Earlier this year, while putting together a video about the world’s fastest solvers of the Rubik’s Cube, I decided to devote some time to learning to solve the classic puzzle myself. Tyson Mao, a cofounder of the World Cube Association, came to WIRED’s offices and spent about an hour teaching me his go-to beginner’s method. Afterwards he told me that, with practice, I could probably get my average solve time down to under a minute and a half. Ninety seconds is not fast by speedcubing standards (the world’s fastest cubers average well below 10 seconds per solve), but Mao said it would be a respectable time for a dabbler such as myself.

I began practicing the next day. My first time solving the cube on my own took me more than 20 minutes. Brutal. But I kept at it: For two weeks I spent at least 20 minutes a day scrambling my cube and solving it the way Mao had taught me. First I memorized a handful of algorithms (cuber lingo for defined sequences of moves known to advance a cube closer to its solved state). Then I practiced performing them faster and more precisely.

By day three I was solving the cube in under four minutes. I broke the two-minute barrier a couple days later, on a cross-country flight to Florida. (Planes are an ideal place to practice cubing.) The improvements came more slowly after that, but within a fortnight I’d lowered my average solve time to a little under 60 seconds.

In the time since we published the video about speedcubing, several viewers requested that WIRED create another video demonstrating the method I used when learning to solve the cube. So we made one! Above you’ll find a visual guide in which I walk you through the same solving method that Mao taught me. Below is a written tutorial that summarizes the points in the video, including the eight steps you’ll follow to solve the cube, an overview of cube notation, and descriptions of the algorithms you’ll need to memorize.

The tutorial below was originally created by Mao, so all credit goes to him. I’ve merely tweaked it for the sake of clarity.

One last thing: While the tutorial can function as a stand-alone document, it’s really intended as a supplement to the video. In time, you might come to rely solely on the written instructions, but don’t be discouraged if you find yourself referencing the video for help—especially when you’re starting out.

Before You Begin

Here are some things you should know about the Rubik’s Cube. Some of these points might strike you as trivial at first, but each affords some insight that will become clearer the more time you spend with the cube.