Over the past couple months, I’ve tried to exorcise all remnants of the Beginner’s Method. F2L replaced the corner-first/edge-next approach a while ago, and several OLLs have made top-layer orientation a (generally) single-algorithm affair. But my PLLs were still a bit all over the place. I got to the two-look stage pretty easily (with no illusions about being able to one-look it for a while still), but realized that I was still using the Beginner’s Method algorithm for edge cycling — to wit, F2 U(’) R’ L F2 R L’ U(’) F2. Although I got freakishly quick at that algorithm, it required all sorts of awkward hand movements and lent itself to no finger tricks.
Since almost every one of my solves requires an edge cycle — with H and Z perms or the rare PLL skip as the lone exceptions — this bull-in-a-china-shop algorithm had to go. Enter the U perm:
| U Perm (Edge Cycles) | |
Ua PLL(COUNTER-CLOCKWISE)(R U’ R U) (R U)(R U’) (R’ U’ R2) |
Ub PLL(CLOCKWISE)(R2 U) (R U R’ U’)(R’ U’) (R’ U R’) |
It took me about a week to get the algorithms down. As this video shows, the Ua iteration is perhaps my fastest and smoothest algorithm. There are a few Ub perms burried in there; they are fast, but a tad bit choppier.
At the risk of appearing to brag, the slo-mo Ub then Ua at the end shows a facility with finger tricks that I never thought achievable. The Beatles’ “Getting Better” soundtrack is meant as caricature, not boasting.
I’m a few days into the A perm for corner cycling. I’ll post a video about that next weekend, marking the final jettisoning of all things Beginner’s.
adventures in cubing 
That’s a pretty nice algorithm. I’ll give that one a try, it looks like it flows pretty well.
If you do the beginner method with M turns instead of L + R shenannigans then it’s only 7 moves instead oft your 11.
These are the older two-gen U algs that I first learned. Long ago, I switched to M-slice U Perms for 3×3; I use two-gen for bigger cubes.
Generally, alg length is less important to me than flow (i.e., finger-trickability). I can sub-1 (with ease) both M-slice U’s: https://adventuresincubing.com/2014/10/09/slomo-u-perms/
Totally agree – but if it’s 7 instead of 11 moves, it’s beyond a break-even point I think. At least in this case, since the the UR-alg. here has a lot of regrips.
Ok, I take it all back. I was as wrong as I could have been, sorry.
You’re exactly right with what you said.
I switched to the 2 gen U perms and even though the U(b) is still a bit awkward, I love the U(a). It’s my fastest PLL now.
What I do still have trouble with is recog of A perms, execution is ok.
Those 2-gen U perms are great for bigger cubes. I use them on a 4×4 regularly. I agree: Ua is fast and Ub is awkward. I still like my M slice U perms!