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xyzzy

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1. Yellow cross has two pieces already solved and you can easily finish that cross in five moves (starting white-top green-front): F' D R' B2' D'.
2. Even if you're doing the white cross, don't do the cross on top. (Okay, I'm sort of guilty of this too, but I'm sub-20 and you're not.) The only situations where it's okay to start with your cross colour on top are if you can see that you'll be using a Rw2 or similar to finish off the cross, or if you're doing OH, neither of which is applicable here.
3. Last cross edge: the x' y' rotation hurts. Also, you did U R' U, which I assume is to pull out F2L pieces, which is good, but…
4. First pair choice: you don't even use the pieces you just pulled out!!!! Those (red-green) are the most obvious pieces to use for your first pair. For example, you could've done z' U L' U' L U' R' U' R. Blue-orange is also pretty obvious since the pieces are right next to each other. (Not to say that blue-red is bad (it's not), but it's not the easiest option. It looks like you waste half a second looking for an F2L pair to do.)
5. First pair execution: instead of a y rotation, consider a y' rotation so you solve the pair to the back instead of a front slot.
6. Second pair: you did two rotations for a case that didn't need a single rotation… (L' U' L U' L' U L) Also, too much needless AUFing. (That said, probably a good thing that you rotated to leave the unsolved slots at the front.)
7. Third pair: consider using a sledgehammer for edge control. (In this specific setup, it actually leads to a bad last slot case if you want to preserve edge orientation, but edge control is generally a good idea.)
8. Fourth pair: another unnecessary rotation. (Try U L' U' L U' L' U' L or F2 U R U' R' F2.) Use U moves to look at pieces on the top layer, rather than rotating.
9. OLL: learn this OLL case; it's basically just a Sune: l' U' L U' L' U2 l.
10. OCLL: why Niklas instead of a Sune? (Might or might not be a bad thing, but U R' U' R U' R' U2 R is probably faster.)
 
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Oatch

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Just a personal preference of mine, when doing reconstructions try finding what the overall rotation is for inspection rather than listing each one that you perform in your solve. Imo it doesn't really add much information. (Also, please get rid of the obnoxious background music next time)

Onto the actual solve: for someone with a sub-25 time I was surprised that you don't solve cross on bottom. Like others have mentioned previously make sure you get into this habit. Also, you did a heap more rotations while solving the cross and some seemingly random moves that didn't really achieve anything. Make sure you utilise your inspection wisely to plan out your cross solution as much as you can.

Lots of rotations and AUF's during F2L. Honestly just pausing for a moment to recognise your F2L case seems better than just AUF'ing back and forth for no reason (not saying pauses are ideal either, but it's better than doing pointless moves). (isn't it easier to identify the case if the pieces aren't moving rather than if they are?). While the notion of turning constantly is encouraged for getting faster times, this only really counts if your turns are actually constructive. You also had a fairly easy second pair pretty much set up ready to go. Judging by the length of your solution to that second pair and the two unnecessary rotations, it looks to me that either you weren't really looking ahead at all or you need to work on F2L efficiency (recommend checking out example solves to help with the latter). Again, for the fourth pair, you didn't have to rotate.

LL looked pretty standard except again try not to AUF back and forth during PLL recognition. Turn the cube in your hand to peek at the sides or AUF once if needed, because after performing that first U move before PLL it was pretty clear that you had a Y perm.

TL;DR: Solve cross on bottom. Avoid unnecessary rotations and AUF's. Work on F2L case recognition and efficiency. Favour better flow and looking ahead rather than spamming TPS and pausing. You can be easily sub-20 if you work on these. Good luck!
 

DGCubes

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R' U' R U' U' x' x' F' U U x' y' U R' U // This is really inefficient. Cross should almost always be rotationless, and always done on bottom. I'd also recommend trying to solve multiple pieces at once. In this case, I would do y L F U' F' U2 R' (this solves cross on top, but just do its equivalent on bottom)

// Starting F2L with cross on left is a bad habit. It makes it hard to look for pieces.
R x' z' U U L' U' L U' U' U' y R U R' // It's better to pause before you start a pair to plan out the entire thing than it is to pause many times while doing a pair. Your process should be: 1) see the two pieces, 2) plan out an efficient way to solve them, 3) execute that (ideally while looking ahead to your next pair so you don't have to pause the next time). In this case, after the rotations, I would have solved the blue-orange pair in the back by doing y' R' U R U' R' U' R. Solving pairs in the back is a good habit because it lets you look ahead to the next pair easier.

U U y' U U' U' L' U U U L y' U R' U2' R // Wayyyyyyyy too many U moves. This case is quite easy, and I'd recommend you learn the alg for it: after the first y', do a y' U', then R U' R' U R U' R'. The way you did it this solve does have the perk of creating a free pair, but you could've solved it simultaneously with this pair (instead of U R' U2' R, do U R' U2' F R F'). This is not necessary by any means, and is definitely hard to come up with on the spot, but it's a good strategy to be aware of for when it does come up.

U R U' R' // You teeechnically could've forced some edges of the last layer to be oriented by doing a sledgehammer (R' F R F') here instead, but again it's definitely not necessary.

y' U' R U' R' U y' R' U' R // Solid.

U' F U R U' R' F'
U' L' U R U' L U R' // Good job not rotating at all in the last layer. My only suggestion is that you learn that OLL because it's actually pretty easy; it's just a lefty fat sune (l' U' L U' L' U2 l).
U U U' F R U' R' U' R U R' F' R U R' U' R' F R F' // Nice, but try to cut down on U moves before the alg. Recognize first, then do U moves.

Hope you don't mind that I kind of tore your solve apart, lol. Think of it as a good thing, because it means you have specific places to improve if you want to get faster. Overall, I'd say the biggest thing to work on is to try to be more efficient in general with cross and F2L. Good luck, and let me know if you have any questions/comments. :)
 

CubingRF

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R' U' R U' U' x' x' F' U U x' y' U R' U // This is really inefficient. Cross should almost always be rotationless, and always done on bottom. I'd also recommend trying to solve multiple pieces at once. In this case, I would do y L F U' F' U2 R' (this solves cross on top, but just do its equivalent on bottom)

// Starting F2L with cross on left is a bad habit. It makes it hard to look for pieces.
R x' z' U U L' U' L U' U' U' y R U R' // It's better to pause before you start a pair to plan out the entire thing than it is to pause many times while doing a pair. Your process should be: 1) see the two pieces, 2) plan out an efficient way to solve them, 3) execute that (ideally while looking ahead to your next pair so you don't have to pause the next time). In this case, after the rotations, I would have solved the blue-orange pair in the back by doing y' R' U R U' R' U' R. Solving pairs in the back is a good habit because it lets you look ahead to the next pair easier.

U U y' U U' U' L' U U U L y' U R' U2' R // Wayyyyyyyy too many U moves. This case is quite easy, and I'd recommend you learn the alg for it: after the first y', do a y' U', then R U' R' U R U' R'. The way you did it this solve does have the perk of creating a free pair, but you could've solved it simultaneously with this pair (instead of U R' U2' R, do U R' U2' F R F'). This is not necessary by any means, and is definitely hard to come up with on the spot, but it's a good strategy to be aware of for when it does come up.

U R U' R' // You teeechnically could've forced some edges of the last layer to be oriented by doing a sledgehammer (R' F R F') here instead, but again it's definitely not necessary.

y' U' R U' R' U y' R' U' R // Solid.

U' F U R U' R' F'
U' L' U R U' L U R' // Good job not rotating at all in the last layer. My only suggestion is that you learn that OLL because it's actually pretty easy; it's just a lefty fat sune (l' U' L U' L' U2 l).
U U U' F R U' R' U' R U R' F' R U R' U' R' F R F' // Nice, but try to cut down on U moves before the alg. Recognize first, then do U moves.

Hope you don't mind that I kind of tore your solve apart, lol. Think of it as a good thing, because it means you have specific places to improve if you want to get faster. Overall, I'd say the biggest thing to work on is to try to be more efficient in general with cross and F2L. Good luck, and let me know if you have any questions/comments. :)

Thanks for the kind critique! That helped by 3 seconds
 

Oatch

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nonono. Never rotate in the LL, always do AUF.

Ah yep, true. I very much agree that you generally shouldn't rotate in LL. What I meant is not really doing a full rotation, but since for example PLL can be recognised from only looking at two sides, if you're staring at the cube front-on and can't see the sides, you angle your hands slightly so you can see one of the other sides, not necessarily doing a full rotation with a regrip. Of course, since two-sided PLL recognition can take some time getting used to, single AUF's are fine too. The thing I was really advising against is to not back-and-forth AUF more than you have to, but maybe that's just my solving style!
 

greentgoatgal

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Opinions on these 2 solves?

Reconstructions (thanks to @xyzzy)

First solve:

Scramble
y' z2 R2 F' R' F R D' B U' F2 L' U2 F' L2 D2 B U2 D2 B' L2 B' R2

Solve
x // insp
(U2 D) r' D' F' (y U') R2 // cross
U y U' R U U R' y R' U2 R U' R' U R // first slot
R U' R' y R' U' R U' R' U R // second slot
y' U y' R' F R F' R U' R' // third slot
R' U U R U' U' R' U R // last slot
U' U' l' U' l L' U' L U l' U l // OLL
U R U' R' U' R U R D R' U' R D' R' U2 R' U // PLL

Second solve:

Scramble
y' x2 F' R F L' U2 B L2 B R U' L2 D2 B U2 B' R2 U2 F2 U2

Solve
z' y // insp
R (U D') L (y' z) D' R D // cross
R U U R' U L' U U L U2' L2' U U' L U L // first slot
R U2 R' U R U R' U' L' B' l U M' // second slot
U' R U R' U2' R U2 R' U2 R U' R' // third slot
y' U y' R U R' U' d' L' U L // last slot
f' L' U' L U f // OLL
U' U' y' l' U R' D2 R U' R' D2 R2 // PLL

Video:
 

xyzzy

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Opinions on these 2 solves?
You're over a second faster than I am, so clearly you're doing something right that I'm not. With that out of the way:

General: fingertricks and execution are good (I like your single-motion U2'), apart from one overshoot in the second solve. F2L efficiency seems to leave something to be desired. Lookahead is decent, cross is efficient, but cross-to-F2L transition isn't perfect.

First slot: After the first U move, the blue-orange pair is the most obvious one, and it can be solved LU 2-gen: U2 L' U L U' L' U' L. That's the pair you ended up doing, but you did two unnecessary rotations. (The "heuristic" I use to decide whether to rotate is whether the non-top colour of the edge matches the left and right face colours; if they match, then the F2L pair can be done RUL.)

Second slot: Not the pair I would've chosen, but for the pair you chose, your solution is speed-optimal. Green-red can be done with a lefty sledge and insert (L F' L' F L' U' L). Green-orange needs a rotation (d R' U2 R U' R U R'), and this removes the blue-red pieces while inserting something useful.

Third slot: Two rotations right at the start is a nope. Rather than rotating to do green-red, green-orange can be done with L U2 L2 U' L, which also pulls out the stuck green-red edge.

Last slot: Very standard. Consider doing a back sledgehammer to orient edges. (Not necessarily a good option because backsledge is more awkward to fingertrick than regular sledge.)

OLL: Consider the mirror of the OLL alg you used (r' U' M' U' R U r' U r).
First slot: After the R U2 R', you can make use of the BR slot to pair the blue-red pieces rather than the FL slot. This eliminates one AUF.
What you did: R U2 R' U L' U2 L U2' L' U L
Alternative: R U2 R' U' R' U2 R L' U L

Second slot: In general, if you have to pull pieces out or split pieces that are stuck together, try to do something else useful simultaneously. R U2 R' doesn't seem to set up anything for an immediate insert. Doing a rotationless insert at the end is good, though.
What you did: R U2 R' U R U R' U' r' U' R U M'
Alternative: y' R' U R U L U L'

Third slot: As in the first slot, you could've used the opposite slot to form the pair, which saves two AUFs. But that's not all! Since this just needs the edge to be inserted, you can do something a bit more fancy.
Alternative (getting rid of the AUFs): U' R U R' L U2 L' R U' R'
Alternative (getting rid of even more): U' R U L U2 L' U' R'
Alternative (ZBLS, except it's not the last slot): F' U F U R U R'
Alternative: F' R U R' U' R' F R

Last slot: Too many rotations. Try: U y' L' U L U' L' U L.

OLL: I was expecting U2 F' U' L' U L F for this, but f' L' U' L U f is probably fine too. Try also U R' U' F' U F R.

PLL: Normally people say not to rotate for PLL, but A/E perms end with the cube rotated, which can make the final AUF awkward. I'm not sure if there's a consensus on whether rotating instead of AUF is worth it.
 
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dnguyen2204

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Scramble: D2 L2 U2 B' U2 B2 L2 U2 L2 F D2 L' B2 D' R' B2 D' L F' L2 D2

Cross: R2 L2 F

F2L: U' R' U R y' U' L U' L' (1)
U' L' U L (2)
R U' R2 U' R (3)
R U' R' y' R' U' R U2 R' U R (4)

OLL: U2 Fw R U R' U' Fw' (edges)
U R U2 R' U' R U R' U' R U' R' (corners)

PLL: U R U R' F' R U R' U' R' F R2 U' R' U2

Any critiques?
 

asacuber

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Scramble: D2 L2 U2 B' U2 B2 L2 U2 L2 F D2 L' B2 D' R' B2 D' L F' L2 D2

Cross: R2 L2 F

F2L: U' R' U R y' U' L U' L' (1)
U' L' U L (2)
R U' R2 U' R (3)
R U' R' y' R' U' R U2 R' U R (4)

OLL: U2 Fw R U R' U' Fw' (edges)
U R U2 R' U' R U R' U' R U' R' (corners)

PLL: U R U R' F' R U R' U' R' F R2 U' R' U2

Any critiques?

At oll, You could have done U2
F (R U R' U')*2 F'
Learn easy OLLs :)
 

tnk351

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Scramble: D' B2 U L2 U2 F2 D' F2 U' R U B' D' B' F' R B2 D' L2 F U2
Inspection: x2' x2
Cross: x' U R F2 R F x'
F2L 1 : U' L' U L U2 F' U' F
F2L 2: y R' U2 R U' F' U F
F2L 3: U' R' U R
F2L 4: F' U2 F U' R U R'
OLL: F R' F' r U R U' r
PLL: U R U2 R' U' R U2 L' U R' U' L'
 

asacuber

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Scramble: D' B2 U L2 U2 F2 D' F2 U' R U B' D' B' F' R B2 D' L2 F U2
Inspection: x2' x2
Cross: x' U R F2 R F x'
F2L 1 : U' L' U L U2 F' U' F
F2L 2: y R' U2 R U' F' U F
F2L 3: U' R' U R
F2L 4: F' U2 F U' R U R'
OLL: F R' F' r U R U' r
PLL: U R U2 R' U' R U2 L' U R' U' L'

I didn't really find anything very wrong in that solve. However do you always solve cross in front?
Also there should be a 'y' after F2L 2.
Easy ZBLL for that case: Rw' U2 R2 F R F' R U2 Rw'
 

tnk351

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Thanks! I always do cross on white side and it appears moving it to the front face would be better for solving.
 

Hazel

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Random example solve, tips would be appriciated! I average around sub-13, I know full OLL and PLL, COLL minus sunes and antisunes, and some random other cases from various subsets.

R F B2 U R D' R2 F B' R F2 D2 L2 D F2 U2 F2 D R2

y' U F' U L F' U r' U R // Cross (I know it's inneficient but that's what I'd do in a real solve)
L' U2 L U L' U' L // F2L 1
L U' L' R' U' R U' R' U R // F2L 2
R U2 R' L U' L' // F2L 3
R U R' U2 R U2 R' U' R U2 R' // Last slot with winter variation
U (G perm starting with R U R' y') // PLL
 

cubeshepherd

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Random example solve, tips would be appriciated! I average around sub-13, I know full OLL and PLL, COLL minus sunes and antisunes, and some random other cases from various subsets.

R F B2 U R D' R2 F B' R F2 D2 L2 D F2 U2 F2 D R2

y' U F' U L F' U r' U R // Cross (I know it's inneficient but that's what I'd do in a real solve)
L' U2 L U L' U' L // F2L 1
L U' L' R' U' R U' R' U R // F2L 2
R U2 R' L U' L' // F2L 3
R U R' U2 R U2 R' U' R U2 R' // Last slot with winter variation
U (G perm starting with R U R' y') // PLL
First off, for the cross the last R should be a Rw so it would be (y' U F' U L F' U r' U r) Cross
And on your 4th F2L pair you needed a U at the beginning before the R.

With that being said, here is your original solve except once I added the needed moves the OLL is a SUNE case and for PLL I believe my version it is a little faster of a perm with no rotation to execute then the one that you were going to have:
https://alg.cubing.net/?setup=R_F_B...U-_R-_U_R-_Uw_R2// _ &title=Original Solution
y' U F' U L F' U Rw' U Rw//Cross
L' U2 L U L' U' L // F2L 1
L U' L' R' U' R U' R' U R // F2L 2
R U2 R' L U' L' // F2L 3
U R U R' U2 R U2 R' U2R U' R'//F2L 4
R U R' U R U2 R'//Sune OLL
U R U R' y' R2' Uw' R U' R' U R' Uw R2//

And here is a revised solve with your scramble. I believe that the solve that I came up with is a little more efficient, especially for the cross, but please take it with a grain a salt because I only average in the 12 seconds.
y' R' F L D' R//Cross
y' L U' L' U' R U R2 U R U2 R' U2 R U' R' U R//First and second pair
U2 L' U L U2 L' U L//Third pair
U L U' L' U2 L U' L'//Forth pair
R U2 R2 U' R U' R' U2 F R F'//OLL
U' x R' U R' D2 R U' R' D2 R2 x' U'// Aa Perm Pll
https://alg.cubing.net/?setup=R_F_B...2_x-_U-//_Aa_Perm_Pll &title=Revised Solution

All in all you solution was pretty good, especially once you add the right moves:) But I think that if you use the cross solution that I provided you can look ahead at your first F2L pair easier then doing what you did with the lower case r's. Once the cross was done the F2L's were good and your last layer is self explanatory.
 
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