Use a temporary target to lift white edges without solving their side colors yet.
By the end: make a daisy and distinguish a petal from a white corner.
Keep yellow on top and white underneath. A daisy is four white edge stickers around the yellow center. Ignore white corners and side-color alignment for now. A yellow center with four white neighbors is deliberately not a finished face.
Before lifting an edge into a top slot, check whether that slot already contains a white petal. If it does, turn U until that destination is free. This moves the existing petals around without losing them.
A daisy petal is one white sticker facing upward on an edge directly beside the yellow center. The whole edge has two stickers, so its second color gives it an identity you can follow. On the teaching cube the four identities are white-green, white-red, white-blue, and white-orange. They are four different pieces, not four copies of white. The daisy gathers those pieces temporarily around the wrong center. This separates finding and lifting an edge from deciding its final home, which comes in the next lesson.
Look at the top face as a three-by-three grid. Its center is yellow. The middle square of each outside row or column is an edge position. The four extreme squares are corners and do not count. White at top-front means the middle square along the front boundary of U, not either front corner. In the figure, purple outlines select the four candidate edge squares. Their letters must all be W to finish. A white corner can touch two of those squares without supplying the missing petal.
Keep yellow up and white down while you inspect. This identifies the top target without requiring any side center to face a particular compass direction. The teaching diagrams begin with green front, but your physical cube's front color comes from the center you actually face. Do not assume an unseen back sticker is blue because a diagram uses that arrangement. Inspect it by looking around the cube or by a deliberate vertical regrip. Keep track of which face is front before deciding the next side turn.
Before moving an edge, find both stickers on that physical piece. If white faces front, look along that edge to the neighboring face for its attached color. This tells you whether you are examining the same edge after a turn. Following the old square instead would follow whichever piece replaces it. The two stickers can end up on different visible faces, but they remain attached. In the unfolded net they can appear far apart because the faces have been separated for display, not because the piece split.
A useful first inspection records which white edges are already petals and which still need lifting. Suppose white-green is up while white-red lies below. Your next successful addition should leave white-green up and also bring white-red up. Merely seeing one white petal before and one afterward is insufficient. You might have exchanged their identities and made no progress toward gathering all four. Side colors need not match centers yet, but those colors still matter as names for the pieces you intend to protect during this stage.
| White edge | Permanent two-center home | Daisy requirement |
|---|---|---|
| White-green | White and green | White faces U |
| White-red | White and red | White faces U |
| White-blue | White and blue | White faces U |
| White-orange | White and orange | White faces U |
The completed daisy leaves many other stickers wrong, including possibly every corner. That is allowed because this checkpoint concerns only the four white edges facing U. Do not spend turns arranging white corners beside the petals, and do not turn the entire cube upside down to make the top center white. The yellow center is the reference that makes this temporary arrangement recognizable. Once all four white edges surround it, stop adding petals. The next task will deliberately remove them from U to form the bottom cross.
For a white edge on the bottom with white facing down, turn its side face halfway to lift white onto U. Free the destination top slot first. In the middle layer, turn the side face carrying the other sticker to lift white upward. Choose the direction that sends the piece toward U, not D.
If white faces sideways while the edge sits in the top or bottom layer, turn that side face a quarter turn to move the edge into the middle. Then use the middle-layer case. A top white-edge sticker facing sideways is not yet a petal. After moving it into the middle, you may need U to free its destination.
Start with the simplest bottom-edge lifting case. A bottom edge with white facing down lies directly below a side center. Turning that side halfway carries the edge through the middle and then to the top. For the front-bottom white-green edge of a solved teaching cube, F2 takes white from D to U and green from the bottom of F to the top of F. Halfway means two quarter turns of the entire front layer. The front center stays the center; the edge travels around it.
A middle-layer white edge needs only a quarter turn when you choose the right side face. Consider the prepared state made by R' from solved. The white-red edge now lies between back and right, with white facing back and red facing right. A second R' takes that edge upward and turns its white sticker toward U. R instead sends it back downward. The distinction comes from the edge's actual position and sticker direction. There is no rule that every middle white edge always needs a clockwise turn.
The side carrying white is not always the face to turn for the lift. In that middle example, white faces B, but turning R moves the piece around the right center and changes white's direction toward top or bottom. Turning B moves that same piece around the back center and keeps white facing back. This is why locating both stickers matters. Point to the face with the other sticker, then choose the quarter-turn direction that carries the piece to the upper layer with white facing up.
White can face sideways on an edge already in the top layer. That is not a petal because its upward sticker is some other color. First turn the side carrying white by a quarter turn to send the piece into the middle. Then inspect its new two-face position and use a middle-layer lift. You have changed the case, not solved it in one move. Do not repeat that first side turn indefinitely. Its purpose was to make the white sticker available for a different face's upward turn.
For a concrete sideways case, begin with solved and apply F. The white-green edge moves from front-bottom to front-left in the middle, with white facing L and green facing F. Apply L' and it travels to top-left with white still facing L, so it is now a sideways top edge. Undo L' to return to the middle; F then lifts white onto U at front. This trace shows why reaching the top layer is different from pointing white upward. Track the white-green pair throughout the example.
These short traces isolate a mechanism; their surrounding stickers are unusually orderly because they start near solved. On a scramble you must check the top destination before performing the same lift. A suitable move for the selected edge can still remove a different petal. Also check the first quarter turn when changing a sideways case into a middle case. If its side already has a petal above it, move that petal away first. Reinspect after each preparation move instead of assuming that a two-step route stays clear.
Track one edge at a time. Before each side turn, point to its destination and check that you will not remove an existing petal. If you lose one, undo the last move and free the destination first. There is no long daisy sequence to memorize.
The scrambled demonstration gives one valid route, not a universal move list. Your scramble needs different local choices. The repeatable memory cue is “find white edge, free its top slot, lift white upward.” Stop when there are exactly four white petals.
A side turn can move the top edge touching that side. For F or F2, the endangered petal is at top-front. A petal at top-back does not belong to the front layer and stays out of that turn. Before lifting a bottom edge with F2, inspect top-front. If occupied, use U to carry that petal to another side. The bottom target does not move during U because it lies in the lower layer. Now the same front half turn has a free destination to fill.
Take the legal starting state made by F2 D from solved. White-green is the front petal, while a different white edge is at front-bottom with white down. An immediate F2 would remove white-green while lifting that other edge. You would still have only one petal. Instead use U first. The white-green petal travels from top-front to top-left, leaving top-front empty of white. Now F2 adds the bottom edge at top-front. You can identify both surviving petals by their second colors, rather than trusting the count alone.
A top turn preserves existing petals because it rotates the four top edge positions among themselves. Their white stickers remain facing U. It does not preserve which petal is called front, and it need not improve side-color matches. That movement is useful here. Choose a top orientation that clears the side you intend to turn. With fewer than four petals, at least one top edge position is not a white petal. Rotating U brings that empty destination around; inspect after each turn until it reaches the required side.
Moving U is safest when the selected unfinished edge is below the top layer. If the selected edge is itself on top with white sideways, U moves it too. You cannot use the old side-face name as if the target stayed still. Either follow its new position and recompute the preparation, or first arrange a safe quarter turn that moves it into the middle. The rule is to preserve pieces, not to perform U automatically. Every move changes some positions, so each next choice uses the resulting state.
If you accidentally lose a petal, identify the last turn that removed it. In practice, Undo last turn restores that prior state. Then clear the endangered top slot and try the lift again. If you experiment with the bad move, notice both consequences before undoing. Where did the old petal go, and where did the new white edge arrive? This comparison distinguishes a direction error from an occupied-destination error. Both can leave an unfinished daisy, but they require different corrections before another attempt at the lift.
| Route from F2 D | Petal identities afterward | Count |
|---|---|---|
| No further move | White-green | 1 |
| F2 without clearing | White-orange | 1 |
| U, then F2 | White-green and white-orange | 2 |
The scrambled demonstration chooses local routes while protecting the identities already gathered. It is a prepared teaching route, not a promise that its printed moves work on another scramble. Its route generator searches within fixed limits and is not a universal solver for arbitrary sticker arrangements. The practical method you are learning is visual inspection followed by local decisions. If your next move is uncertain, inspect the edge and destination again. Copying a later demonstration move without matching its earlier state abandons the reason that move was safe.
Use the demonstration preset Four petals from a solved cube to inspect the bottom-to-top route. Pause playback before following it and choose Next step. After F2, find white-green at top-front. After R2, find white-red at top-right and confirm white-green remains up. B2 adds white-blue at top-back; L2 adds white-orange at top-left. Inspect the net for the back and left stickers instead of guessing from the solid view. This particular sequence works because each destination is free when its side half turn begins in this prepared state.
Next choose One middle-layer petal. The preset replaces the demonstration's starting state, so compare its back and right centers before you step. Locate white-red between B and R and predict where white will face after R'. Then advance and inspect the top-right square. The goal of this example is one lift, not an entire daisy. Other white edges still need work afterward. A successful local demonstration does not mean that every checkpoint on the cube has finished, nor that the same move fits every middle-layer orientation.
In the separate practice area, select the matching middle-layer preset and perform that lift with the R' face button. Wait until the turn finishes before inspecting the net or choosing another move. The net holds the completed state during motion; the solid view shows the turn. With reduced motion, the completed state appears immediately. Check my progress should still report an unfinished daisy because one petal is not four. The check inspects this practice cube only and never carries out missing moves on your behalf.
For the occupied-destination example, the practice preset Four petals from a solved cube starts solved, despite its name describing the demonstration's goal. Use F2 followed by D to construct the one-petal starting state discussed above. Predict what another F2 would do, try it, then use Undo last turn. Now choose U followed by F2 and compare. Keep the recall cue closed while deciding which slot needs clearing. Restart this attempt returns to the preset start, so reconstruct F2 D to repeat that same controlled comparison.
Choose From a scramble when you can explain the local cases without following the demonstration's move list. Inspect both stickers of one unfinished white edge, identify its layer, and point to its intended destination. Decide whether any existing petal belongs to the layer you will turn. Make only the required preparation or lift, then inspect again. If a move was wrong, undo that known move rather than replacing the whole scramble immediately. This preserves evidence of which recognition decision failed and lets you test its correction.
Finish by checking the four edge squares beside the yellow center, including those hidden in the solid view. Each must show white, and the attached second colors should identify all four white edges. Do not require a solved top face or matching side colors at this checkpoint. Close the cue and explain the next action for a new unfinished edge before trying another preset. Readiness for the cross means recognizing the finished daisy and choosing safe lifts, not reciting a daisy algorithm or reaching a speed target.
Prepared states isolate one task. Some examples happen to finish the whole cube; on a general scramble, stop at the stated checkpoint and continue with the next unfinished step.
Four white edge stickers surround the yellow center. This is not a solved face.
Next: F2. front face: half turn, 180°, viewed directly from outside that face. Completed 0 of 4 moves.
F2R2B2L2
Sticker letters are colors: W white, Y yellow, G green, B blue, R red, O orange. Face names are positions: U top, D bottom, F front, B back, R right, L left. Read B and R in context.
The net shows the last completed turn; the solid view shows the turn in progress. Presets replace the starting state and reset playback. Reset keeps the selected example. Do not copy an autoplay demonstration onto your cube unless your starting state and grip match. Use manual steps for following along.
Start from a prepared state. These controls change this practice cube only. They do not control the demonstration above or your physical cube. Goal: Make four white petals around yellow.
0 moves in this attempt. Limit 500; undo or restart if reached.
Free a top slot with U before lifting an edge into it. Count white edges around the yellow center.
A cue is help, not a failure. After using it, restart the prepared state and attempt the same task without reopening it.
Sticker letters are colors: W white, Y yellow, G green, B blue, R red, O orange. Face names are positions: U top, D bottom, F front, B back, R right, L left. Read B and R in context.
Face turns and whole-cube regrips animate in the solid view; the net updates when the turn finishes. Reduced motion shows the result immediately. Wait for a turn to finish before starting another. Undo can cancel the current turn. A new preset or Restart cancels motion, replaces the entire attempt and clears its history. Undo reverses only the last practice turn. Check does not move pieces or reveal an automatic solution. State is local to this page and is not saved after reload.
A side half turn would lift a white bottom edge but knock a current petal off U. What should you do first?
The top layer can move the destination petal elsewhere.
Turn U until the destination slot has no white petal. The bottom edge has not moved, so you can then do the side half turn. Count petals again to confirm the intended increase.
Three white edge stickers and one white corner sticker surround the top area. Is the daisy finished?
A petal must occupy a middle square along a face edge, not a corner square.
No. You need all four white edges next to the yellow center. A corner sticker cannot replace the missing edge, even if it looks close to the center in the solid view.
The explanations, simulator, and diagrams are original. These references support standard notation and beginner procedures. The course keeps white down, including the final twisting stage. Do not mix its final sequence with a tutorial that flips the cube over.
These examples use states produced by legal turns. The simulator has no sticker-painting input and does not diagnose physically twisted, reassembled, or damaged cubes. Successful model checks do not establish physical-device usability or long-term recall.