The first layer is done, so four middle edges are left. They are exactly the four edges with NO yellow on them. Any top edge without yellow belongs in the middle.

Find one in the top layer. Turn the top until its front sticker matches the front middle. The edge and the middle now make an upside-down T.

Now read the edge’s TOP sticker. Does it match the RIGHT middle? Use the right set. Does it match the LEFT middle? Use the left set. The edge drops into its slot and the first layer stays safe.

Here is the part that feels wrong. The first move sends the edge AWAY from the slot you want. That is on purpose. The edge has to step aside so the corner can come out and pick it up. Trust that first move even though it looks backwards. It is the only reason the rest works.

An edge stuck in the wrong slot, or sitting the wrong way round? You cannot fix it down there. It has to come out first. Bring that slot to the front-right and send ANY top edge down into it. The stuck edge pops up to the top, where you can place it properly. An edge with no yellow is the tidy choice. If every top edge shows yellow, use one anyway. You will lift it back out on the next go. Nothing is lost.

Both sets keep the white layer safe. It looks broken in the middle. It comes back every time.

Done-check: two full layers solid. Only the yellow layer is left.

You already know all eight moves

Both insertions in this step are your trigger, twice. U R U' R' is the same four beats started one move later — the trigger backwards — and it knocks the corner out so your edge can park beside it. Then U' F' U F is the very same shape mirrored onto the front face, which puts the corner back and drags the edge down with it. Run the drill once to get the rhythm back in your hands, then read the two sets and you will see nothing new in them.

Open this drill on its own page →

Watch it happen

Stuck? An edge is in its slot the wrong way round

If an edge sits in the middle layer with its colours swapped, or in the wrong slot altogether, no amount of turning will fix it in place. Send ANY top edge down into that slot and the wrong one pops up to the top, where you can solve it normally. A yellow-free edge is the tidy choice. If every top edge shows yellow, use one anyway — you will just lift it back out on the next go. Nothing is lost.

See the states

Right set: the T is made, and the top sticker matches the right middle

Left set: the T is made, and the top sticker matches the left middle

Try it yourself

Send the four middle edges down into their slots. One set of moves does the right-hand ones, and its mirror does the left.

You get a cube with everything before this step already done — only this step is left.

The algorithms

Right edge insertion

URU'R'U'F'UF

The edge’s front sticker matches the front middle. Its top sticker matches the RIGHT middle. This is two triggers back to back. First U R U′ R′, your trigger run backwards. It knocks the corner out of the slot and parks your edge beside it. Then U′ F′ U F, the same four beats mirrored onto the front face. That puts the corner back and drags your edge down with it.

Left edge insertion

U'L'ULUFU'F'

The edge’s front sticker matches the front middle. Its top sticker matches the LEFT middle. Same two triggers, hands swapped: U′ L′ U L, then U F U′ F′. If you can do the right one, you know this one. It is its mirror image.