The ABC move will actually take the highlighted piece and insert it into one of those locations. But… you really don’t need to know that, just follow the instructions and the piece will end up where it needs to go.

Where do we want the focus piece to end up? Right or Left? Peek to the side of the cube. The red side is to the left, so our keyword is 'left'!

Various Examples: Red is my focus color. Red side of cube is on right. Keyword is 'Right'. Green is my focus color. Green side of cube is on right. Keyword is 'Right'. Blue is my focus color. Blue side of cube is on right. Keyword is 'Right'. Red is my focus and red side is on left. Keyword is 'Left'.

Hopefully, you can now identify what your key word is. If not, go back up and look again. In the example below, our keyword is left. So we say out loud, “Left!”

Red  side of cube is on left. Focus area is red. Today our keyword is 'Left'. Say it really loud!

ABC move!

Now that you know the key word, you can do the ABC move. The ABC move is setup so you can easily memorize some moves. Don’t worry. They look harder than they really are at first. And you won’t have to remember them forever. Once you do it a few times, your hands will begin to remember and you won’t need this ABC guide. But for now, say the steps out loud when you do them.

Okay, here are the steps:

  • AAWAY  Face turns AWAY from [keyword].
  • BBOTTOM  Bottom layer turns [keyword].
  • CCOLUMN  Column comes down! Which column? Chose [keyword] column.
  • DDELICIOUS SANDWICH  The “meat” of the sandwich turns [keyword].
  • EEVERYTHING GOES BACK UP!  The column you brought down earlier goes back up. In other words, the [keyword] column goes up.
  • FFIX YOUR WHITES Return the whites to be on one side together.

(Having trouble memorizing all these steps for the cube? Check out my cheat sheet.) 

Let’s do an example. Let’s start with the letter “A”. It means “Away.” We turn the front of our cube in the opposite direction of our key word. If our key word is “left”, then we will turn the front away from the left side as if our focus area is scared of the left.

Away! Face turns AWAY from the keyword. Say,'A - turn front AWAY from left.'

Now we turn the bottom layer once to the left. Easy!

Bottom! Bottom turns in direction of keyword. Say, 'B-Bottom goes left.'

If you think about it, the front of the cube is really three vertical columns: Left column, middle column, and right column. We are going to move either the left column or right column. Which one? Right or Left? Our key word decides. In the example below we choose the left column.

Columns! Keyword column comes down. Say, 'C-Column. Left column comes down.

The front of the cube also looks like a sandwich. You have a bun on top, bun on bottom, and meat in the middle. We are going to turn the delicious part of the sandwich… the meat. But which way? We let the key word decide. In the example below we turn the meat left.

Tip: It can be difficult to turn the middle row. Do your best. Hold the top row with your left hand, the bottom row with your right hand. Then use your right middle finger to push the middle row from behind. Try it. It’s fun!

Delicious Sandwich! Meat of sandwich turns in direction of keyword. Say,'D - Delicious sandwich. Meat goes left.'

Remember that column we pulled down earlier? Now we are taking it back up again. Did you forget which column you pulled down? Was it the right column or was it the left column? No big deal. Just think of the key word.

Everything goes back up! The keyword column goes back up. Say, 'E-Everything goes back up. Left Column.'

The next step would be “F” for “Fix your whites”…but before you review that, here are all the steps again:

  • AAWAY  Face turns AWAY from [keyword].
  • BBOTTOM  Bottom layer turns [keyword].
  • CCOLUMN  Column comes down! Which column? Chose [keyword] column.
  • DDELICIOUS SANDWICH  The “meat” of the sandwich turns [keyword].
  • EEVERYTHING GOES BACK UP!  The column you brought down earlier goes back up. In other words, the [keyword] column goes up.
  • FFIX YOUR WHITES Return the whites to be on one side together.

For your convenience, here is a list below showing ABC for left and right together.

Two columns comparing left and right keywords. For instance, if key word is left, Face turns away from left. Bottom turns left. Left column comes down. Meat of sandwich turns left. Everything goes back up. Right side of column is opposite, but same pattern.

Okay, now the last step of the ABC move is to fix your whites. It doesn’t matter what your key word is at this point. Just reposition the cube so you can see all the white pieces. Move the row of 3 whites to the side with the largest group of whites. More detail in the image below.

Reposition your cube until you can see all the white pieces. Move the row of 3 whites to the side with the largest group of whites. This is correct. Reposition cube so whites are all on top with only 1 missing in the middle/front. A white square on cube front directly below the missing piece. Hide lonely white piece by turning layer 3. White piece is hidden. Bring column with empty spot toward you. Empty spot is now on layer 3. Bring lonely white out of hiding. White is in place! 3 whites should be touching on front of cube. Move the column up to finish.

Summary for Step 4:

  1. Face yellow towards you
  2. Find a non-yellow focus piece
  3. Make the “T”
  4. Declare key word and do ABC

Those are all the steps. Keep repeating the steps until your finished with the goal. You know when you are done when the top of your cube is white and the top two layers of the cube are solved. If you can do it under five minutes, then you are ready for the next step!

 

PROBLEM/QUESTIONS!

“All of my potential focus areas have yellow! Now what?”

So sometimes you will get in a situation that all four focus areas have some yellow. No biggie. If you have no other options, just pretend that everything is cool. Treat it as if it is a legit color. But no need to make the “T”… just do the ABC part. Should you choose right or left as your key word? Just choose the side that looks like it has a piece that doesn’t belong there. You wouldn’t want to mess up a side that looks complete. Do the ABC and that should change this up a bit.

No matter how we turned this cube, the area of focus contains YELLOW. What now? A cube with all focus areas and potential focus areas all have yellow. A yellow/green piece is in focus area. We do not want this piece here. So we are going to move it somewhere else. Try to find a good location. But where? You can move the piece to either of these spots. Either the top right middle or the top left middle. If you choose the right side, then 'right' would be your keyword when doing the ABC move. After that move, a new color should be available in the focus area.

Finished?

The below image will tell you if you are done.

Are you done? White side should be done. 2 Layers of each color should be done. Top should be all white. The sides should be almost complete except for layer closest to floor.

 

 

Did the ABCs help???

Cube exploding over a picture of a man with cube and the words Easiest Solve . comIt was a lot of work building this page. If you want to say “thank you”, consider donating here! It’s much appreciated!

Get A Cube.

Some have wondered what cube I use. Happy to help. I’m use 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

Take the 5 Minute Challenge! 

A timer for 5 minutes made up of cubes.

Now scramble your cube! See if you can go through all the previous steps and solve the ABCs.

If you can do it under five minutes, then you are ready for the next step!

*Disclaimer: This page contains affiliate links. That means that I am awarded a small commission for purchases made through them, at no added cost for you.

10 thoughts on “Step 4 – ABC’s

  1. I stuck on ABC step in which every edge is yellow and after doing ABC on it it just repeat and the same position comes can anyone help or is there a video of it

  2. John, the summary for this step is:

    -Face yellow towards you
    -Find a non-yellow focus piece
    -Make the “T”
    -Declare key word and do ABC

    Sometimes you will get in a situation that you can’t make the “T” because all four focus areas have some yellow. No biggie. If you have no other options, just pretend that everything is cool. Pick a color and treat it as if it is a legit color. But no need to make the “T”… just do the ABC part. Should you choose right or left as your key word? Just choose the side that looks like it has a piece that doesn’t belong there. You wouldn’t want to mess up a side that looks complete. Do the ABC and that should change this up a bit and make a color available. (there are pictures above in the section “All of my potential focus areas have yellow! Now what?”

  3. I can’t thank you enough for what you have done! You helped me fulfill my childhood dream now!!! I have shared your page with all my friends and they all found it absolutely helpful…Many thanks again!

    1. So glad to hear it!! I was hoping to fulfill someone’s childhood dream today. (Now i can check that off my list). 🙂
      Thanks for sharing this with your friends. Much appreciated!

  4. I had A lot of problems with this step and last step and if someone can help me to do it live then dm me on discord:
    shahar king#6705

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