Notation · Skewb

Skewb notation explained

The Skewb turns on its corners, not in layers, and every turn is 120°: a third of a rotation. To read a scramble four names are enough —R, U, L, B—, the four axes a competition scramble uses. To solve it you'll rely mostly on one block, the sledgehammer R' r R r', which grabs a corner and its neighbour with the same hand: that's where the lowercase r and l come from.

⏳White on the bottom, yellow on top. The Skewb has a single colour scheme, so there's nothing to choose.

Try it yourself

Turn the Skewb with your finger, press the moves or type your own formula.

The block that solves almost everything

↔ Drag to turn the Skewb

Moves:—

8 corners, but only 4 names

The Skewb has eight corners and a turning axis runs through each one — but the axes come in pairs: every corner sits at the tip of the same diagonal as its opposite. Turning the far corner is the same as turning the named one the other way and then repositioning the Skewb in your hand. That's why with R, U, L and B —four corners you can see at once— you read any scramble, and they're the four a competition scramble uses.

r and l: the neighbours the hand grabs. R and L name a whole corner; r and l are the two neighbouring corners the hand grabs right next to it to do the sledgehammer R' r R r' —the X' Y X Y' shape over two corners that share a face. They don't show up in competition scrambles (a scramble only uses R, U, L, B), but they do the moment you start solving: the beginner method is done entirely with this block, aimed at each part of the Skewb with a positioning turn.

🔄It's the same as on a cube with its six faces: you could name the opposite ones too, but R and a backwards L do the same job.

What you need to know

R U L B

Each letter turns a whole cornerR, U, L, B turn that corner plus the three pieces around it: four pieces at once, 120°.

There's no double turnWith 120° turns, going two thirds of the way round is the same as going a third the other way: where other notations write R2, here you write R'.

x y z

x, y, z = turn the whole SkewbThey don't change anything about the puzzle, only how you're holding it — but they do change what the moves after them mean. Some guides use them inside their formulas.

Corner lettersShows or hides the letters R, U, L and B floating over their corners. Each move is named after the corner it turns.

+ −

ZoomMove the Skewb closer or further with the + / − buttons.

ResetGo back to the solved Skewb at any time.

Mezclar

ScrambleGenerate a random scramble and practise recognising the pattern before solving.

The Skewb has a small position space for a puzzle its size — small enough to analyse in full by computer, and one of the reasons it's learned so quickly.

The pieces of the Skewb

Just 14 pieces, of two kinds. In each drawing all the pieces of that kind are highlighted; the rest is grey.

8 corners

Corner

It has three stickers, one for each face it touches. A turn moves four corners at once: one twists in place and the other three change corner. Its orientation matters.

6 centres

Centre

A single sticker, in the middle of each face. It doesn't change orientation, only place: a turn swaps three centres. The six together tell you what colour each face is.

💡A 3×3 cube has 20 moving pieces and 26 in total; the Skewb, 14. Fewer pieces, fewer cases, shorter curve.

The colour scheme

Solved, each face is one colour: white on the bottom, yellow on top, and green, blue, red and orange around the sides — the physical puzzle's convention. The Skewb has no alternative schemes: this is the only one.

🔄The scheme doesn't change, but where you look at it from does: with the x, y, z buttons you turn the whole Skewb and the drawing turns with you.

What now?

With the notation clear, the next step is to solve it. The Skewb shares with the Pyraminx the shortest learning curve on the site: few formulas and short ones.

⚡Start with the beginner method — one face, the top corners and the centres. Then the intermediate method finishes the last layer by recognising the case.