Square 1
Alternate Solution

Solve the Bottom Edges

During this section, you only have to use one sequence of moves.


Only one sequence is used throughout this page, one that has already been used before; so here is the RERUN...

What we want the move to do: THE MOVE: What the move really does:
To swap a single pair
of edges on the bottom layer

b- / b-3 / b+
t- / b+3 / t+
b- / b+
t- / t+



It swaps the back and left
edges on the bottom layer, while
swapping the back and right
edges on the top layer.

As you can see, every time a pair of bottom edges are swapped, a pair of top edges also become swapped. Therefore, the sequence must be used again to re-fix the sacrificial top edges. The result? The edges on the bottom layer are swapped TWICE, which is why we had to polarize the cube to even parity before going ahead with this step.

You might be able to figure out how to individually swap the bottom edges until they are fixed; but just in case, a step-by-step outline was added.


~~~~ Case I ~~~~
Clockwise Exchange

SET UP:

Rotate the bottom layer so that the 3 edges
to be exchanged are on the back, left and right.
In other words, get the "other edge" at the front.
Do the move: Rotate the bottom
layer 1/4 of a turn
to the RIGHT
Do the move again:

b- / b-3 / b+
t- / b+3 / t+
b- / b+
t- / t+

b+3

b- / b-3 / b+
t- / b+3 / t+
b- / b+
t- / t+

RESULT:

The puzzle is solved!


~~~~ Case II ~~~~
Counter-Clockwise Exchange

SET UP:

Rotate the bottom layer so that the 3 edges
to be exchanged are on the back, left and front.
In other words, get the "other edge" at the right.
Do the move: Rotate the bottom
layer 1/4 of a turn
to the LEFT
Do the move again:

b- / b-3 / b+
t- / b+3 / t+
b- / b+
t- / t+

b-3

b- / b-3 / b+
t- / b+3 / t+
b- / b+
t- / t+

RESULT:

The puzzle is solved!


~~~~ Case III ~~~~
Adjacent Edge-Pair Swap

SET UP:

Rotate the bottom layer so that two of the edges
that need to be swapped are at the back and left,
while the other two are at the front and right.
Do the move: Rotate the bottom
layer 1/2 of a turn
around
Do the move again:

b- / b-3 / b+
t- / b+3 / t+
b- / b+
t- / t+

b6

b- / b-3 / b+
t- / b+3 / t+
b- / b+
t- / t+

RESULT:

The puzzle is solved!


~~~~ Case IV ~~~~
Opposite Edge-Pair Swap

SET UP:

None (don't care).
Do the move: Rotate the bottom
layer 1/4 of a turn
at any direction
Do the move again:

b- / b-3 / b+
t- / b+3 / t+
b- / b+
t- / t+

b+3
~or~
b-3

b- / b-3 / b+
t- / b+3 / t+
b- / b+
t- / t+

RESULT:

The bottom layer has 3 edges that are still scrambled.
If they need to be exchanged clockwise,
then go to Case I.
If they need to be exchanged counter-clockwise,
then go to Case II instead.


A Shortcut for the Experts:

This sequence does the exact same thing that other sequence did, but with fewer moves. The moves are are not orthogonal, but the top and bottom layer will always remain square:

    

b- / b-3 / b+
t- / b+2
t+ / b+

    
Result:
Swaps the back/right edges
on the top layer, while
swapping the back/left edges
on the bottom layer:

And now that the nightmare is finally over, you can live happily ever after.

THE END


Quick Summary of All Move Sequences:

NotationSet Up:Comments

b- / t6 / t6 / b+

None. Fixes the Equator

b- / t6 b6 / b+

None. Swaps the top and
bottom layers

t- / b-3 / b-3 / b6 / t+

Source corner at
Bottom-Right-Front,
Target corner at
Top-Right-Front.
Moves up a single
corner to the top

t- / b-3 /
b-3 / b+3 /
b-3 / b-3 / t+

Case I (no match): None.
Case II: Matching colors
at Top-Left.
Fixes the top corners.
Swaps TRF/TRBk
and BmLF/BmRBk

b- / t-3 /
t-3 / t+3 /
t-3 / t-3 / b+

Case I (no match): None.
Case II: Matching colors
at Bottom-Back.
2nd move for both Cases:
Matching colors at Bottom-Left.
Fixes the bottom corners.
Swaps TLF/TRBk
and BmRF/BmRBk

b- / b+ t- / t+

Move up / Knock Down:
Source edge at Bottom-Back,
Target edge at at Top-Front;
or visa-versa.
Places the first
two top edges.

Swaps TF/BmBk
and TBk/BmF

b- / b-3 / b+
t- / t6 / t+
b- / b+3 / b+
t- / t6 / t+

Fixed edges at... Top-Left and Top-Back.
Extra edges at...
Case I: Bottom-Front and Bottom-Left
Case II: Bottom-Left and Bottom-Right
Case III: Top-Front and Bottom-Right
Case IV: Top-Right and Bottom-Back
Places the last
two top edges.

Swaps TF/BmF
and TR/BL

b- / b-3 / b+
t- / b+2 t+ / b+

Top layer swap: Top-Right & Top-Back.
Bottom layer exchange:
CW: Bottom Left+Right+Back
CCW: Bottom Front+Left+Back
ADJ: Bottom Front+Right vs. Left+Back
OPPO: Don't care.
Fixes the top
and bottom edges.

Swaps TR/TBk
and BmL/BmBk

/ t+3 b-3 / t+2 b- /
t+2 b-2 / b-2 / t+2 b-2
/ t+2 b- / t-3 b+3 /

Front sides of both
top and bottom corners
are orange.
Polarizing move

b- / t+3 b-3 / b+
t- / t+3 b-3 / t-2

Front sides of top
corners are orange;
Front sides of bottom
corners are yellow.
Polarizing fix

@ Transformation @ Top Corners @ Bottom Corners
@ Top Edges @ Polarization @ Bottom Edges

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