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Rubiks Cube 2x2x2

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Note

This solution refers to the original cube. This version is white on top, red, blue, green and orange on the sides and yellow down under. If your cube looks differently, you may have to exchange all occurences of one color with another.

1. Preparation

Everybody who has spend some time with the cube should be able to arrange one side correctly. With a little bit extra effort it should also be possible, to get the first ring of stones to match its neighbours as well.

I will assume that you have started with the white side; of course you could start with any other side as well, but then some of the descriptions below will not match the situation of your cube.

So you have done the white side plus the first ring of stones in such a way that all stones on the first ring match their neighbour's colour.
The white side faces upwards.

2. Positioning the corners

Now we want to position the corners correctly. Turn the cube upside down so that white faces downwards. This sequence is derived from one Volker Bartels send to me for the 3x3x3 cube.

Please note: It is possible that you find a configuration where two corners seem to be in the correct position (either next to each other or diagonally opposite of each other) with the other two on switched positions. This can only happen with the 2x2x2 cube, not with the 3x3x3 cube.
In this case, turn just the upper level by either 90 or 270 degrees until you have a cube with either no correct corner or just one correct corner. Otherwise, the sequences below won't help.

If you have one corner that is correctly positioned, you can use ont the following two sequences to rotate the remaining three corners into the correct position (or use the other sequence twice - same thing).

Front left corner is fixed. A: Correct corner is at front left and you want to rotate the other three corners counter-clockwise:

Right side up. Turn top right. Left side up. Turn top left. Right side down. Turn top right. Left side down. Turn top left.

Front right corner is fixed. B: Correct corner is at front right and you want to rotate the other three corners clockwise:

Left side up. Turn top left. Right side up. Turn top right. Left side down. Turn top left. Right side down. Turn top right.

If you have no correct corner, just use either sequence A or B. After that you should have at least one correct corner.

3. Flipping the corners

For the final steps the corners are to be flipped such that yellow comes on top. Hold the cube such that the corner to be flipped is in the front right position:

Yellow side from front to top. A: Yellow moves from the front to the top:

Right side up. Turn front counter-clockwise Right side down. Turn front clockwise. Right side up. Turn front counter-clockwise Right side down. Turn front clockwise.

Yellow side from right to top. B: Yellow move from the right side to the top:

Turn front counter-clockwise. Right side up. Turn front clockwise. Right side down. Turn front counter-clockwise. Right side up. Turn front clockwise. Right side down.

The cube may look chaotic after one such sequence. Don't let yourself get distracted by that and focus only on the corners on the top level. To continue with the next corner, only rotate the top level, not the whole cube.

If you didn't do any mistakes, the cube is now solved!

Faster to memorize, slower in action

If you want to remember less moves, you can just learn one of the two sequences each for positioning the corner and for flipping them. Instead of using 2B or 3B once, you can also do 2A o 3A twice to get the same result.