Cube Views
The POINT method in three minutes — one real question, solved step by step.
Three drawings show one cube from three sides. All six faces carry different letters. In one drawing a face has been left blank, and you pick the letter that belongs on it from five tiles.
So the question is which face the gap is. The tiles are all printed upright: you choose by which letter, never by which way up.
These come from published practice books, not from GL's own booklets. They are still worth doing: they train the same skill as Cubes and Nets.
The video above and the worked example below take apart the same question. One thing is different: the video shows the five tiles in another order, so the answer — the P tile — is lettered D in the video and A here. Same tile, different place in the line-up.
The method
Five steps: pick a letter next to the gap; only look at the part touching the gap; in another drawing, find it; name what touches that part; turn the cube to check — and their first letters spell POINT, because you let a letter point the way.
- Step 1 of 5
Pick a letter next to the gap
Two letters sit beside the blank face. Both touch it, so neither of them goes in it — cross off any tile that shows one. Then pick one of the two to work with: one you can find in another drawing. Skip one that looks the same upside down. - Step 2 of 5
Only look at the part touching the gap
Is it the letter's top, its foot, or one of its sides? That part of the letter always touches the same face, however the cube is turned. - Step 3 of 5
In another drawing, find it
Look for the same letter in one of the other two drawings. - Step 4 of 5
Name what touches that part
In that drawing, whatever touches the same part of the letter goes in the gap. A letter that only touches a different part is out. - Step 5 of 5
Turn the cube to check
Picture that drawing turning until your letter sits where it does beside the gap. The answer should come round into the gap. Then tip the cube right over in your head. The letter that comes up from underneath the answer is back to back with it, so cross it off. On the hardest ones, the part you need is out of sight in step 4. Then this turn is how you find the answer.
Give each question 30 to 35 seconds.
Rules to watch
- Three faces at a time, never two back-to-back ones. Any two letters in one drawing sit on faces that touch.
- Where a face is drawn is not which face it is. The cube turns between drawings, so follow the letters, not the place on the page.
- A letter in a drawing can be turned. It may lie on its side or stand on its head. Find its top first, then decide which part touches the gap.
- Same letter, same place: a wheel turn. If two drawings show a letter in the same place — both on the left, say — the cube has only turned round it, like a wheel.
Watch for these traps
These come from our seventeen exam-level questions and from the practice-book questions we solved by hand.
- The answer is already on the page. The blank face is drawn, letter and all, in one of the other drawings — on every one of those questions. So never cross a letter off just because you can see it in another drawing. In the example, P is right there in drawing two.
- The back-to-back letter. The letter on the far side of the answer is always on a tile, but it can never be seen next to the answer. In the example, that's C.
- Some letters look the same upside down. With N, S or H you can't tell the top from the foot, so they can't point the way. Use the other letter next to the gap. In the example, N is like that, which is why the T does the work.
Stuck at 30 seconds? Steps 1 to 4 alone reach the answer on 13 of our 17 exam-level questions. Trust them, pick and move on.
Try these yourself
Now have a go yourself — tap the face that belongs there.
Related
- The complete 11+ question-type guide
- Cubes and Nets — the same cube, folded up from a net
- Different Views — one solid seen from another side
All example questions come from the Brainblox question bank — practise this question type inside 25+ learning games, timed mock exams and focused practice. Brainblox is an independent app: not affiliated with, endorsed by or licensed by any exam board, school or assessment publisher, and it contains no past papers.