1. Advanced Notation. For the intermediate and advanced methods, other letters for notation will be used. These include: x for rotating the cube like an R; y for rotating the cube like a U; z for rotating the cube like an F; M for the layer between L and R; E for the layer between U and D; S for the layer between F and B; E and S are used very rarely, as they are quite awkward to perform and can.
2. In 3D space, rotations have three degrees of liberty, which together describe a single axis of rotation. The axis of rotation is defined by an x, y, z vector and pass by the origin (as defined by the transform-origin property). If, as specified, the vector is not normalized (i.e., if the sum of the square of its three coordinates is not 1), the user agent will normalize it internally.

My Method

This is the method I currently use to solve a skewb. I came up with it independently and found all the algorithms myself by hand. It's fairly simple, but surprisingly I don't know of anyone else who has come up with this method before.

• Notation & Algs
• Beginner's Variation
• Intermediate Variation
• Advanced Variation

For simplicity, I'll be using this notation:

The x, y, and z rotations will be the same rotations as used in FCN. My method is based off of two very easy algorithms. They're both four moves, and they are the same as the 'sledgehammer' (R' F R F') and the 'hedgeslammer' (F R' F' R) on a 3x3x3 cube. Note that F' L F L' is the same as y' R' F R F', and L F' L' F is the same as y' F R' F' R.

This notation is NOT related to FCN I'll be using this instead of FCN because it's much more convenient to describe the algorithms I use. The x, y, and z rotations will be the same rotations as used in FCN.

My method is based off of two very easy algorithms. They're both four moves, and they are the same as the 'sledgehammer' (R' F R F') and the 'hedgeslammer' (F R' F' R) on a 3x3x3 cube. Note that F' L F L' is the same as y' R' F R F', and L F' L' F is the same as y' F R' F' R.

I recommend being familiar with these two algorithms, since you're going to be using them a lot. There are lots of ways to grip the skewb to preform them, there isn't a single best way to do it. Also, figure out for yourself whether you prefer the sledgehammer or hedgeslammer, since you can often control which one you do more often.

These are the four steps:

Step 1 – Solve the first side

Step 2 – Solve the remaining corners

Step 3 – Solve the U center

Step 4 – Solve the remaining centers

The first step is intuitive. Once you become familiar with how the skewb turns, this is an easy step. When you're trying to solve a side for the first few times, the last corner might be a bit tricky. Two-thirds of the time, you will have to take out an already-solved corner in order to solve the last corner. If this is the case, place the corner so that it is in one of the two positions below, and perform the algorithm below it.

L F' L'

R' F R

The second step is where the 4-movers come in. If the upper corners aren't already solved, you will have one of these two cases.

F' L F L'
or
(y2) L F' L' F

R' F R F' (y) R' F R F'
or
L F' L' F (y') L F' L' F

The third step is simple enough.

R' F R F' (y2) R' F R F'
or
F R' F' R (y2) F R' F' R

The last step involves the same algorithms used in step 3. Do a (z) or (z') rotation first, to match one of the cases below.

R' F R F' (y2) R' F R F'
or
F R' F' R (y2) F R' F' R

R' F R F' (y2) R' F R F'
(y2 x')
R' F R F' (y2) R' F R F'
or
F R' F' R (y2) F R' F' R
(y2 x')
F R' F' R (y2) F R' F' R

R' F R F' (y2) R' F R F'
(z2 x')
R' F R F' (y2) R' F R F'
or
F R' F' R (y2) F R' F' R
(z2 x')
F R' F' R (y2) F R' F' R

This variation is just like the Beginner's variation, except the second and third steps are combined. These are the steps:

Step 1 – Solve the first side

Step 2 – Solve the opposite side

Step 3 – Solve the remaining centers

The first and third steps are done the same way as in the beginner's variation. There are ten cases for the second step, divided into three categories. The category 2 and 3 cases are eventually reduced to category 1 cases.

Category 1 Cases

F' L F L'

(y2) L F' L' F

(y2) (F' L F L')2
or
(L F' L' F)2

Category 2 Cases

R' F R F' → cat. 1
or
(y2) R' F R F' → cat. 1

R' F R F' → cat. 1
or
(y2) F R' F' R → cat. 1

L F' L' F → cat. 1
or
(y2) L F' L' F → cat. 1

L F' L' F → cat. 1
or
(y2) F' L F L' → cat. 1

Category 3 Cases

R' F R F' → cat. 2
or
F R' F' R → cat. 2

(y2) R' F R F' → cat. 2
or
(y2) F R' F' R → cat. 2

(y) R' F R F' → cat. 2
or
(y2) R' F R F' → cat. 2
or
F R' F' R → cat. 2
or
(y') F R' F' R → cat. 2

This is where it gets a bit crazy. The second and third steps of the intermediate variation are combined into one step.

These are the two steps:

There are 134 cases for the second step. I've organized them into groups based on their 'CLL+U center' case. The sledgehammer and hedgeslammer are named S and H respectively, for simplicity, where the sledgehammer is F' L F L' and the hedgeslammer is L F' L' F. The letter in brackets at the end of algorithm indicate which face is at the Front-Left. Green is (g), orange is (o), blue is (b), and red is (r). In other words, (g) indicates no rotation, (o) indicates a (y) rotation, (b) indicates a (y2) rotation, and (r) indicates a (y') rotation. If an algorithm is missing (indicated by an '-'), it's because it takes 5 sledgehammers/hedgeslammers, making it a bit too inefficient. If you intend to learn these seven cases, I suggest learning optimal algs. For the most of the Last 5 Centers cases, it's not very efficient solving them with sledgehammers and hedgeslammers either. For optimal algorithms, check out Meep's skewb page (note: they're written in FCN).

Z Rotation Cubing

Click on 'Printable Version' to view all the cases.