# 3x3x4 BLD Method



## Nathan Dwyer (Aug 2, 2013)

Today i've been working on a method for solving 3x3x4 blindfolded. So here is the tutorial. I wouldn't be surprised if someone has come up with this before, but i figured it out on my own and i wanted to post a tutorial so others can try blindsolving a 3x3x4. 

Overview: 
1. Introduction
2. Notation
3. Memo/Solving Order
4. Corners
5. 3x3 Edges
6. 4x4 edges
7. Centers
8. Adapting to 3x3x2

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1. Introduction

This is a method for solving the 3x3x4 cuboid blindfolded. it uses a combination of 3x3 BLD and 4x4 BLD techniques. If you don't know how to solve a 4x4 blindfolded, then i suggest learning the U2/r2 method for 4BLD. It's easier to learn than this and it is more important because it is an official event, and it would really help your understanding of this tutorial. 
The weird thing about the 3x3x4 is that there are 5 different kinds of pieces. in this tutorial they will be referred to as:
Corners (8) The corners can't be in the right layer and disoriented, so setup moves and memo are easier than 3x3 corners.
3x3 Edges (8) Same thing as the corners, they're always oriented.
4x4 edges (8) These are the hardest to solve. To reduce rotations, they are solved at unorthodox angle. We'll get to that in a bit.
Fixed Centers (2) These are always the same in relation to each other. They partially determine the cube orientation.
Centers (8) These are very similar to 4x4 centers.
The 3x3x4 isn't that much more to memo than a 3x3. The 3x3 has 20 pieces to solve, while a 3x3x4 has 32.
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2. Notation

 In this method, the corners and 3x3 edges are solved with the puzzle oriented so there's a 3x3x3 face on top and a 3x3x4 face on front. Even though you can't turn a 3x3x4 face 90 degrees and make another turn, i will call 180 degree turns "L2, R2, F2, B2" for consistency.
When you're solving centers and 4x4 edges, "l, l', r, r'" are just inner layers. Wide turns are written as "Lw, Lw', Rw, Rw'". As with the other orientation, 180 degree turns on 3x3x4 faces are written as "U2, D2, F2, B2, E2" with an E2 being a 180 degree slice turn through the equator.

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3. Memo/Solving Order

It doesn't matter too much which order you memo/solve, because there is the same number of each piece, but i personally would do it in this order:
memo centers
memo 4x4 edges
memo 3x3 edges
memo corners
don blindfold
solve centers
solve 4x4 edges
solve 3x3 edges 
solve corners

the memo order doesn't matter too much, but i choose that solving order because it is what i'm most used to for 4x4 BLD solves.
For ease of explanation, i will give each piece a letter usings Speffz, but you could assign letters or numbers with any lettering scheme however you please. I personally use a combination of letters and numbers with a different lettering scheme.

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4. Corners

To solve the corners, you hold it with a 3x3x3 face on top and a 3x3x4 face on front. Here is my lettering scheme:
UBL=A
UBR=B
UFR=C
UFL=D
DFL=U
DFR=V
DBR=W
DBL=X

For corners, I use T perms with UBR as my buffer and UFR as my target. Here are the algs:
A= L2 F2 L2 (R2 U' R2 U R2 U D' R2 U R2 U' R2 D) L2 F2 L2
B= buffer
C= (T perm)
D= F2 D' F2 (T perm) F2 D F2
U= F2 (T perm) F2
V= D' F2 (T perm) F2 D
W= D2 F2 (T perm) F2 D2
X= D F2 (T perm) F2 D'

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5. 3x3 Edges

3x3 edges are also solved using T perms. this part is exactly like Old Pochmann, but my setups are a little different because i don't use J perms. Letters are standard Speffz. Here are the algs:
A= l2 D' l2 (T perm) l2 D l2
B= buffer
C= l2 D l2 (T perm) l2 D' l2
D= (T perm)
U= D' L2 (T perm) L2 D
V= D2 L2 (T perm) L2 D2
W= D L2 (T perm) L2 D'
X= L2 (T perm) L2 

If you have parity in that after you finish your edges, the B and C corners are switched, just do an extra T perm, then do U R2 U2 R2 U2 R2 U2 y Uw2 R2 F2 u2 F2 R2 Uw2

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6. 4x4 Edges
These are the hardest to do. This is an adaptation of the r2 method for 4x4 edges BLD. I do this as a d2 instead of r2, with my buffer at dBL and my target at dFR, but you can do it normally plus rotations. For these pieces, i will be using this lettering scheme:
uFR= 1
dFR= 2
uFL= 3
dFL=4
uBL= 5
dBL= 6
uBR= 7
dBR= 8

The basic approach is solving the l slice edges just like 4x4 l slice edges, but with a flipping alg modified for 3x3x4, and solving r slice edges using a 4x4 parity alg.

And here are the algs. It's best to think of them as setups rather than algs, but here they are:
1=R2 Uw R2 Uw' R2 (d2) R2 Uw R2 Uw' R2
2= d2
3= u R2 Uw R2 Uw' R2 (d2) R2 Uw R2 Uw' R2 u'
4= y2 z' l' U2 l' U2 F2 l' F2 r U2 r' U2 l2 (r2) z y2
5= u2 R2 Uw R2 Uw' R2 (d2) R2 Uw R2 Uw' R2 u2
6= buffer
7= u R2 Uw R2 Uw' R2 (d2) R2 Uw R2 Uw' R2 u'
8= y z' l' U2 l' U2 F2 l' F2 r U2 r' U2 l2 (r2) z y'

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7. Centers

These are almost exactly like U2 centers for a 4x4. The numbering scheme is like this:
lU=1
rU=2
lF=3
rF=4
lD=5
rD=6
lB=7
rB=8

And here are the setup moves for each piece:
1= (U2)
2= buffer
3= E2 l E2 l' (U2) l E2 l' E2
4= l' E2 l (U2) l' E2 l
5= l B2 E2 B2 l' (U2) l B2 E2 B2 l'
6= D2 l B2 E2 B2 E2 l' (U2) l B2 E2 B2 l' D2
7= E2 l' E2 l (U2) l' E2 l E2
8= l E2 l' (U2) l E2 l'

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8. Adapting to a 3x3x2

This method is really easy to adapt to a 3x3x2 because it is basically the exact some puzzle but without centers or 4x4 edges. just use the corner and 3x3 edges algs and you'll get it.




Thanks for looking at my tutorial and feel free to ask any questions or make any suggestions. I can also do some example solves or make a video to go along with this tutorial if you guys want it. Thanks


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