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1974 Rubik. Rubik and Rubik's aretrademarks of Seven Towns ltd., usedunder license. All rights reserved.
Solution Hints booklet
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The Professors CubeSolution Hints Booklet
The Greatest Challenge 2
Meet Your Professors Cube 3
Twisting Hints 5
General Hints 8
Notation System 12
Professors Cube Sequences 19
Solving the Professors Cube 32
1
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Professors Cube - The GreatestChallenge
The Professors Cube is the great big brother of the bestselling, original Rubiks Cube and RUBIKS Revenge.
The Professors Cube presents a fascinating problem.You must mix up the puzzle with a few twists and turnsand then try to match up the pieces until each face is asingle colour. However, you are advised to read the rstfew sections of this booklet rst.
Try to solve the puzzle logically, but beware. TheProfessors Cube has the charm of the original Cube,the devilry of RUBIKS Revenge, and then some newsurprises of its own.
With 6,198,327,054,929 times 1080 differentcombinations, the Professors Cube is the greatest
challenge of all.
Meet Your Professors Cube
RUBIKS Professors Cube has 6 faces. Each facewill be a single solid colour when the puzzle is
solved.
The puzzle has 15 different layers and each canbe turned independently of the others.
TOP
FRONT RIGH
T
LeftL
ayer
Mid-L
eftLa
yer
Right
Mid-R
ightL
ayer
Verti
calL
ayer
TopLa
yerMid-T
opLayerBottomLayer
Mid-BottomLayer
H
orizontalLayer
BackLayer
Mid-BackLayer
Mid-FrontLayer
FrontLayer
LateralLayer
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Meet Your Professors Cube
The Professors Cube is made of 98 smaller cube pieces.There are 54 Face Pieces. These have just a single
colour and there are three different types: Centre Face(6); Inner Edge Face (24), and Inner Corner Face(24).
Twisting Hints
There are two kinds of twist that can be given to anylayer: a quarter twist and a half twist.
A quarter twist rotates one layer of the puzzle 90clockwise or anticlockwise. A half twist rotates onelayer 180. (Twisting a layer through three quarters isthe same as twisting it one in the opposite direction.)
36 have two colours, of which 24 are Edge Pieces and12 are Centre Edge Pieces. 8 have three colours - theseare Corner Pieces.
When the puzzle is solved, Yellow is always oppositeWhite; Blue is opposite Green, and Red is oppositeOrange. Also, when the Yellow face is on top and Blue
is to the front, Red is on the right.
CornerPiece
Inner EdgeFace Piece
FRONT RIGH
T
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Twisting Hints
Think of the orientation. For example, moving the backright corner piece with a half twist will put it diagonally
opposite and upside down.
Twisting Hints
Whenever you make some moves, performing thembackwards and in reverse order will return the puzzle to
its original position.
Now try these exercises. In each, remember what layersyou have moved and watch carefully to see how thepieces move.Try a quarter twist of one layer, then a quarter twistof another that is at right angles to the rst. Now
do those two moves backwards to reassemble theProfessors Cube.
Next, try rotating 3 different layers, and then puttingthem back. Getting tricky, but if you managed it, try ita few times. Now try it with 4 moves. If you manageto reverse 4 moves, go for broke. Mess the puzzle upby making as many moves as you want. Now try solvingit. There are some General Hints in the next section toguide you.
If the same piece were instead moved by two quartertwists of two different layers, it would end in the sameposition but in a different orientation.
TOP
FRONTRIGHT Right Layer:Half twist
Bottom Layer:Quarter twistanticlockwise
Front Layer:Quarter twistanticlockwise
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General Hints
If you havent jumbled your Professors Cube up, now isthe time to start.
Then, try to solve the puzzle logically.
As in Rubiks Cube, the centre face pieces determine
General Hints
Now that you can see which pieces must go where, tryto build up on your chosen corner piece. You can do
this in several ways. For example:
Layer by Layer:
which face is which colour. So they will determine whichcorner pieces go where. It is best to start from a cornerpiece.
Move a corner piece to the top layer so that it matchesthe colours of the adjacent centre face pieces, as here.
TOP
FRONT RIGH
T
NB - Each type of piececan only move to a similarposition, ie a centre edgepiece can only ever moveto a centre edge position.
Step 1 Step 2
Step 5Steps 3 & 4
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General Hints
Corners, Edges, then Faces:
General Hints
Whichever approach you use, youll need differentsequences: some that only affect inner corner face
pieces; some that affect edge pieces; and so on.
Experiment with different sequences of twists to ndout what they do. Try to nd some that move piecesyou have already positioned to one side and then putthem back in place. You will often nd that otherpieces yet to be placed have either moved about orbeen reorientated. You should make a note of any
effects that look useful so that you can repeat them toachieve a desired result.
To do this youll need a system to record the moves andeffects. Also, you will need to put numbered stickersonto your puzzle to differentiate between identicalpieces. (This makes it easier to see what has movedwhere.) A system for recording your sequences is givenin the next section.
Step 1 Step 2
Step 3
Some methods will prove more difcult than others,so try different ways. (There is one that avoids theproblems the others may encounter.)
Step 4
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Notation System
The layers of Rubiks Professors Cube are as labelledhere.
The front face is the one that is facing you whenyou start the sequence. Keep that face towards youthroughout the sequence.
Notation System
Remember to look for sequences that do not disturbpieces already positioned: those pieces should end up
where they started. Only record sequences that do this.
Movement of a layer is recorded by the layers nameand an arrow. The arrow gives the direction that thefront or top edge of that layer is moved one quarterturn. Thus, for example:
Notation Indicates:
Front Front layer one quarter twist to left.Back Back layer one quarter twist to right.Top Top layer one quarter twist to left.Bottom Bottom layer one quarter twist to left.Left Left layer one quarter twist down.Right Right layer one quarter twist up.Mid-Left Mid-Left layer one quarter twist down.Mid-Back Mid-Back layer one quarter twist to left.
Lateral Lateral layer one quarter twist to right.
12 13
BackL
ayerLeftL
ayer
Mid-Left
Laye
rRig
ht
TopLayerMid-TopLayerBottomLayer
Mid-
BackLayer
Mid-BottomLayer
Mid-R
ightL
ayer
Mid-FrontLayer
TOP
FRONT RIGH
T
Verti
calLay
er
HorizontalLayer
FrontLayer
LateralLayer
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Notation System
To note the start and nish positions, so that you cansee what has happened after a sequence of moves, copy
and use the diagrams below.
This is the one used in this booklet. It represents theview of the bottom face (and a false perspective of thesides) you would have if you tilt the puzzle away fromyou.
Start Position End Position
SEQUENCE:
Notation System
Remember, the direction relates to the visible edge ofthat layer at the top or front.
With a half-twist, direction is irrelevant, so this isshown by replacing the arrow with a 2. So, Front2means that the front layer is rotated a half-twist.
You may want to twist two layers together. This shouldbe recorded as, say:
Horizontal+Mid-Bottom
You may nd it tricky to twist a mid-layer on its own.Its easier to twist it with the adjacent face layer andthen turn the face layer back.
There is a reason for the way the puzzle is viewed. Thisenables you to see how the pieces already positionedare moved out of the way and where they go to. If youcan see this clearly, you will nd it much easier toremember the sequence.
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Notation System
Just record the effect that is relevant. For example,suppose you nd a sequence that moves one edge piece
from the bottom layer to the mid-top layer while leavingthe pieces in the top layer and the other edge pieces inthe mid-top layer unchanged. This is the only importanteffect. You do not need to note what happens to theother pieces on the bottom, mid-bottom or horizontallayers. All you need to know is the start position of thepiece that ended in the mid-top layer.
For example, your start and end position should simplybe noted as here (along with your sequence of moves).
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Start Position End Position
(Asterisked pieces remain unmoved.)
Notation System
For each sequence that you nd, there will also be aReverse, a Mirror, and a Reverse Mirror.
Suppose you have found a sequence that reads:
Mid-Left ; Bottom ; Mid-Left ; Bottom2;Mid-Left ; Bottom ; Mid-Left .
The Reverse is the sequence in reverse order with thedirection of arrows also reversed, as here:
Mid-Left ; Bottom ; MId-Left ; Bottom2;Mid-Left ; Bottom ; Mid-Left .
The start position of the Reverse is the end positionof the original sequence, and the Reverse ends withthe start position of the original. So, if you performa sequence and then wish to put the puzzle back asit was, simply do the Reverse of the one you did torestore the original position.
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Whenever you nd a useful sequence, make sure you alsorecord these other versions. If you have trouble ndingyour own sequences, some useful ones are given in thenext section.
Professors Cube Sequences
This section contains some general sequences that canhandle a variety of situations. (There are other more
specic sequences for you to nd.)
The system of notation is as described in the previoussection.
The start and end positions show the bottom face.(That is, the view you would have if you tilt thepuzzle away from you.) Start and end positions for
the Reverse and Mirror versions have been omitted forreasons of space.
Always hold the puzzle so that the piece you wish tomove is in the appropriate start position.
Asterisked pieces remain unmoved as do all the otherpieces of the puzzle.
End PositionStart Position
Notation System
A mirror sequence is a left-right reection of theoriginal. This swaps any left and right layers and
reverses all arrows pointing left or right. Arrowspointing up or down remain the same. The Mirror of theprevious sequence is:
Mid-Right ; Bottom ; Mid-Right ; Bottom2;Mid-Right ; Bottom ; Mid-Right .
Start and end positions are reections of those for theoriginal sequence. For example, the diagrams here are
the reections of those on page 16.
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Start Position End Position
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Professors Cube Sequences
Three-Corner ShuttleThis shuttles a triangle of corner pieces one place
clockwise around the bottom layer.
Left ; Bottom ; Left ; Front ; Bottom ; Front ;Left ; Bottom ; Left ; Bottom .
ReverseBottom ; Left ; Bottom ; Left ; Front ;Bottom ; Front ; Left ; Bottom ; Left .
MirrorRight ; Bottom ; Right ; Front ; Bottom ;
Front ; Right ; Bottom ; Right ; Bottom .Reverse Mirror
Bottom ; Right ; Bottom ; Right ; Front ;Bottom ; Front ; Right ; Bottom ; Right .
Professors Cube Sequences
Three-Corner FlipperThis ips three corner pieces on the bottom layer
without changing their position.
Right ; Bottom ; Right ; Bottom ; Right ;Bottom2 ; Right ; Bottom2.
ReverseBottom2; Right ; Bottom2; Right ; Bottom ;
Right ; Bottom ; Right .
MirrorLeft ; Bottom ; Left ; Bottom ; Left ;
Bottom2; Left ; Bottom2.Reverse Mirror
Bottom2; Left ; Bottom2; Left ; Bottom ;Left ; Bottom ; Left .
Start Position End Position
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Professors Cube Sequences
Centre Edge Shuttle 2This shuttles three centre edge pieces around a face
and ips two of them.
Back ; Lateral ; Bottom ; Back ; Bottom ;Lateral ; Bottom ; Back ; Bottom ; Back .
Professors Cube Sequences
Centre Edge Shuttle 1This shuttles three centre edge pieces around a face and
ips two of them.
Vertical ; Bottom ; Vertical ; Bottom2;Vertical ; Bottom ; Vertical .
Mirror & ReverseThe Mirror and Reverse of this are the same.
Vertical ; Bottom ; Vertical ; Bottom2;Vertical ; Bottom ; Vertical .
Start Position End Position Start Position End Position
ReverseBack ; Bottom ; Back ; Bottom ; Lateral ;Bottom ; Back ; Bottom ; Lateral ; Back .
Mirror
Back ; Lateral ; Bottom ; Back ; Bottom ;
Lateral ; Bottom ; Back ; Bottom ; Back .Mirror Reverse
Back ; Bottom ; Back ; Bottom ; Lateral ;Bottom ; Back ; Bottom ; Lateral ; Back .
The two Centre Edge Shuttles can also be used to
move a centre edge piece from the bottom layer to thehorizontal layer. To do this, a face or two must rst betwisted (and reversed at the end of the sequence). TheCentre Edge Lifter on page 24 is an example of this.
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Professors Cube Sequences
Centre Edge LifterThis shuttles three centre edge pieces, lifting one from
the bottom layer into the horizontal layer.
Front ; Left ; Vertical ; Bottom ; Left ; Bottom ;Vertical ; Bottom ; Left ; Bottom ; Left ; Front .
ReverseFront ; Left ; Bottom ; Left ; Bottom ; Vertical ;Bottom ; Left ; Bottom ; Vertical ; Left ; Front .
MirrorFront ; Right ; Vertical ; Bottom ; Right ; Bottom ;
Vertical ;Bottom ; Right ; Bottom ;Right ; Front .Mirror ReverseFront ; Right ; Bottom ; Right ; Bottom ; Vertical ;Bottom ; Right ; Bottom ; Vertical ; Left ; Front .
Start Position End Position
Professors Cube Sequences
High-Edge ShuttleBy shuttling a triangle of edge pieces clockwise around
the front layer, this moves an edge piece from thebottom layer into the mid-top layer.
Left ; Bottom ; Left ; Mid-Top ;Left ; Bottom ; Left ; Mid-Top .
ReverseMid-Top ; Left ; Bottom ; Left ;Mid-Top ; Left ; Bottom ; Left .
MirrorRight ; Bottom ; Right ; Mid-Top ;
Right ; Bottom ; Right ; Mid-Top .Reverse Mirror
Mid-Top ; Right ; Bottom ; Right ;Mid-Top ; Right ; Bottom ; Right .
Start Position End Position
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* * **
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Professors Cube Sequences
Low-Edge ShuttleThis shuttles a triangle of edge pieces clockwise around
the front layer, moving an edge piece from the bottomlayer to the mid-bottom layer.
Left ; Bottom ; Left ; Mid-Bottom ;Left ; Bottom ; Left ; Mid-Bottom .
ReverseMid-Bottom ; Left ; Bottom ; Left ;Mid-Bottom ; Left ; Bottom ; Left .
MirrorRight ; Bottom ; Right ; Mid-Bottom ;
Right ; Bottom ; Right ; Mid-Bottom .Reverse Mirror
Mid-Bottom ; Right ; Bottom ; Right ;Mid-Bottom ; Right ; Bottom ; Right .
Professors Cube SequencesInner Corner Face LifterThis shuttles three inner corner face pieces, lifting onefrom the bottom face to the front face.
Mid-Left ; Mid-Right ; Bottom ; Mid-Right ;Bottom ; Mid-Left ; Bottom ; Mid-Right ;
Bottom ; Mid-Right .
ReverseMid-Right ; Bottom ; Mid-Right ; Bottom ;Mid-Left ; Bottom ; Mid-Right ; Bottom ;
Mid-Left ; Mid-Right .
MirrorMid-Left ; Mid-Right ; Bottom ; Mid-Left ;Bottom ; Mid-Right ; Bottom ; Mid-Left ;
Bottom ; Mid-Left .Reverse Mirror
Mid-Left ; Bottom ; Mid-Left ; Bottom ;Mid-Right ; Bottom ; Mid-Left ; Bottom ;
Mid-Left ; Mid-Right .
Start Position End Position
Start Position End Position
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Professors Cube Sequences
Inner Edge Face LifterThis swaps two pairs of inner edge face pieces, lifting
one from the bottom face into the front face.
Mid-Left ; Mid-Right2; Top ;Vertical 2; Mid-Front 2; Vertical 2; Mid-Front 2;
Top ; Mid-Right 2; Mid-Left .
MirrorMid-Right ; Mid-Left2; Top ;
Vertical 2; Mid-Front 2; Vertical 2; Mid-Front 2;
Top ; Mid-Right 2; Mid-Left .
Each of these two sequences reverses itself.
Professors Cube Sequences
Mid-SwapperThis swaps two edge pieces between the front mid-top
and mid-bottom layers.
Front2; Mid-Bottom ; Front2; Mid-Bottom2;Front2; Mid-Bottom ; Front2.
MirrorFront2; Mid-Bottom ; Front2; Mid-Bottom2;
Front2; Mid-Bottom ; Front2.
In both cases the reverse is the same as the sequence.
StartPosition
EndPosition
Start Position End Position
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Professors Cube Sequences
Mid-ShuttleThis shuttles a triangle of edge pieces clockwise around
the mid-bottom layer.
Back ; Bottom2 ; Left ; Bottom ; Left ;Mid-Bottom ; Left ; Bottom ; Left ;
Mid-Bottom ; Bottom2 ; Back .
StartPosition
EndPosition
ReverseBack ; Bottom2 ; Mid-Bottom ; Left ;
Bottom ; Left ; Mid-Bottom ; Left ; Bottom ;Left ; Bottom2 ; Back .
Professors Cube Sequences
MirrorBack ; Bottom2 ; Right ; Bottom ; Right ;
Mid-Bottom ; Right ; Bottom ; Right ;Mid-Bottom ; Bottom2 ; Back .
Reverse MirrorBack ; Bottom2 ; Mid-Bottom ; Right ;
Bottom ; Right ; Mid-Bottom ; Right ;Bottom ; Right ; Bottom2 ; Back .
With this sequence, as with any that shuttles threepieces, performing it twice is the same as doing theReverse once.
You should try and solve the puzzle for yourself usingthe sequences provided. They are all you need - plus alittle imagination.
If you are still having trouble, a full solution guide isgiven in the next section.
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Solving the Professors Cube
Once you start twisting, its easy to get the ProfessorsCube completely muddled. Dont worry - it can always be
put right from any state. The following steps will helpyou solve the puzzle.
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1. Select any face as your topface. Then move one cornerpiece into position so that itmatches the centre pieces ofthe adjacent faces as in the
diagram.
2. Find a second piece thats aside-by-side match and twistit into place.
NB - Of two identically coloured edge pieces, only onecan be placed in a particular position with the colourscorrectly orientated.
TOP
FRONT RIGH
T
Solving the Professors Cube
3. Position all edge andcorner pieces of the top
face. If you have trouble,use the sequences.(Shuttles can all be usedif you turn the puzzle sothat your top face becomesthe relevant face in thesequence diagrams.)
4. Position the face piecesof the top layer. FaceLifter sequences may beused.
NB - When using Lifters, you may rst need to twistfaces to align the pieces to be moved. Note these soyou can reverse them after.
TOP
FRONT RIGH
T
TOP
FRONT RIGH
T
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Solving the Professors Cube
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5. Next, and most importantly, position the remainingcorners and centre edge pieces.
6. Start by using the Three-Corner Shuttle to correctly
position the corner pieces. If two seem to becorrectly placed, turn the layer so one of the othertwo is correctly placed. The Three-Corner Shuttlewill then position the other three. If the two thatneed to be swapped are diagonally opposite, you willneed to use the Three-Corner Shuttle twice.
7. Once the cornerpieces are in the rightpositions, use theThree-Corner Flipper toorientate them correctly.
Solving the Professors Cube
8. Next use the CentreEdge Lifter to correctly
position and orientate thecentre edge pieces in thehorizontal layer. Then useCentre Edge Shuttles toposition and orientate thecentre edge pieces of thebottom face.
9. Use the Low-Edge and/orHigh-Edge Shuttles todrop the edge pieces intotheir correct positions onthe bottom face. If a pieceyou want is already in thebottom face, use one of
the shuttles to remove it.
TOP
FRONT RIGH
T
TOP
FRONT RIGH
T
TOP
FRONT RIGH
T
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Solving The Professors Cube
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Solving The Professors Cube
12. Finally, complete theremaining centre facesby using the Inner EdgeLifter and Inner CornerLifter.
10.Use the Mid-Swapper tocorrectly position the edgepieces of the mid-toplayer. If a piece you wantis already in that layer, usethe Swapper to remove it.)
11. Turn the mid-bottom layer
so that only one edge pieceis correctly positioned.Then use the Mid-Shuttleto correctly position andorientate the other three.If two diagonally oppositeedge pieces need to beswapped, you will need to
use the Shuttle twice.
Once youve mastered thepuzzle, try solving it layerby layer from the top down.Theres a fty-fty chanceyoull either solve it or reachthe position shown here. Fromthis, see if you can nd theshortest sequence to solve thepuzzle.
There are also a variety ofpatterns that can be made.The challenge is far from over.
TOP
FRONT RIGH
T
TOP
FRONT RIGH
T
TOP
FRONT RIGH
T