Dropping a petal into the cross
Petal dropF2
A cross-colour edge is sitting on the top face — a daisy petal — and its second sticker points at you and matches the centre of the front face. Lined up like that, it is ready to drop.
11 cases
Beginner — first two layers
The handful of moves that get the bottom two layers done, one piece at a time.
The beginner method builds the cube in strict order: a cross on the bottom, then the four bottom corners, then the four middle edges. It is not fast, but every step is a short sequence you can understand rather than memorise, and nothing here will be wasted — the same finger patterns reappear in F2L later.
From beginner
Cross 3
Cross edge lying on its side
Side edgeU'R'FR
The last cross edge is in the top layer but lying flat against the front face: the cross colour points out at you, and the sticker on top is the one that matches the front centre. It is the wrong way up to be a petal, so a half turn of the front would put it into the cross upside down.
Cross edge in upside down
Flipped edgeF2U'R'FR
The edge is already sitting in its place at the bottom of the front face, but flipped: the cross colour faces you and the side colour is underneath. From above the cross looks finished, which is exactly why this one catches people.
Bottom corners 5
Corner above its slot, cross colour on the right
Corner, one goRUR'U'
The corner you want is in the top layer directly above the hole it belongs in — the bottom front right — and its cross-colour sticker is on the right-hand face.
Corner above its slot, cross colour on top
Corner, three goesRUR'U'RUR'U'RUR'U'
Same position as above — the corner is in the top layer directly over its slot — but the cross-colour sticker is facing straight up at you instead of out to the right.
Corner above its slot, cross colour facing you
Corner, five goesRUR'U'RUR'U'RUR'U'RUR'U'RUR'U'
The corner is over its slot once more, and this time the cross-colour sticker is on the front face, pointing at you.
Corner in the top layer, over the wrong slot
Wrong slotURUR'U'
The corner you want is loose in the top layer, but it is hovering over the back-right slot rather than the front-right one, showing its cross colour on the back face.
Corner in the slot the wrong way round
Twisted inRUR'U'RUR'U'RUR'U'RUR'U'
The corner is in the right slot but twisted — its cross-colour sticker faces the front instead of pointing down — so the bottom face still has a hole in it even though the piece looks placed.
Middle edges 3
Middle edge going to the right
Right insertURU'R'U'F'UF
An edge in the top layer with no cross colour anywhere on it. Its front sticker matches the front centre, and the sticker facing up matches the right-hand centre — so it belongs in the slot between the front and the right.
Middle edge going to the left
Left insertU'L'ULUFU'F'
The same picture with the top sticker matching the left-hand centre instead of the right. Front sticker matches the front centre, top sticker matches the left centre, so the edge belongs between the front and the left.
Wrong edge stuck in a middle slot
Stuck edgeURU'R'U'F'UFURU'R'U'F'UF
The front-right slot is already full, but with the wrong edge — one of its stickers is the top colour, so it belongs in the last layer, not down here. Meanwhile the edge that does belong there is loose in the top layer.