Intermediate Solution for the Cube

If you are here, you have knowledge and skill to solve the cube, but you want to become faster... The advice below will be the bridge between my Beginner Solution and my Expert Solution.

First two layers
For the first two layers, learned from the Beginner Solution, learn to solve the cross first. Also, instead of starting on the top layer, start from the bottom layer and work your way up. This way, everything is "upside down" in a sense. There are many reasons for this, and this alone can shave ~10 or more seconds off of your usual solving time. It will take a lot of practice to get used to.

Last Layer
From the Expert Solution page, learn orientations #17 and #41. This will bring you to a family of last layer possibilities which consist of only the cross facing up. So, in other words, once you apply #17 and #41 you will need to know the cases #49, #50, #51, #52, #53, #54, and #55. This will orient your last layer with the knowledge of only 9 algorithms. To permute your last layer, you need to know at least permutation #1 and #3. Then the cube is solved! Hopefully by this time you are familiar with terminology and you have an idea of how to solve the last layer using the orientation/permutation method. Of course, from this point onward, the more you know, the faster you are. Happy cubing.