All six 3×3 centre blocks are solved.
Keep FL and FR as working positions. Completed groups are stored in U and D.
1. Choose a midge as the reference
The midge is the middle piece of a three-piece edge. Find a midge, note its two colours and locate both wings with that same pair of colours. A completed edge has three matching stickers on each of its two faces.
Wings matching each other with a reversed midge form a checkerboard, not a finished edge. Always include the midge in your check.
2. Bring the pieces into the working band
Use outer moves to put the target midge at FR. Put a matching wing at FL in the upper or lower horizontal slice where a wide turn can carry it to FR. Arrange the colours to match the midge on the front side as well as the right side.
To turn the whole FR group over, use:
R U R' F R' F' R
This flips the group as a unit; it does not flip a single wing independently. The example below isolates that movement so you can see how the wing positions and midge orientation change.
3. Add a wing, protect the match and restore the slice
Use Uw or Uw′ to bring the selected upper-band wing alongside the midge. To work on the lower-band wing, reorient the cube so that band becomes your upper working band, then set up FL and FR again.
After making a useful match, move the group out of the active slice using outer moves, bring an unpaired group into the working slot, and undo the wide turn to restore centres. A two-piece match is worth preserving, but do not count it as a finished edge yet.
Bring the partial pair back into a working position with its matching pieces outside the next active slice, then add its remaining wing. Check all three pieces on both faces before storing the full group.
4. Store eight complete groups
Move finished groups into U and D with outer turns. Keep bringing unpaired groups into the middle working band. If a storage slot already contains a finished group, choose another slot so you do not replace useful work with an unpaired group unnecessarily.
Restoring slices after each operation makes it easier to track the centres. Once four completed edges are above and four below, restore all centre blocks and leave the four unpaired groups in the middle band.
5. Switch methods for the last four
With little storage space left, join–store–restore becomes awkward. The next lesson uses slice–flip–slice-back to exchange selected wings while returning centre rows. Do not disturb a stored full edge merely to free a temporary slot.
Watch, then try
Work through an example
Start by going through the moves one at a time. The prepared example shows a specific action. Use the lesson’s setup instructions to recognise when to apply it to your own scramble.
Watch one worked example
Study the FR flip before using it in pairing: it reverses the whole front-right group and preserves centre colours. This is an orientation drill, not a complete pairing operation.
Starting grip. Yellow up · blue at the front · red on the right. Follow any written instructions for rotating the whole cube.
0 / 7
Loading 3D cube…
Prepared position · 0 / 7 moves
Use Next move to follow the sequence.
Drag to inspect other faces. Use the arrow keys to rotate the view when the cube has focus.
Copy this exact example on your own cube
Start with a solved 5×5, 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.
R' F R F' R U' R'Then follow the lesson sequence. If your cube’s colour scheme differs, match the piece relationships using your own colours.
Compare the starting position and the result
Drag each cube to inspect its other faces.
Explain it to yourself
Check your understanding
Now use your own cube
Your turn
Choose one midge and find the two wings with the same pair of colours. Join each wing, store the complete three-piece group and restore the slices. Continue until eight groups are complete.
Open a 5×5 Digital Cube for practiceOpens in a new tab so you can refer to this lesson while you practise. Check for yourself whether you’ve met the lesson goal. The Digital Cube does not grade your work.
If you get stuck
I counted twelve edges but some have mixed stickers.
Only count three-piece groups matching on both faces. A wing–midge pair still needs its third piece.
The correct wings surround a reversed midge.
That checkerboard is not complete. Use the next lesson’s slice–flip–slice-back approach; if only one edge remains, check the last-edge parity lesson.
Before moving on
Check your result
Your cube at this stage
Eight complete edge groups
Four completed groups are stored above and four below. The four vertical edge groups in the middle are still unpaired; all centres are restored.
Confirm these on your cube. Watching the animation alone does not complete the lesson.
Tick each item once you can do it yourself.