Pyraminx, Beginner Method
The Pyraminx is a 4-sided puzzle in the shape of a tetrahedron. Each side is a triangle, and three sides meet at each of the four corners. It’s composed of the following fourteen parts.
- Tips—There are four tips at the end of each corner. Each tip has three textures. Their positions never change and their orientations are trivial to solve.
- Centers—There are four center pieces, one adjacent to each tip. Each center has three textures. Their positions never change, but their orientations affect the edge pieces.
- Edges—There are six edge pieces, one between each pair of centers. Each edge has two textures. Rotating the centers changes the orientation and position of the edges.
Terminology
- Side—Some Pyraminx guides use this term loosely, but on this page, a side is one of the four flat sides that compose the pyramid shape. Note that three centers compose one side. If your Pyraminx has an untextured side, there are exactly three centers with untextured faces.
- Layer—your Pyraminx puzzle has two layers. The bottom layer has three edges, three centers, and three tips. The top layer has three edges, one center, and one tip.
- Lower and upper edges—The three edges in the bottom layer are the lower edges. The three edges in the top layer are the upper edges.
- Down side—Of the four Pyraminx sides, the down or D side is the bottom side.
- Front side—The front side of the puzzle faces you.
- Right and left sides—The right side faces away and to the right. The left side faces away and to the left.
Notation
Place the puzzle flat on a table. The side in contact with the table is the D side. Turn the puzzle so that only one side faces you. That side is the front side.
There are four centers: one to your left, one to your right, one on top, and one in the back. They are L (left), R (right), U (up), and B (back).
Each center can be rotated 120 degrees in either direction. L means rotate the left center 120 degrees clockwise. L′ means rotate the left center 120 degrees counter clockwise.
Home Grip
Many cubers use a home grip that allows them to rotate the L and R centers with their left and right hands, and rotate the U center with flicks of their index fingers.
The LBL (Layer-by-Layer) Method
In this solution, you’ll solve the bottom layer first, then the top layer. You can solve the tips at any time, though saving them for last helps avoid accidental tip rotations. These are the layer-by-layer steps.
- Solve the bottom layer centers
- Solve the bottom layer edges
- Solve the U center
- Solve the top layer edges
- Solve the tips
Step 1—Solve the Bottom Layer Centers
To solve the bottom layer centers, first find the one center piece that doesn’t have the D texture, then orient the puzzle so that this center points up. Next, rotate the remaining centers so that their D textures face down. (Don’t worry about rotating the U center yet. We’ll solve that in step 3.)
Sanity check: Feel the D side. Ignore the tips and edges. Check only the textures of the center pieces. All three should match.
Step 2—Solve the Bottom Layer Edges
This is more of an intuitive step, but here are some general suggestions to get you started.
Of the six edge pieces, three are bottom layer edge pieces. They are the three edge pieces that have the D texture as one of their two textures.
Examine the three top layer edge pieces. If none of them have a D texture, then move an edge piece from the bottom layer to the top layer with this algorithm.
If none of the upper edges contain a D texture, then move one of the lower edges (with a D texture) to the upper layer with this algorithm.
R U R′
At this point, at least one upper edge has a D texture. Call this the target piece. The target’s second texture determines the destination location. Turn the puzzle so that the destination is the bottom front edge. When the puzzle is correctly oriented, you’ve got a target edge piece somewhere in the top layer, and you’re going to move it to the front bottom destination, making sure it’s oriented correctly.
Sanity check: One of the target’s two textures is the D texture, and the other texture matches the L and R center piece textures that are facing you.
The target might be in one of six different position/orientation combinations. Here are algorithms for all six scenarios.
If the target is in the upper back with D texture facing left:
L′ U′ L
If the target is in the upper back with D texture facing right:
R U R′
If the target is in the upper left with D texture facing front:
L R′ L′ R
If the target is in the upper left with D texture facing left:
R U′ R′
If the target is in the upper right with D texture facing front:
R′ L R L′
If the target is in the upper right with D texture facing right:
L′ U L
Congrats, you have placed one bottom layer edge piece with correct orientation.
Repeat for the remaining two bottom edge pieces. After all three bottom layer edges have been placed, feel the D side of your puzzle. Except for tips, all textures should match.
Step 3—Solve the U Center
Perform a trivial U rotation to correctly orient the U center. Sanity check: The three center textures should match on all four sides of the puzzle, and the bottom layer should be solved (except for the tips). The three top layer edges are unsolved.
Step 4—Solve the Top Layer Edges
There are five different configurations for the three upper edge pieces, and each has their own algorithm.
- One edge piece is solved and two are inverted. Orient the Pyraminx so that the solved edge is away and the inverted edges are facing you, then perform this algorithm:
L R′ L′ R U′ R U R′
- Edges are correctly oriented, but need to move counterclockwise:
R U R′ U R U R′
- Edges are correctly oriented, but need to move clockwise:
L′ U′ L U′ L′ U′ L
- Move counterclockwise, with two inverted. Find the one edge piece whose textures are incorrect on both sides. Orient the puzzle so this piece is in the back. The two inverted edges will be front left and front right:
R′ U′ L′ U L R
- Move clockwise, with two inverted. Find the one edge piece whose textures are incorrect on both sides. Orient the puzzle so this piece is in the back. The two inverted edges will be front left and front right:
L U R U′ R′ L′
Step 5—Solve the tips
As a final step, solve each of the four tips.
Congratulations! You’ve solved the Pyraminx.
Next Steps
Steps 1 and 2 of the Layer-by-Layer method can be combined. Before you begin solving the puzzle, inspect it to identify the D side. Look for bottom layer edge pieces that can be solved while solving the bottom layer centers. With practice, you’ll be able to solve the bottom layer centers and two bottom layer edges as a single step. This reduces step 2 to solving only the last remaining bottom layer edge.
After you have mastered LBL, consider learning the L4E (Last Four edges) method. L4E solves the pyraminx in two steps.
1. Solve all four centers and two of the three bottom layer edges.
2. Solve the remaining four edges with one of the 36 L4E algorithms, then the tips.
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