CFOP, Part 2: Two-Look OLL and PLL

Begin with the bottom and both lower side rows solved, yellow up and white down. Either layer-by-layer or F2L can prepare this; F2L mastery is not required. OLL orients yellow upwards; PLL then permutes pieces into place.

Two-look means two stages for OLL (edges, then corners) and two for PLL (corners, then edges): four stages overall, possibly with U alignment. Our beginner course instead uses yellow cross → corner placement → corner orientation → edge placement. These orders differ: follow one complete method rather than switching midway.

Each section is a separate recognition case. Inspect yellow orientation and matching side stickers before choosing an algorithm. A demonstration finishing fully solved does not mean real OLL always solves everything; check the stage goal, then recognize the next stage.

The goal is four yellow edge stickers facing up around the yellow center; ignore corner orientation for now. This example starts with a horizontal line: left-middle, center and right-middle are yellow in the top diagram, while front-middle and back-middle are not. Keep the green center at front and step through F R U R' U' F'. Finish by checking the five cross stickers and the preserved lower two layers. L and dot cases need their own alignment or staged treatment; blindly repeating without inspecting orientation is not a general solution.

Read it in three groups: F temporarily opens the front, R U R' U' is the four-move sequence, and F' restores the front. Do not chase speed. Each click turns one face; inspect it before continuing.

Look only at the top center and four edges, not the corners. Yellow at the center, left-middle and back-middle forms an L: left and above the center in the top diagram. Front-middle and right-middle are not yellow. This is the starting pattern; two arbitrary yellow squares do not define it. Keep yellow up and green front. If all four yellow edges already face up, skip edge orientation instead of applying another algorithm.

Select the case and inspect before moving. Click F, U, R, U', R', F' one at a time. The middle four moves are U R U' R', not the line case's R U R' U'. Each click makes one move; do not rotate the whole cube.

Stop after step six. The center and four adjacent top squares must be yellow, with the lower two layers restored. A yellow cross is not a whole yellow face or a solved cube. This prepared case happens to solve the cube; real positions may still need corner orientation and permutation. If your physical L points front-right, first turn only the top to put the L at back-left, then compare with this case; do not repeat blindly.

A dot means none of the four top edges shows yellow upward; the center is still yellow. Ignore yellow corners: the term does not require exactly one yellow square among all nine. The lower two layers are finished. Hold yellow up and green front. The goal is to orient four yellow edges, not solve the corners first.

For the first six clicks, follow F R U R' U' F'. Pause after step six: yellow edges now face up at right-middle and front-middle, forming a front-right L with the center. The lower layers are restored, but the cross is not done. Do not restart.

Click seven is U2: half-turn only the top, counted as one button press. The yellow L is now at left-middle and back-middle, matching the previous L case. Clicks eight through thirteen follow F U R U' R' F'. The middle four moves differ between the two stages; follow each button instead of adding remembered moves.

Stop after step thirteen. Check the top center and all four edges are yellow and the lower layers restored. This prepared case finishes the whole cube, but the general goal here is only the cross; other scrambles may still need corners and permutation. Never rotate the whole cube during the sequence. With two yellow edges already facing up, choose the line or L case instead of starting the dot procedure.

First check the yellow cross, then count yellow-facing top corners. This Sune case has only the front-left corner yellow on top, plus a yellow sticker at the front face’s top-right. Keep yellow up and green front, select this case and step through R U R' U R U2 R'. One yellow corner alone does not select an algorithm: Anti-Sune uses a different alignment in the next separate case.

Check three clues in the diagrams: an existing yellow cross, the only upward yellow corner at front-left, and yellow at the front face’s top-right. Use this case only when all three match. Afterwards inspect the nine yellow top stickers and preserved lower layers; a fish-like shape alone is insufficient. Learn this right-hand sequence first. No left-hand mirror is demonstrated here, so do not simply replace R with L.

The goal is nine yellow top stickers while preserving the lower two layers. In the top diagram, back is above and front below. Only the back-right corner (upper-right diagram cell) faces yellow up. Yellow also appears at the top-left of the front and right faces. Do not reuse the previous front-left alignment.

Select the case without turning. Check the yellow cross and back-right yellow corner, then press Next once for each token: R, U2, R', U', R, U', R'. U2 is one half-turn and one button action. Temporary changes to the cross are normal; do not add turns or rotate the whole cube midway.

Stop after step seven. Check nine yellow top stickers, a white bottom, and the lower two rows matching every side center. This prepared example finishes fully solved for easy checking; a real scramble may still need PLL to place the top pieces. Orientation is this lesson’s goal, not a promise to solve every last layer at once.

With zero or two yellow corners up you can do one Sune to reduce to a single corner, as in the beginner's method, or learn the direct algorithm. Zero corners has two shapes: H (headlights on two opposite sides) is R U R' U R U' R' U R U2 R'; Pi is R U2 R2 U' R2 U' R2 U2 R.

Yellow headlights mean yellow at both the upper-left and upper-right corners of one side face. Find the two pairs on opposite sides in this example before stepping. Pi and adjacent-two-corner cases have separate examples below. Each case needs inspection and alignment; blindly doing two Sunes is not a universal solution.

Goal: keep the yellow cross and turn all four corners yellow-up, restoring the lower layers at the end. Initially none of the top corners is yellow. Both upper corners of the left face are yellow headlights; the right face has no yellow headlights. The front top-right and back top-left stickers are yellow. These combined clues distinguish Pi from H.

Keep yellow up and green front. Click once per token: R, U2, R2, U', R2, U', R2, U2, R. A 2 needs only one click. After step nine, check the fully yellow top and restored lower layers. Do not add turns to make intermediate positions look solved.

The yellow cross is already present. Both back top corners face yellow up (the two upper diagram corners). The front two corners face yellow toward you: the front face’s upper-left and upper-right are yellow headlights. Keep these headlights in front, not on the left. Goal: nine yellow top stickers and preserved lower layers.

Keep yellow up and green front; step through R2, D, R', U2, R, D', R', U2, R'. D turns the bottom clockwise as viewed directly from below. It is not U; do not change the algorithm’s front while inspecting the bottom. D' later returns the bottom layer.

Stop after step nine. Check the white bottom, yellow top and lower two rows of every side. This prepared case also finishes the entire cube, but other scrambles may still need top-layer permutation after orientation.

Start with yellow on top and the lower two layers solved. Headlights are matching left and right corner stickers on a side's top row; ignore its middle edge sticker for now. Inspect all four sides before choosing an algorithm.

Headlights on all four sides mean the corners are already in the correct relative order. Use only U, U' or U2 to align their side stickers with the centers, or do nothing if aligned. Skip corner swapping and check the edges next. A fully solved cube also has four headlight pairs: a T permutation would scramble it.

Exactly one side with headlights: hold that pair on the left and use this T-perm: R U R' U' R' F R2 U' R' U' R U R' F'. With no headlights, study the separate Y-permutation case next and match its starting orientation rather than applying a formula blindly.

After swapping corners, a final top-layer turn may still be needed to match their side stickers to the centers. Then check the top edges. T also swaps two edges; this prepared example finishes fully solved, but edges in a real scramble may still need their own step.

An all-yellow top proves orientation, not correct side colors. This case swaps the front-right and back-left top corners; no side has matching top-corner stickers. On the green front, the upper-left is green but upper-right is blue; the right face’s upper-left is red instead of orange. These mismatches show incorrect positions.

Keep yellow up and green front. Select the case and press Next once per token. The first nine moves are F R U' R' U' R U R' F'; the last eight are R U R' U' R' F R F'. Groups help reading but do not omit moves. Temporary disruption of the yellow top is normal.

After step 17, check the yellow top, both side stickers of each top corner matching their centers, and preserved lower layers. Y also swaps two edges. This prepared case includes those edges and finishes solved; other scrambles can still require edge permutation.

With corners placed, edges have four cases. Three-cycles: hold the correct edge at the back and see whether the other three cycle clockwise or counter-clockwise — Ua: R U' R U R U R U' R' U' R2, Ub: R2 U R U R' U' R' U' R' U R'.

If all four top edges are misplaced, distinguish opposite swaps (H) from adjacent swaps (Z). Separate cases below show their color destinations. One Ua does not finish Z. This lesson walks through two Ua sequences plus top-layer alignment moves, with a button for each step and a final six-face check.

Check the yellow top and correctly placed top corners first. The back row is entirely blue, so its edge stays. The front upper-middle is red and belongs above the left red center; the left upper-middle is orange and belongs on the right; the right upper-middle is green and belongs at front. Follow color destinations instead of guessing the viewpoint for clockwise.

Keep green front and blue back. Step through R2 U R U R' U' R' U' R' U R', eleven clicks. Follow every displayed token in order; R2 is one half-turn and one click.

Do not restart immediately. Check each side’s upper-middle sticker against its center, all top corners, the yellow top, white bottom and lower layers. All six faces are uniform in this prepared case: it is solved.

Do not confuse this with OLL H: here the top is already yellow and corners are placed. Only four top edges are misplaced. The front upper-middle is blue and back is green: they swap. Left upper-middle is orange and right is red: they also swap. Centers do not move; use their colors as destinations.

Select the case, keep yellow up and green front, and step through R2 U2 R U2 R2 U2 R2 U2 R U2 R2: eleven tokens. Most have 2, meaning a half-turn rather than two button presses. Pause to compare the six-face diagrams whenever needed; speed is not the goal.

Keep the final result visible. Front/back top edges are green/blue and left/right are red/orange, with corners and lower layers correct. All faces are uniform. If your physical cube differs, reset the example and inspect each move instead of blindly repeating the algorithm.

Check the start: the top is yellow, top corners match their side centers, and the lower two layers are correct. The front upper-middle is orange and the right upper-middle is green: these edges must swap. The back upper-middle is red and the left upper-middle is blue: they must also swap. These are adjacent pairs, not the front/back and left/right swaps of H. Keep yellow up, green front and orange right.

This case reuses Ua in two stages; it is not a shortest speedsolving algorithm. First step through R U' R U R U R U' R' U' R2, eleven clicks. Pause at step 11: the right top edge matches the orange center, while the front, back and left top edges still need moving. Corners remain correct. This is a checkpoint, not completion; do not restart.

Step 12 is U' only: align the top layer for the second stage without rotating the whole cube. Steps 13 through 23 repeat the same eleven-move Ua. There is still one move left: step 24, U, aligns the top with the side centers. Each click executes one token; R2 also needs one click. Pause to compare the six-face diagrams whenever needed.

Stop at step 24. The front, right, back and left upper-middle stickers are green, orange, blue and red; corners match the centers, the top is yellow and the bottom white. Each of the six faces is uniform. Follow this only after matching its starting pattern and grip; two Ua sequences are not a universal solution for every last layer.

Aim to explain and complete cases correctly first; no number of practice sessions guarantees a particular time. Choose one case, state its clues, identify target pieces, execute slowly and check the result. Learn another case once you can do that independently. Practice needs vary. This article is not a complete catalog of last-layer cases; do not force an unexplained case into a similar-looking algorithm.

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