Step 5: Make the Yellow Cross 🌟

Now that your cube has a strong bottom and sturdy middle, it’s time to decorate the top floor — the yellow side! But before we finish it all, we need to make a big glowing yellow cross 🌞 on top.

Let’s imagine this step like helping four little lightning bugs fly up to the top of your cube so they can glow together in a cross shape. But these bugs are a little confused… they’re not all facing up yet!

🐞 The Lightning Bug Puzzle

When you look at the top of your cube (the yellow side), you might see:

• Just the yellow center (that’s called the “Dot” 😕)
• A yellow “L” shape in the corner (that’s called the “L” case 🧱)
• A yellow bar across the middle (that’s the “Bar” case ➖)
• Or, if you’re lucky, a full cross already (yay! 🎉 but this is rare)

We’re going to help those lightning bugs find their way by using a special spell — a short set of moves that wakes them up one by one until they all light up together ✨.

🧙‍♂️ The Cross-Making Spell

The magic goes like this:

⟳ F
⬆️ R ⬅️ U ⬇️ R' ➡️ U'
⟲ F'

(That’s just a fancy way of saying: Front, Super Move, Front Prime)

Don’t worry if it looks tricky! Let’s tell it like a story instead.

📖 The Story of the Yellow Cross

Once upon a cube, four sleepy lightning bugs were hiding inside the edges of the top floor. But only one — the yellow center — was already glowing. The others were turned the wrong way!

So we called upon a little spell to help them out.

First, we gently opened the front door of the cube. (F)

Then, we did the right side’s favorite dance, the “super move,” to shake things up and get the bugs moving.
(R U R’ U’)

After the dance, we carefully closed the front door again so everything stayed neat and tidy. (F’)

Each time we did the spell, more of the lightning bugs woke up and started to glow yellow on top! Sometimes we needed to do the spell once, sometimes twice — or even three times — depending on which bugs were awake at the start.

🧩 What to Do Based on What You See

• If you only see the yellow center, just start the spell. It will turn into an L after one go.
• If you see the yellow L, hold the cube so the L is in the back left corner, and do the spell.
• If you see the yellow bar, make sure it’s side-to-side, not pointing at you, then do the spell.

With each round, you’re getting closer to that big glowing yellow cross on top!

✅ All Done When…

You look at the top of the cube and see a bright yellow plus sign 🌟 — just the edges though, not the corners yet. That’s coming soon!

You did it! The lightning bugs are all glowing, and the top of your cube is shining like the sun.

🌟 _“Shiny! A bright yellow cross has appeared on top — you’re lighting up the sky of your cube!”_

🔜 Next up: Positioning the Yellow Corners!
⬅️ Step 4: Solve the Second Layer | Step 6: Solve the Yellow Edges ➡️
🔝 Return to Guide Overview