6x6 Speedcubing

Hello, welcome to the 6x6 speedcubing section of this site! In the section you will learn how to solve the 6x6 with reasonable speed, and with practice/persistance, perhaps lightning speed!

Introduction:

Before we get started i'd like to mention that you will need to able to solve a 3x3 (If you don't, head over to the "3x3 Speedcubing" section). Also check out the "Notation" section, due to the fact that their are "slice moves"  involved, which are essential in big-cube solving. If you don't have a 6x6 and would like to purchase one, the only place that sells the real cubes (Not virtual) is www.v-cubes.com .

NOTE: I'm assuming you know the basic fundamentals of cubes in general and your using the white V-Cube 6x6 colour scheme, if your using the black V-Cube 6x6 it's just a white face instead of black face.

The most common method of solving a 6x6 is "reduction" which involves reducing the 6x6 cube into a bigger 3x3. This is done by the following steps:

1. Centers - Making 4x4 center blocks on each side whilst keeping a constant colour scheme.
2. Edges - Forming "Big edges" by slicing the cube horizontally and replacing in the U/D faces.
3. 3x3 Stage - Solving the reduced cube like a 3x3.
4. Parity - Occurs at about a 50-50 chance. Their are two algorithms.

Now that you know the method that i will be explaining, i will put forward a video and written tutorial.

Step 1: Centers

In this beginning step of solving the 6x6 you will be solving the inner 4x4 of the 6x6. This is known as the centers and is done by creating four 1x4 bars and placing them beside eachother. Also note that since their are an even number of layers on a 6x6, each side of the cube can take up any colour (Of coarse with the same colour scheme) because their are no actual center pieces. So when making your centers be sure to make the colour scheme of the solved cube, which for the V-Cube 6x6 is: Black opposite Yellow, Blue opposite Green, and Orange opposite Red, in a clockwise direction of Blue-Orange-Yellow.

The first step is too pick a colour to begin with, i always start with the opposites yellow or black because their easy to recognise for me.



Step 2: Edges

The second step to solving a 6x6 cube is the edges. This consists of slicing the centers horizontally or vertically to match up four identical coloured edges to form a big edge. There are a total of 48 edges so you have to form 12 big edges. The method of edge solving which i will be teaching you is a variation of the "Big Cubes Method".

This consists of finding all four identially coloured edges and forming the one big edge by slicing horizontally in the 'E' ring, then placing the big edge in the 'U' or 'D' face and replacing it with a trash edge (Not solved edge). You do this eight times, therefore you're making eight big edges. This is because their is two steps in the one method. The first step is making the first eight big edges and putting four big edges in the 'U' face and four big edges in the 'D' face. The second step is solving the middle four big edges by solving the inner two pieces of the whole four pieces, this is done the same way as you would on a 4x4. This reduces the last four 6x6 edges into 5x5 edges. Then obviously you're going to solve the last four edges like you would on a 5x5. This means you can encounter "Edge Parity", which will be explained in the video.

NOTE:  It may all sound very complicated but it's hard to explain literally over the internet. So refer to the video for easy understanding.



Step 3: 3x3 Stage

This is the last step for solving the 6x6. The cube should now look like a scrambled 3x3. At the beginning you were notified that you should be able to solve a 3x3 before attempting the 6x6, this is because you have to solve the reduced 6x6 like a 3x3. If you don't know how this is done; the big edges of four on the 6x6 represent edges on a 3x3, the 4x4 block centers on a 6x6 represent center pieces on a 3x3, and the corners on a 6x6 represent corners on a 3x3. I hope you've had fun completing your 6x6 puzzle.

Step 4: Parity

There are two type of parity when solving 6x6 during the 3x3 stage, those are OLL Parity and PLL Parity. You can identify if you have both cases, and if you do you can execute the "Double Parity" algoithm which is explained in the video. Also in the video i will show you how to execute the algorithms, but they are explained as followed:

OLL Parity: Whilst solving the reduced 6x6, you may notice that when your up to OLL that there's a case that you have never seen before. This is because you have OLL parity which must be fixed with a somewhat long algorithm. You know you have OLL Parity when you see either 1 or 3 edges oriented when your at the OLL step of solving the 3x3 stage. The algorithm for OLL Parity is r ² B ² U ² l U ² r ' U ² r U ² F ² r F ² l ' B ² r ² . The notation in parethesis means those moves can be executed together. You execute the algorithm with you OLL on the U layer.

PLL Parity: When you reach the PLL stage of solving the reduced 4x4, you may notice that there's a PLL case you don't know (Assuming you know all PLL cases that is). PLL parity can be identified (When at the PLL step) if you see 2 edges that arn't permuted OR two corners that arn't permuted. This is because you have what is known as "PLL Parity". There is an algorithm for this, which is quite shorter then the OLL Parity algorithm and easy to remember, this algorithm goes as follows: r ² U ² r ² U ² u ² r ² u ²'  You execute the algorithm with you PLL on the U layer.



After Notes:

Hopefully you can solve the 6x6 cube now! If so i encourage you to time yourself (For timers check out our "Links" section). This method, along with practice and perisitance, can get you down to times around 4 minute! If your still not feeling the method re-watch the videos and something that seemed hard at first might be easier the second time around. You can also google "6x6 Cube Methods" if your still out of luck. If this tutorial assisted you in solving the puzzle, please e-mail us as it would be greatly appreciated.

For more information on the 6x6 cube visit the solutions menu on www.v-cubes.com

Thanks for Reading!

Example Solve:

Levi Reichelt: 6x6 Solve (04:04.38)




Created by Levi.R