Turn the daisy into a white cross — 3×3 Beginner

Before you start

Four white petals around the yellow centre. Return to the daisy lesson if any are missing.

How to hold your cube

Keep yellow up and white down. Turn the whole cube sideways to bring each petal’s matching centre to the front.

1. Check both colours on a petal

Choose a white petal and look at its side sticker. If it’s blue, the edge belongs next to the blue centre. You need the side colour as well as white to identify its slot.

2. Match the side sticker

Turn only U until the side sticker is directly above the centre of the same colour. This moves the edge around the top while keeping its white sticker facing up. Rotate the whole cube sideways to bring the matching face to the front.

3. Lower it with a half-turn

Do F2. The petal moves from top-front to bottom-front with white facing down. Its other sticker still matches the front centre.

Choose another petal still on top. Use U to line up its side colour with the matching centre, bring that centre to the front and do F2 again. Repeat until all four petals are on the bottom. Any petals still on top can move out of their original positions.

4. Inspect the cross from two directions

Look underneath. Four white edges should surround the white centre. Then check every side. The bottom-middle sticker must match the centre above it, forming a short vertical line of the same colour.

If a white edge faces down but its side colour is wrong, turn the cube to bring that edge to the front and do F2 to lift it back up. Use U to match its side sticker to the correct centre, then lower it on that side. If the wrong edge is already in that slot, lift it out first, then place both edges correctly.

The white corners can still be anywhere. Leave them as they are and keep white down for the next lesson.

Watch, then try

Work through an example

Start by stepping through one move at a time. This prepared example shows a specific action. Use the lesson’s setup instructions to recognise when to use it on your own scramble.

Watch one worked example

Watch F2 move the white-blue petal from the top-front position down to the bottom. Its blue sticker matches the blue centre before and after the move. The example shows one petal. On your own cube, repeat the process for all four.

Example grip: Start with yellow on top, blue at the front and red on the right. Follow any written instructions for rotating the whole cube.

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Loading 3D cube…

Drag to inspect other faces. Use the arrow keys to rotate the view when the cube has keyboard focus.

Copy this exact example on your own cube

Start with a solved 3×3, with yellow on top and blue at the front. Apply the setup moves below from left to right to create the example’s starting position. Keep this example separate from the scramble you are solving throughout the course.

F2

Then follow the lesson sequence. If your cube has a different colour scheme, use the relationships between your own colours to identify the equivalent pieces.

Compare the starting position and the result

Before the example

After the full sequence

Drag each cube to inspect its other faces.

Explain it to yourself

Check your understanding

Now use your own cube

Your turn

Lower one matched petal at a time. After each half-turn, tip the cube just enough to check the bottom edge and its side colour, then turn it back so yellow faces up.

Open a 3×3 Digital Cube for practice

Opens in a new tab so you can keep this lesson open while you practise. Check for yourself whether you’ve met the lesson goal. The Digital Cube doesn’t assess your result.

If you get stuck

There’s a white cross on the bottom, but the side colours don’t match their centres.

Lift the misplaced edge with a half-turn of its side. On top, match its side sticker to the centre of the same colour, then lower it on that side. To pass the checkpoint, the side stickers must match their centres as well.

Before moving on

Check your result

Your cube at this stage

An aligned white cross

The four white edges are on the bottom, with each side sticker matching its centre. Corners and upper layers can still be mixed.

Confirm these on your cube. Watching the animation alone does not complete the lesson.

All four white edges surround the white centre on the bottom.Each of their side stickers matches the centre above it.I have kept the white cross intact for the corner lesson.

Tick each item once you can do it yourself.