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Lesson 5 10 min Beginner

The yellow cross

One algorithm, three shapes, and the first time you are told to ignore most of what you can see.

By the end you will be able to

  • Turn a dot, an L or a line into a yellow cross
  • Hold the cube the right way round for each of the three shapes
  • Leave the corners alone until the cross is finished

The last layer is four corners and four edges, and it takes four steps: get yellow on top of the edges, get yellow on top of the corners, put the corners in their places, put the edges in theirs. This lesson is the first of those, and it is the shortest.

The goal is a yellow cross on the top face: the yellow centre plus the four edges around it showing yellow upwards. Nothing else.

Three shapes, and only three

Look down at the top face and ignore the corners. Whatever the scramble did, the yellow you can see forms one of three patterns — or it is already a cross, in which case this lesson is over before it starts.

  • The dot — only the centre. No edge is showing yellow on top.
  • The L — the centre and two edges next to each other, making a right angle.
  • The line — the centre and two edges opposite each other, making a bar straight across.
  • The cross — all four. Nothing to do; move on to the next lesson.

The algorithm

FRUR'U'F' 6
Six moves, and the same six moves for all three shapes. What changes is how you hold the cube before you start.

The whole of this step is that sequence applied one to three times, with the cube turned to face the right way in between. Here is how to hold it for each shape.

  1. If you have a line, turn the whole cube until the line runs from your left to your right, across the top. Run the algorithm and you have the cross.
    FRUR'U'F'
  2. If you have an L, turn the whole cube until the two yellow edges point away from you and to your left, so the elbow of the L sits at the back-left. Run the algorithm twice, without changing your grip: the first go gives you the line already lying the right way, the second gives you the cross.
    FRUR'U'F'
  3. If you have a dot, hold it any way you like and run the algorithm once. You get an L. Re-hold it as above and run the algorithm twice more.
    FRUR'U'F'

Try each one

No turns yet
A line, already lying left to right. One go finishes the cross. Notice how wrong the corners look, and how little it matters.
No turns yet
An L with its two yellow edges pointing back and left, which is the position to hold it in. Two goes from here, one straight after the other.
No turns yet
A dot: no yellow edge facing up at all. Three goes from here, re-holding between each one.
The beginner last-layer algorithms This one and the three that follow it, with diagrams generated from the moves themselves.
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