# The Ribbon Method



## Lachlan Stephens (Sep 10, 2018)

Hi, my name is Lachie Stephens, known as "yeetskeet" elsewhere. I'm 14-year-old speedcuber from Australia, and I've been cubing for just under a year now. I average about 11.5-12 seconds with the CFOP method. Recently I've been talking with a friend of mine, Justin Taylor, over Discord, discussing the method known as "Ribbon". Both Justin and I believe this has not only equal to but greater potential than CFOP. But first, what exactly is the Ribbon Method? 

*Summary of the method*

If you are familiar with the ZZ-CT method, then this method should not be too hard to grasp. If not, then hopefully most of the following makes some sense. Ribbon shares a few key factors with the CFOP method, being almost identical up until last slot and last layer. The steps of this method are as follows: 

*Ribbon*: This step is very similar to CFOP in that it consists of executing a cross solution. However, there is another key factor to this step that gives it its name. An F2L edge must also be placed in its correct position on the cube (note this is just the edge, not the corner). This edge can be cancelled into the cross solution, or inserted directly after the cross (in fact, the edge can be placed at any point during F2L, however placing it during cross solution is almost always more useful). 

*F2L-1C*: This step can be completed exactly like CFOP F2L, by forming pairs of edges and corners and inserting them into their respective slots on the first two layers, while completely ignoring the slot that is being used for the Ribbon. One unfortunate thing is that, without influence, around a third of the time you will end up with an F2L corner below the Ribbon edge (note: if the F2L corner corresponds with the Ribbon edge, in any orientation, no attention needs to be paid to it). This can be fixed by offsetting the D layer and solving the pair like normal. An example of this will be shown in the example solve later on.


*TOLS*: This step is the most unique step of the method, and as of now is only used in the Ribbon Method. In this step, all of the last layer corners will be oriented using a single algorithm. It can be recognized entirely from the top layer by noticing the orientation of the edges and corners, however noticing the orientation of the D-layer corner can greatly decrease the time required for recognition. This step contains 173 algorithms, however, this can be reduced to 116 algorithms if you already know Full OLL. This step uses the Ribbon's corner to orient all the last layer pieces and itself (note: in most cases, a different corner will appear in the Ribbon slot after executing a TOLS algorithm).

*TTLL*: This step also appears in the ZZ-CT method. TTLL permutes the remaining pieces of the cube after TOLS, and contains 93 algorithms. However, this can be reduced to 72 algorithms if you already know full PLL. After TOLS, there is a 20% chance that the remaining F2L corner happens to be in the correct place, which will result in a PLL. The recognition for TTLL is almost identical to that of PLL, however, it completely disregards the colours of the corner that belongs in the D-layer and the one that's already there (note that the position of the top layer corner is important, just not the colours). 

*The Pros and Cons of the Ribbon Method *

*Pros: *

On average, lower movecount than CFOP 
Around 30% of the time, TTLL will be completely 2-Gen (only RU)
2-Look LSLL, compared to CFOP's 3-Look LSLL
TOLS algorithms are mostly short and easily fingertrickable (sure that's a word)
Easier lookahead Multislotting using the Ribbon slot Easy TOLS recognition due to D-layer corner
Easy TTLL recognition, cases can easily be compared to PLLs (e.g. "Looks like an R perm except...")
Some TTLLs are extremely low in movecount

*Cons: *

High algorithm count
Some TOLSs and TTLLs are nonoptimal (movecount and fingertricks)
Bad cases can occur with the D-layer corner
Bad combinations of TOLSs and TTLLs can lead to movecounts higher than CFOP's average


*Example Solve using the Ribbon Method *

R2 U2 D2 B' L B2 R D' R2 L2 B2 U L2 U2 F2 U' L2 U' F' 

z2 y // inspection 
D' L B' D2 L F // ribbon 
U L U L' // first pair 
U' R' F R F' R U' R' // second pair 
y D2 L U' L' D2 U L U' L' // third pair 
U2 F' R U R' U R U2 R' F // TOLS 
U' R2 U2 R2 F2 U' R2 U' R2 U F2 // TTLL 

// 48 STM


*Comments: *

Inspection: I planned the Ribbon solution during inspection, I originally planned out the cross, then looked for pieces that could be integrated into the cross solution with one or two moves. In my experience this is the best method for planning the Ribbon during inspection. 

Ribbon: As you can see, this was very low movecount, and this is around the average Ribbon movecount when solving colour neutral. The original cross solution was D' L D2 L F, and I added a B' in a strategic position during the solution so as to not interfere with any of the cross pieces, and place the Ribbon edge in its correct position. 

First and second pairs: While solving these, I noticed the piece in the ribbon slot belonged in a different F2L slot, so I took note of that while solving the pairs. As for the execution of the two pairs, they were solved in a standard way, in the same way that most CFOP solvers would solve them. 

Third pair: This is where I offset the D-layer in order to set up for my third pair. I do a D2 L U' L' to set the pieces up into a 4 move insert in the back left slot, before doing a D2 to restore the D-layer. Then it's a simple matter of inserting the pair. 

TOLS: This was a nice case, and demonstrates how easy most of the TOLS cases are to both memorize and execute. This algorithm is just an F' sune F. This case could easily be recognized without using the D layer, however it could also be mistaken for a similar case. I used the D layer and noticed the white sticker facing towards me. This allowed for a quick realization of the case. 

TTLL: The algorithm for this case is quite easy to memorize and in my opinion is quite fun to execute. The recognition for this case is moderately easy, looking similar to an R perm. The low movecount of this algorithm combined with the low movecount of the TOLS algorithm provide a very nice combination for LSLL.




As you can probably tell by now, this method has potential. By no means is it a perfect method, but yet again, what is? Justin has put in hours of dedication and effort into this method, and I'm proud to say I am going to attempt to be one of the first people to learn this method in full, even with the extra 188 algorithms I need to learn to get there. This method is almost completely unknown to the majority of the cubing community, despite it being a method with so much potential. I, personally, would love to see it expand and for more people to begin to use the method and become fast with it. This method deserves more attention, and I hope that by posting this that more people can gain an understanding of just how amazing this method can be. 

Thanks for reading 
*Lachie Stephens*


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## DGCubes (Sep 10, 2018)

Interesting method. Definitely seems like there's potential here.

I think pseudo-pairs could also be really useful for 3rd slot cases like these. For example in this case, you could also do D2 L U2 L' U L U' L' Uw2.

Do you have a list of all the TOLS algorithms anywhere? Just curious to see what some of the other ones look like.


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## Lachlan Stephens (Sep 10, 2018)

DGCubes said:


> Interesting method. Definitely seems like there's potential here.
> 
> I think pseudo-pairs could also be really useful for 3rd slot cases like these. For example in this case, you could also do D2 L U2 L' U L U' L' Uw2.
> 
> Do you have a list of all the TOLS algorithms anywhere? Just curious to see what some of the other ones look like.



Yep, here they are: https://drive.google.com/file/d/15pjMnEGbF3hkn_YBq2ZeNxIF3GajyoiU/view

And I know TTLLs are a lot easier to find, but Justin's personal preferences are here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/148i4z9K--45G_-RH0f5ayC5Za8cPMyy5/view


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## Sajwo (Sep 10, 2018)

or you could just make an xcross


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## Lachlan Stephens (Sep 10, 2018)

Sajwo said:


> or you could just make an xcross



Hahaha



No.


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## PapaSmurf (Sep 11, 2018)

The reason why ribbon is better than x cross is because you save moves doing the ribbon (ie missing out a corner), therefore allowing you to look further ahead in the solve (for example, making an x-ribbon). It also means that efficiency stays the same, as tols is equal to oll, and ttll is equal to pll (in terms of ergonomics and movecount). Thirdly, ribbon can be used to integrate more "zz concepts" into cfop. There's a variant which does insert corner+eo then a ZBLL finish. This makes it good for allowing people to use ZBLL every solve, not just 1/8 (or slightly more due to sledge). So I'd say that ribbon (with the work put in) is better than cfop. More efficient and ergonomic.


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## Lachlan Stephens (Sep 16, 2018)

PapaSmurf said:


> The reason why ribbon is better than x cross is because you save moves doing the ribbon (ie missing out a corner), therefore allowing you to look further ahead in the solve (for example, making an x-ribbon). It also means that efficiency stays the same, as tols is equal to oll, and ttll is equal to pll (in terms of ergonomics and movecount). Thirdly, ribbon can be used to integrate more "zz concepts" into cfop. There's a variant which does insert corner+eo then a ZBLL finish. This makes it good for allowing people to use ZBLL every solve, not just 1/8 (or slightly more due to sledge). So I'd say that ribbon (with the work put in) is better than cfop. More efficient and ergonomic.



I agree with everything you've said here. The variant of inserting the corner + EO followed by ZBLL is a potential alternate way to approach Ribbon, however in terms of recognition, algorithm count, and ergonomics, I would say the basic idea of Ribbon still stands as the best variant. Another variant I suggested to Justin would be to insert the Ribbon edge last while orienting edges, and then do a 2-Gen TOLS and continue on to TTLL. However he explained that inserting the Ribbon edge last was the worst time to insert it, as it required an extra look to the solve. I think the ZBLL variant is better than the one I suggested.


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## AMCuber (Sep 16, 2018)

Isn't this kind of like 3x3 keyhole? The F2L part?


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## PapaSmurf (Sep 16, 2018)

That wouldn't be any better than doing last slot, oll, pll.


AMCuber said:


> Isn't this kind of like 3x3 keyhole? The F2L part?


No, as with this you solve F2L-1 corner, then solve last 9 pieces. With keyhole, you solve F2L fully, and do the "ribbon" with 3 out of 4 slots.


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## OreKehStrah (Oct 24, 2019)

I’ve been thinking about different methods, and in particular methods using TTLL because I think it’s cool. Since psuedoslotting has become somewhat popular to talk in the community, advanced CFOP could start to include more psuedopairing. I think something that can squeeze out more efficiency for cfop and nullifies part of the issue with ribbon is to simply make the easiest last pair such that the edge gets paired with any corner in the correct orientation. That way if it is the d layer corner you continue like normal, and if it’s a properly oriented top layer corner, you do normal OLL instead of having to learn new OLL like algs, then do TTLL. It’s no worse than doing CFOP, especially once TTLL becomes more optimized, and can save moves, particularly with awkward F2L cases. There’s a lot of times where you can pair the last edge with 3-4 moves to a top layer properly oriented corner. And it is also just kinda cool to do TTLL Imo


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## PapaSmurf (Oct 24, 2019)

I think that, if you were to do ribbon, you should learn TOLS, but with pseudoslotting it's easier to force good cases. It's certainly something to be pursued.


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## OreKehStrah (Oct 24, 2019)

PapaSmurf said:


> I think that, if you were to do ribbon, you should learn TOLS, but with pseudoslotting it's easier to force good cases. It's certainly something to be pursued.


Yeah I get that. What I’m trying to convey though, is that I’m trying to think of ways CFOP can evolve and improve in the future, and I think one thing that can slightly improve efficiency and good cases is using TTLL, by way of pairing the last edge with any corner such that you do normal OLL and then either PLL or TTLL depending on which corner pairs with the last edge. Pretty much the only learning curve would be learning the TTLL cases, which is closer to recognizing PLL than ZBLL is. Doing this gives you five different pairs you could potentially do for last slot. You could then choose the corner based on ho EO would be affected, or if it pairs naturally, or what pair is easiest, etc. I definitely think this has potential so I’m going to start learning the TTLL algs and start implementing them.


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## UnnecessarilyUniqueGreek (Jan 15, 2020)

Hey everyone, this is my first post on these forums and I thought I might as well say hey and ask a question.

So, I've recently started learning TTLLs for ZZ-CT or Ribbon Method. I can't decide, although I'm leaning towards the Ribbon Method despite the slight higher alg count. Are the skip chances with Ribbon Method the same as ZZ-CT? I'm unsure how to calculate it. And I know they are both highly unresearched methods, especially Ribbon, but are there are any things that make either method superior? Or is there a better method than both of these. I don't want to use any of the big 3 methods, I've tried all three and I feel the Ribbon Method and ZZ-CT would suit me better, even if they aren't as good.

Cheers


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## sqAree (Jan 15, 2020)

I think everyone agrees that ZZCT is bad.
Ribbon however should basically be just like CFOP so you can't go wrong with it.


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## OreKehStrah (Jan 15, 2020)

UnnecessarilyUniqueGreek said:


> Hey everyone, this is my first post on these forums and I thought I might as well say hey and ask a question.
> 
> So, I've recently started learning TTLLs for ZZ-CT or Ribbon Method. I can't decide, although I'm leaning towards the Ribbon Method despite the slight higher alg count. Are the skip chances with Ribbon Method the same as ZZ-CT? I'm unsure how to calculate it. And I know they are both highly unresearched methods, especially Ribbon, but are there are any things that make either method superior? Or is there a better method than both of these. I don't want to use any of the big 3 methods, I've tried all three and I feel the Ribbon Method and ZZ-CT would suit me better, even if they aren't as good.
> 
> Cheers


Ribbon is essentially a variant of CFOP and as a result the chances to get a skip are way lower than ZZ-CT since you won’t always have the edges preoriented. That said, ribbon is probably easier to get fast at than ZZ-CT. Also, I’m slowly generating better TTLL algs for a CFOP technique I proposed called free slotting


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## PapaSmurf (Jan 15, 2020)

If you're gonna do ZZ, don't do CT. If you really want a TTLL finish, do Ribbon.


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## Pyjam (Jan 15, 2020)

ZZ-CT ? Is it this method with Winter Variation but with 81 cases instead of 27, then PLL but with one hundred cases instead of 21?


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## PapaSmurf (Jan 15, 2020)

I can smell the sarcasm.


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## Pyjam (Jan 15, 2020)

Yes, it's not very fine.


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## UnnecessarilyUniqueGreek (Jan 15, 2020)

OreKehStrah said:


> Ribbon is essentially a variant of CFOP and as a result the chances to get a skip are way lower than ZZ-CT since you won’t always have the edges preoriented. That said, ribbon is probably easier to get fast at than ZZ-CT. Also, I’m slowly generating better TTLL algs for a CFOP technique I proposed called free slotting


Could you show me your algs, I'm using Justin Taylor's, and many of them aren't great. Also, that sounds like an interesting technique.


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## paul.edmondson.magician (Mar 14, 2020)

Awesome thinking here guys. Will be trying it out

Sent from my CLT-L09 using Tapatalk


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## ribbon method (Aug 4, 2020)

OreKehstrah teach me free slotting cause I use O cls case where it looks like a ttll case


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## OreKehStrah (Aug 4, 2020)

ribbon method said:


> OreKehstrah teach me free slotting cause I use O cls case where it looks like a ttll case


If you search free slotting on the forum you can probably find my post about it. The basic idea is you make one of your F2L pairs with either the correct corner or any of the four last layer corners, based on what is easiest/fastest. If you use a last layer corner, make sure that you treat the last layer sticker of that corner as you would a cross color sticker on a normal corner so that you can then just do a normal OLL alg and then go into TTLL or PLL.


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## ribbon method (Aug 4, 2020)

helping includes great tols/tsle algs great ttll algs etc.


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## ribbon method (Aug 4, 2020)

For ribbon method should I do tols or tsle. I have been thinking about this, plz help, i need help with learning ribbon method


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## Username: Username: (Aug 4, 2020)

Don't make new threads for one question, and, I think you should do TOLS.


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## ribbon method (Aug 4, 2020)

But i got more algs tho


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## Username: Username: (Aug 4, 2020)

ribbon method said:


> But i got more algs tho


for what?


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## ribbon method (Aug 4, 2020)

tols got more algs tols has 173 tsle has 102

but ig I will do the most efficient

which one be more efficient


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## Username: Username: (Aug 4, 2020)

ribbon method said:


> tols got more algs tols has 173 tsle has 102


well, then you're not using proper RIbbon then, and don't triple post please.


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## ribbon method (Aug 4, 2020)

Ok I will use tols


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## PapaSmurf (Aug 4, 2020)

Please stop posting new threads so much. There is one complete ribbon spreadsheet. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1D26FLNRhHs5RBXswyfjaKzL_5bboleo6YxYKq3osYGQ/edit
Also this doc: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bzm7fHMKOwCBb201b29RaUlHYms/view
Now go, learn the algs and practice. You can find everything else you need online and you can develop your own techniques to help. There's also freeslotting and other ideas that can be used.

Now you have all the info you need, take it and learn the Ribbon method.


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## OreKehStrah (May 4, 2021)

LBr said:


> Hi everyone. I am setting up this thread to talk about the ribbon method, which was proposed by Justin Taylor. The link will tell you about the method and the steps. https://www.speedsolving.com/wiki/index.php/Ribbon_Method. I think that this method should be the method that all of the top speedcubers use, as it saves an f2l pair and is in general more efficient than CFOP, while still having a CFOP based background and utilising all the Olls and PLLs that we already know. Justin himself has an algsheet which you can download from the speedsolving wiki page, so that you can experiment with the algs.
> 
> I would like to know your thoughts as to why you think that this method isn't more popular. I think that this is partly because it was proposed relatively recently in 2017, so it has had less time to grow, but there must be something else, mustn't there...


As someone genning and learning algs for TTLL, I can say for a fact that one of the main reasons people don’t want to learn Ribbon is that not only do you need to learn new algs, but you also will have to replace them if better algs come out. TTLL is in a terrible state since not much time was put into it. The group of people I’ve been genning algs with revamped all the double bar algs, and they are still no where close to the niceness of PLLs, with only one being-sub1 with basically perfect execution. I haven’t even looked at the TOLS algs yet.

Another thing to note is that twisted corner TTLLs are being genned now so instead of learning TOLS, you can just make sure the ribbon slot has a LL corner in the slot without worrying about orientation, do a normal OLL to orient all the pieces without paying attention to the orientation of the F2L corner, then do TTLL/TTLL+/- or PLL if the F2L corner happened to be solved.

Has anyone actually learned and started using Ribbon? There’s been plenty of time for someone to learn it


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## LukasCubes (Aug 15, 2021)

OreKehStrah said:


> Has anyone actually learned and started using Ribbon? There’s been plenty of time for someone to learn it


im interested in it but i havent yet. I know full 2 look TTLL (DFR Edge+ Solve Corners 1 look, EPLL 2nd look). The ribbon to me is kinda hard to plan in inspection but Im getting there. I know about half of TOLS so what i use can be a similar movecount to CFOP.


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## LBr (Aug 18, 2022)

I think that besides the high alg count, the main problem with this method is the lack of flexibility when it comes to the misoriented corner, as with cfop you can insert a pair into the back then forget about it, but while it would make sense to make the ribbon in the back to free up front slots, you would have to rotate to do tols, and that is a problem


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## MythbeastFaris (Aug 18, 2022)

Lachlan Stephens said:


> Hi, my name is Lachie Stephens, known as "yeetskeet" elsewhere. I'm 14-year-old speedcuber from Australia, and I've been cubing for just under a year now. I average about 11.5-12 seconds with the CFOP method. Recently I've been talking with a friend of mine, Justin Taylor, over Discord, discussing the method known as "Ribbon". Both Justin and I believe this has not only equal to but greater potential than CFOP. But first, what exactly is the Ribbon Method?
> 
> *Summary of the method*
> 
> ...


I kinda liked this method but there are a lot of algs.


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