Puzzled 2: My 4x4x4 Story

Wednesday, May 31, 2017

My 4x4x4 Story

On June 29, 2008 I uploaded this to Scribd.
On January 15, 2010 I posted it on WordPress.

10/24/2022: This includes the page A Centers Last Solution based on the one by Dave Baum. It is basically the type of solution I normally use to solve big cubes but I don't use all his algorithms to solve the centers. The main thing I use from Dave Baum is the overall flow of the solve, and one algorithm. It is the one to solve the first set of middle layer edges. Even that one doesn't look right because of the angle I hold the cube to do it. I don't hold F in front. As I think about it, what I should do is hold the cube so I am solving the d layer edges and do R2 ui R2 u2 R2 u R2.

Also included in the document below is the page based on Adam Cheyer—Corners First.

Not included below is a page I ran across in my files recently called Rubik's Revenge aka 4x4 aka 4x4x4. The basic outline goes like this:

Get the 6 centers. (no details are given)
Get the edgepairs all paired up. (details are given but I did not find them useful when I tried it today) What I did today is make an edgepair in the front top, move it to the R or L layer using The Move, restore the centers. After 8 edgepairs are made and all stored in R and L, turn the cube so you can use an 8-move 3-cycle to pair up the rest.
Solve it like a 3x3 cube.
Final Fixes if necessary. This is the part of this method that I have always refused to learn. But now I am at a point in my puzzling that I might be ready to try it out. I should see how my solve times compare for the two methods, and how I currently feel about it after giving it a chance.

Flipped Edgepair

~~Turn the left half of the cube down 90 degrees.~~
Restore the centers one at a time. U2 Left half up U2 Left half down U2. Doing this 3 times restores all the centers. And fixes the flipped edgepair problem. Now just re-solve the edges. I say "just" but I just tried it and messed up undoing the setup moves. Argh.
How about this? If one middle layer edge pair is flipped, turn a middle layer slice 90 degrees, 3-cycle the edge pieces to pair them up again, solve the edges, move centers using your longtime favorite centers last method. Is this really better than the centers last method?

Use the Centers Last method of placing the first row of middle layer edges. This flips the edge! Then solve the other row of middle layer edges just like the Centers Last method. Then fix the centers. I like this!!!

Swapped Corners

r2 U2 r2 (Uu)2 r2 u2 — now it is solvable according to Chris Hardwick. The algorithm swaps 2 edge pairs, front and back. So what if I use my old 2x2x2 corner swapper to swap the corners, then turn the cube so the swapped edges are front and back, then do the Hardwick algorithm.
Alternately you can do (Uu)2 then remove one of the unmatched edge pieces in the middle section of the cube with The Move. Now return that pair to the same position but inverted by another Move. Do the same thing with the unmatched pair on the opposite side of the cube. (Uu)2. Now it is solvable according to Philip Marshall.

Swapped Edges r2 U2 r2 (Uu)2 r2 u2 swaps the top front and back edge pairs. Thanks to Chris Hardwick for sharing this.

I gave it a shot. Focused on the 4x4 for a few days. I don't hate the new method I worked out, but I'm not as fast with it. I might get faster if I practiced enough but why? My old method is predictable. You just crank it out step by step. The new method has some minor advantages and with the 4x4 there are some interesting twists that you have to look for, but overall I like the Centers Last Method.

What really convinced me was trying Centers First on the 5x5. What a pain! No thank you. Of course my 5x5 blue and green are so close it is hard to solve by any method. Maybe I'll try the 6x6 some time.

Rubik's 4x4x4 Story by robertpauljr on Scribd

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Rubik's Cube Books

I got my first Rubik's Cube in the early nineteen eighties. The only way I could solve it was to take it apart and put it back together solved. Until, that is, I got some little books that explained sequences of moves that could be used to put pieces where you want them without messing up what was already in place.

The Simple Solution To Rubik's Cube
by James G. Nourse
Notes on Rubik's Magic Cube
by David Singmaster
Solve That Crazy, Mixed-up Cube Puzzle
by Don Frederick.

I think I put together my own strategy using bits and pieces gleaned from all three books. Eventually I lost interest and forgot how to complete the cube, forgot I had those books, and lost track of the cubes.

Mark Jeays' Working Corner Method

http://jeays.net/rubiks.htm

In 2007 my interest in Rubik's Cube was rekindled when I watched the movie The Pursuit of Happyness. Marae found my 1980s cube for me and I tried to solve it. Huh-uh. I could do part of it, but not the last layer. Looking online I found various tutorials. Mark Jeays included YouTube videos with his Solution 2. This method worked for me and although I no longer use it in its entirety, nor could I, as I have forgotten the yellow edges sequences, I still find the basic working corner technique helpful, and use a slightly modified version of his corner twisting technique at times.

In the summer of 2014 we packed 30 or so puzzles and flew to visit Raymond and Fam in the Czech Republic. Breann, who had learned this method and no other, made some comment about bubururu or something like that, and it piqued my curiosity. What were those algorithms, and how similar are they to the EPS technique I use now when using a working corner? So I looked them up. Actually, the three algorithms were for dealing with the two last edges solved, which either needed to be swapped, or flipped, or swapped and flipped. The swapper is very similar to the one I have learned and used since, but I actually like it better in one sense, with a slight modification.

To swap UR and FR without flipping:

U' R U' R' U' R U' R' U'

To swap and flip UR and FR:

F' U' F U' F' U' F U2

To flip UR and FR:

F' U F U' R U' R' U

Will I actually learn and use these? Probably not. But I like them. :)

There is a slightly different implementation of the Working Corner Method. Arnaud van Galen calls it the Keyhole Method. I like his demonstration better than the one I originally learned. It just dawned on me why he is able to get away with doing it the way he does. He goes ahead and finishes the F2L before going to the last layer, unlike the way Jeays uses the working corner (keyhole) to also get the last layer. Since I no longer use the working corner to get the last layer, I should implement Arnaud's technique.

Jasmine's Scalable Method

http://peter.stillhq.com/jasmine/rubikscubesolution.html

This was the next method I learned. For awhile the idea of speed cubing appealed to me. This promised to be a good beginner's method for those that wanted to go on to faster method's later. Now that I know what I know, I wouldn't recommend this method if your goal is to be able to consistently solve the cube in less than 30 seconds. Rubik's Speedsolver Champion Leyan Lo presents a beginner's method that I like the looks of although I've never learned it. I have recently watched Arnaud van Galen's complete beginner's method video series and recommend them. Gilles Roux presents a beginners' method that is very close to one of my favorite ways of solving the cube. The simplicity and comprehensibility make this method a good place to start if you want to understand the Rubik's Cube. Also, if you are interested in speedcubing you should check out this YouTube video.

After trying for months to get under a minute with both Jasmine's Method and the Corner's First Method—and failing, I finally decided to quit trying and just enjoy cubing at a nice slow pace.

Don't get me wrong. Jasmine's Method has its merits. The sequences for orienting the last layer edges and corners, and permuting the last layer edges are still in my arsenal of useful algorithms.

Adam Cheyer's Corners First Method

Philip Marshall's Ultimate Solution

http://helm.lu/cube/MarshallPhilipp/
After learning to solve the cube corners first, what is next? An Edges First Method! This was a very difficult tutorial to follow, but once I got it, it was my favorite way to solve the cube for awhile. It uses only a few algorithms, and when you are finished solving the cube you feel like you've solved the puzzle, not just used memorized sequences to unscramble it.

Gilles Roux presents a beginners' method that could be used to solve the cube edges first. The simplicity and comprehensibility make this method a good place to start if you want to understand the Rubik's Cube. His technique is much easier to follow than Marshall's.