Notation

SSE 6x6

The SSE 6x6 (Superset ENG) is a notation for cubes with 6 layers, such as the V-Cube 6. The notation is based on the English language. It supports 90° and 180° twists of the layers of the cube. A whole cube can be rotated along its face axes. Permutation and orientation changes of individual cube parts can be specified using permutation cycles.

Face twists: R, R', R2

Move Right Up Front Left Down Back
○○○○○● +90° R U F L D B
○○○○○● -90° R' U' F' L' D' B'
○○○○○● +180° R2 U2 F2 L2 D2 B2

Clockwise 90° twists of the six faces of the cube are described by the capital letters: R, U, F, L, D and B, (right, up, front, left, down, back). For example, R rotates the right face in clockwise direction as seen from the right face.

Counterclockwise twists and rotations are described by appending the inversion operator ' to a move: R', U', F', ...

In environments, where the ' character can not be used, the character - can be used as an alternative inversion operator.

180° twists and rotations are described by appending the number 2 to a move: R2, U2, F2, ...

Tier twists: TR, TR', TR2, ... T3R, T4R, T5R

Move Right Up Front Left Down Back
○○○○●● +90° TR TU TF TL TD TB
○○○○●● -90° TR' TU' TF' TL' TD' TB'
○○○○●● +180° TR2 TU2 TF2 TL2 TD2 TB2
○○○●●● +90° T3R T3U T3F T3L T3D T3B
○○○●●● -90° T3R' T3U' T3F' T3L' T3D' T3B'
○○○●●● +180° T3R2 T3U2 T3F2 T3L2 T3D2 T3B2
○○●●●● +90° T4R T4U T4F T4L T4D T4B
○○●●●● -90° T4R' T4U' T4F' T4L' T4D' T4B'
○○●●●● +180° T4R2 T4U2 T4F2 T4L2 T4D2 T4B2
○●●●●● +90° T5R T5U T5F T5L T5D T5B
○●●●●● -90° T5R' T5U' T5F' T5L' T5D' T5B'
○●●●●● +180° T5R2 T5U2 T5F2 T5L2 T5D2 T5B2

Twists which go multiple layers deep (tier twists) are described by prepending the letter T to a face twist: TR, TU', TF2.

The depth of the tier can be specified by inserting a number after the letter T. For example, T3R twists three layers deep in clockwise direction as seen from the right face.

If the dept is not explicitly specified, the value 2 is assumed: TL, TD', TB2.

To keep scripts short, T1R is never used, because it is equivalent to R. T2R is never used, because it is equivalent to TR.

Numbered layer twists: NR, NR', NR2

Move Right Up Front Left Down Back
○○○○●○ +90° NR NU NF NL ND NB
○○○○●○ -90° NR' NU' NF' NL' ND' NB'
○○○○●○ +180° NR2 NU2 NF2 NL2 ND2 NB2

Twists of an individual layer of the cube (twist of the n-th layer) are described by prepending the letter N to a face twist. The number of the layer can be specified by inserting the number of the layer after the letter N, for example N4R, N3U', N4F2.

Layers are numbered starting from the face described by the face twist towards the opposite face. The layer at the face of the cube has number 1, the next layer has number 2, and so on.

If the layer is not explicitly specified, the value 2 is assumed, for example NL, ND', NB2.

To keep scripts short, N1R is never used, because it is equivalent to R. N2R is never used, because it is equivalent to NR.

Numbered range twists: N2-3R, N2-3R', N2-3R2, ...

Twists of a range of layers are described by prepending the letter N to a face twist, followed by the number of the first layer, a - character, and the number of the last layer.

N2-4R twists the layers 2 through 4 in clockwise direction as seen from the right face.

To keep scripts short, ranges which start with 1 or end with the last layer of the cube are written as tier twists, instead of N1-3F2 we write T3F2, instead of N4-6F we write T3B'. Ranges of only one layer are written as N layer twists, instead of N2-2D' we write N2D'.

Void twists: VR, VR', VR2, ... V3R

Move Right Up Front Left Down Back
○○○●●○ +90° VR VU VF VL VD VB
○○○●●○ -90° VR' VU' VF' VL' VD' VB'
○○○●●○ +180° VR2 VU2 VF2 VL2 VD2 VB2
○○●●●○ +90° V3R V3U V3F V3L V3D V3B
○○●●●○ -90° V3R' V3U' V3F' V3L' V3D' V3B'
○○●●●○ +180° V3R2 V3U2 V3F2 V3L2 V3D2 V3B2

Tier twists without the cube face (void twists) can be described by prepending the letter V to a face twist: VR, VU', VF2.

The depth of void layers can be specified by inserting a number after the letter V. For example, V3R twists the layers 2 through 4 in clockwise direction as seen from the right face.

If the depth is not explicitly specified, the value 2 is assumed: VL, VD', VB2.

To keep scripts short, V1R is never used, because it is equivalent to NR. V2R is never used, because it is equivalent to VR.

Mid-layer twists: MR, MR', MR2, ... M2R, M3R

Move Right Up Front Left Down Back
○○○●○○ +90° MR MU MF ML MD MB
○○○●○○ -90° MR' MU' MF' ML' MD' MB'
○○○●○○ +180° MR2 MU2 MF2 ML2 MD2 MB2
○○●●○○ +90° M2R M2U M2F M2L M2D M2B
○○●●○○ -90° M2R' M2U' M2F' M2L' M2D' M2B'
○○●●○○ +180° M2R2 M2U2 M2F2 M2L2 M2D2 M2B2
○○●●●○ +90° M3R M3U M3F M3L M3D M3B
○○●●●○ -90° M3R' M3U' M3F' M3L' M3D' M3B'
○○●●●○ +180° M3R2 M3U2 M3F2 M3L2 M3D2 M3B2

Twists of the layer in the middle (mid-layer twists) are described by prepending the letter M to a face twist: MR, MU', MF2.

On cubes with an even amount of layers, the mid-layers are the ones closer to the face of the cube.

The number of layers twisted can be specified by inserting a number after the letter M. For example, M2R twists two layers in the middle in clockwise direction as seen from the right face.

If the depth is not explicitly specified, the value 1 is assumed, for example ML, MD', MB2.

To keep scripts short, M1R is never used, because it is equivalent to MR.

Wide-layer twists: WR, WR', WR2

Move Right Up Front Left Down Back
○●●●●○ +90° WR WU WF WL WD WB
○●●●●○ -90° WR' WU' WF' WL' WD' WB'
○●●●●○ +180° WR2 WU2 WF2 WL2 WD2 WB2

Twists of all layers except the outer faces (wide-layer twists) can be described by prepending the letter W to a face twist: WR, WU', WF2.

WR is equal to M4R and twists four layers in the middle in clockwise direction as seen from the right face.

Slice twists: SR, SR', SR2, ... S2R

Move Right Up Front Left Down Back
●○○○○● +90° SR SU SF SL SD SB
●○○○○● -90° SR' SU' SF' SL' SD' SB'
●○○○○● +180° SR2 SU2 SF2 SL2 SD2 SB2
●●○○●● +90° S2R S2U S2F S2L S2D S2B
●●○○●● -90° S2R' S2U' S2F' S2L' S2D' S2B'
●●○○●● +180° S2R2 S2U2 S2F2 S2L2 S2D2 S2B2

Twists of opposing faces (slice twists) are described by prepending the letter S to a face twist. For example, SR turns the right face and the opposing left face in clockwise direction as seen from the right face.

The depth of the slices can be specified by inserting a number after the letter S, for example S2R.

If the depth is not explicitly specified, the value 1 is assumed, for example SL, SD', SB2.

To keep scripts short, S1R is never used, because it is equivalent to SR.

Slice range twists: S2-4R, S2-4R', S2-4R2, ...

Move Right Up Front Left Down Back
●●○○○● +90° S2-4R S2-4U S2-4F S2-4L S2-4D S2-4B
●●○○○● -90° S2-4R' S2-4U' S2-4F' S2-4L' S2-4D' S2-4B'
●●○○○● +180° S2-4R2 S2-4U2 S2-4F2 S2-4L2 S2-4D2 S2-4B2
●●●○○● +90° S2-3R S2-3U S2-3F S2-3L S2-3D S2-3B
●●●○○● -90° S2-3R' S2-3U' S2-3F' S2-3L' S2-3D' S2-3B'
●●●○○● +180° S2-3R2 S2-3U2 S2-3F2 S2-3L2 S2-3D2 S2-3B2
●●●●○● +90° S2-2R S2-2U S2-2F S2-2L S2-2D S2-2B
●●●●○● -90° S2-2R' S2-2U' S2-2F' S2-2L' S2-2D' S2-2B'
●●●●○● +180° S2-2R2 S2-2U2 S2-2F2 S2-2L2 S2-2D2 S2-2B2
●○○○●● +90° S3-5R S3-5U S3-5F S3-5L S3-5D S3-5B
●○○○●● -90° S3-5R' S3-5U' S3-5F' S3-5L' S3-5D' S3-5B'
●○○○●● +180° S3-5R2 S3-5U2 S3-5F2 S3-5L2 S3-5D2 S3-5B2
●○○●●● +90° S4-5R S4-5U S4-5F S4-5L S4-5D S4-5B
●○○●●● -90° S4-5R' S4-5U' S4-5F' S4-5L' S4-5D' S4-5B'
●○○●●● +180° S4-5R2 S4-5U2 S4-5F2 S4-5L2 S4-5D2 S4-5B2
●○●●●● +90° S5-5R S5-5U S5-5F S5-5L S5-5D S5-5B
●○●●●● -90° S5-5R' S5-5U' S5-5F' S5-5L' S5-5D' S5-5B'
●○●●●● +180° S5-5R2 S5-5U2 S5-5F2 S5-5L2 S5-5D2 S5-5B2

Slice twists around an arbitrary range of layers are described by prepending the letter S to a face twist, followed by the number of the first layer, a - character, and the number of the last layer.

S2-4R performs a slice twists around the layers 2 through 4 in clockwise direction as seen from the right face.

To keep scripts short, slice range twists are only used, if there is no equivalent slice twist. For example, instead of S2-5F2 we write SF2.

Cube rotations: CR, CR', CR2

Move Right Up Front Left Down Back
●●●●●● +90° CR CU CF CL CD CB
●●●●●● -90° CR' CU' CF' CL' CD' CB'
●●●●●● +180° CR2 CU2 CF2 CL2 CD2 CB2

Rotations of the whole cube (cube rotations) are described by prepending the letter C to a face twist. For example, CR rotates the whole cube in clockwise direction as seen from the right face.

Grouping

Sequences of moves can be grouped using brackets: (R U F).

Repetition

Moves and groups can be repeated multiple times by appending the number of repetitions to the closing bracket: (R U F)3.

Further informations

See also the complete description of the Superset ENG 6x6 notation.

© Walter Randelshofer. All rights reserved.