The daisy and the white cross

Where the solve begins

We'll solve the cube layer by layer: the white bottom first, then the middle layer, then the yellow top. The white layer starts with four white edges, which together form a cross, the skeleton of the bottom face.

Building that cross directly on the bottom is awkward. You can't see what you're doing, so you keep tipping the cube back and forth. Let's cheat instead. First we'll gather the white edges on top, around the yellow center, where everything is in plain view. Then we'll send each one down with a single turn.

The four white edges and the yellow center are highlighted. The edges are scattered across all three layers, which is perfectly normal for a scrambled cube.

The daisy

Here's the goal of step one. The yellow center is the heart of the flower, and the four white edges around it are the petals, all white side up. Ignore every other piece for now, and don't worry yet about the color of each petal's second sticker.

The golden rule of the daisy: don't knock off a petal you've already placed. Turn the top as much as you like; U just spins the whole flower. But when a side face turns, it carries its top edge off the top with it. So before every lift, turn the top until the spot above the face you're about to turn is empty.

A petal from the middle layer

This is the case you'll meet most often. The white-blue edge sits in the middle layer at the front right, its white sticker facing you. An R turn would lift it straight to the top, but that spot already holds a petal, and R would drag it down.

So first play U' to clear the spot above the right face. Now R, and the new petal arrives white side up.

Which face do you turn? The one that holds the edge's colored sticker. Here white faces front and blue faces right, so you turn the right face. If white faced right, you'd lift the edge with the front face instead: F′.

A petal on the bottom, white side down

The white-red edge lies on the bottom at the front, white sticker facing down. A half turn lifts it: F2 swings the edge up to the top, where it lands white side up.

But first, make sure the top front spot is free. Here it isn't. A petal is already sitting there, and F2 would simply swap it for the new one: one goes down, one comes up, and the score stays the same. So U brings an empty spot to the front, and only then do you play F2.

A petal facing sideways

The white-green edge is on the bottom at the front, but its white sticker faces you instead of the floor. F2 won't help here: the petal would arrive with white facing sideways. The trick is to kick the edge into the middle layer with one turn, then treat it like the first case.

F carries the edge to the left, into the middle layer. The top front spot is empty, so no petal gets knocked off. Then U clears the top left spot, and L' lifts the petal into place.

If a white edge is on top but its white sticker faces sideways, it gets the same treatment: turn its face to drop the edge into the middle layer, then do the familiar lift.

Try it yourself: the daisy

This is the cube we started the chapter with, and it has every case at once: an edge in the middle layer, one on top with white facing sideways, one on the bottom with white facing down and one on the bottom with white facing sideways. Build the daisy.

Take your time. Before you turn any side face, glance up: is a petal sitting above it? If so, move it aside first with U, U' or U2.

Stuck? Press Hint: the cube goes back to the start and plays one solution, R′ F′ U R U R2. It's a crafty one. The very first turn lifts a petal and, as a bonus, moves another edge somewhere handier.

From daisy to cross

Now the petals go down, and not just anywhere: each one goes to its own center. Look at a petal's second sticker, the one on the side. Turn the top until that sticker matches the center below it, forming a little column of two matching colors. Then give that face a half turn, and the petal drops to the bottom, white side down.

In our daisy a single U lines up two petals at once: orange over the orange center on the right, and red over the red center on the left (you can't see that side from here, but it's the same story). R2, L2, and two arms of the cross are done. Then U2 pairs green with green at the front and blue with blue at the back: F2, B2.

Why the cross comes out right

A half turn carries an edge from top to bottom without ever taking it off its face. The side sticker stays on that face the whole way: if it matched the center at the top, it still matches at the bottom. The white sticker, which faced up, now faces down. That's why the cross comes out right the first time: white underneath, and on every side an edge sitting below the center of its own color.

Where people trip up:

• dropping a petal without checking its color. The cross is white underneath, but the sides don't match (remember the fake white face from chapter 1?);
• lifting an edge with a turn that knocks off a finished petal, then wondering why they're back to three;
• turning the whole cube to line things up, instead of just the top. Only a U turn does the aligning: the centers stay put while the petals travel.

Try it yourself: the white cross

The daisy is ready; now turn it into a cross. For each petal, turn the top until its side sticker matches the center below, then give that face a half turn. You're done when all four white edges are on the bottom and the colors on the sides match.

Next: the corners

With the white cross in place, the cube is no longer chaos. It has a foundation. But gaping holes remain between the arms of the cross. Four white corners belong there, and right now they're somewhere up on top.

In the next chapter you'll put every one of them in place with a single technique, and you already know it: the sexy move.