How To Solve a Mirror Cube?

The Mirror Cube is an unofficial puzzle. It has pieces of different shapes which allows it to shape shift. When you scramble it, the puzzle takes a chaotic form and loses its cubic shape which makes the solving process quite complicated. 

To solve a Mirror cube one must know how to solve a regular 3x3 cube and should have a general understanding of how a cube works.

 

Notations-

We’ll be needing these notations to solve a Mirror cube-

R- Move the right layer upwards  

R’- Move the right layer downwards

L- Move the left layer downwards

L’- Move the left layer upwards

U – Move the top layer in the clockwise direction

U’- Move the top layer in the anti-clockwise direction

D- Move the bottom layer in the clockwise direction

D’- Move the bottom layer in the anti- clockwise direction

F- Move the front face in the clockwise direction

F’- Move the front face in the anti-clockwise direction

Cross

The first step to solve the Mirror cube is to make a cross on the bottom layer.

To do this, search for the edge which is the largest. Try to find the most suitable edges for each centre, this will take some patience as the mirror cube is a shape shifter. You’ll get better at it once you’ll solve it 2-3 times. The more you practice finding edges for the cross  the better you’ll get at it.

Corners of the first layer-

This step involves solving the corners of the first layer.

To solve the corners, one has to find the right corner for each slot and insert it. Again, this will take some time as the corners become quite hard to distinguish from one another during this stage.

Use this algorithm while keeping the cross at the bottom to insert a corner piece which is in front of the slot-

R U’ R’ U 

Middle Layer-

To solve the middle layer a cuber should know how to solve a 3x3 cube and also solve it faster. 

The cube must be held in such a way that the solved face should be at the bottom. 

Look for the biggest edge and try to find the largest gap in the middle layer. This will help you to solve your first edge. Keep looking for the edges and insert them. 

This step is like the one before it. You’ll have to practice solving the middle layer multiple times to get better at it.

These steps will complete the middle layer and the cube will look something like this. 

Orienting the edges on the top layer-

This step is extremely easy! All you have to do is perform this algorithm. 

Keep doing this algorithm until  the edges get permutated.

F R U R’ U’ F’

You might face some problems with the permutation of the edges in this step.

A simple algorithm to resolve this issue is the sune.

Do this algorithm while keep keeping one unsolved edge on the front and the other unsolved edge on the left-

R U R’ U R U2 R’

Corner permutation-

For this step we will use commutators.

The commutator will help you moving the corners of the top layer to your desired slot and the corner from that slot will get inserted into the other slot.

R’ D’ R  U/U’/U2(DEPENDS ON THE SITUATION R’D R U’

Keep moving the corners till you get them at the right places.

Corner orientation-

Once you have inserted the corners at the correct positions , you can orient them.
To orient the corners use this algorithm while keeping the unsolved layer to your left-
R’ U’ R U 
Keep doing this algorithm till the corner gets oriented.
To orient the next corner, use the L moves to bring the corner to the slot and orient it. 

 Related Read - How to Solve Skewb Cube [2 Simple Methods]