Notation
Welcom to the the notation section! At the bottem of the page is a terminology list, which shows some unfamiliar words and abbreviations not used in day-to-day conversation, but shown throughout this website. Have fun!
When describing the solution for the 2nd and 3rd layers, standard cube notation will be used. Here's what you need to know to read it:
F = Front face
B = Back face
L = Left face
U = Up face
D = Down face
R = Right face
In addition to a letter, each move may be accompanied by an apostrophe (') or the number two (2):
- A letter by itself means turn that face 90 degrees clockwise (eg. F).
- A letter followed by an apostrophe means turn that face 90 degrees anti-clockwise (eg. F').
- A letter followed by the number 2 means turn that face 180 degrees (direction is irrelevant), (eg. F2).
So R U' L2 is shorthand for "turn the right face 90 degrees clockwise, then turn the up face 90 degrees anti-clockwise, then turn the left face 180 degrees". When thinking whether to turn clockwise/anti-clockwise, imagine that you are looking directly at the particular face you are turning.
Rotations:
This is notation in which instead of turning a face, you rotate the cube in a particular direction. The apostrophe (') and number two (2) still apply to rotations, so keep that in mind. It goes as follows:
Z = Rotate cube in direction of F.
X = Rotate cube in direction of R.
Y = Rotate cube in direction of U.
Slices:
Slice turns are sometimes useful for certain algorithms. In a slice move, the "outside" layers remain stable, and a middle layer will slice through them. The apostrophe (') and number two (2) still apply to rotations, so keep that in mind. They go as follows:
M = The slice inbetween R and L faces in the direction of L.
E = The slice inbetween U and D faces in the direction of D.
S = The slice inbetween B and F faces in the direction of F.
Double Layer Turns:
This type of notation is where you turn two layers at the same time of the notation given. For cube bigger than the 3x3 it is identified by the letter "w", for the 3x3 it is identified by a lower case letter so "Rw" = r. Using "Rw" as an example, on a 3x3 it would be the right face (R) and the middle slice (M'). On a 4x4 it would be the right face (R) and the inner right face (r). The same goes for 5x5-7x7. In this case it's the two "righter" faces. The apostrophe (') and number two (2) still apply to rotations, so keep that in mind. It goes as follows:
Fw = Turn the first two layers of the front face.
Bw = Turn the first two layers of the back face.
Rw = Turn the first two layers of the right face.
Lw = Turn the first two layers of the left face.
Uw = Turn the first two layers of the up face.
Dw = Turn the first two layers of the down face.
For pictures and further detail about cube notation, have a look at Jon Morris' Cube Notation Page.
Terminology:
F2L= First Two Layers
OLL= Orienting Last Layer
PLL= Permuting Last Layer
TPS= Turns Per Second
AUF= Adjust Up Face
OP= OLL Parity
PP= PLL Parity
C/E Pair= Corner/Edge pair, or more commonly an F2L pair.