[Help Thread] 3x3 Cross Help and Discussion

[Fobo911]

How do i sovle the cross fast?
my current timing for my cross is about 4-8 sec

Anyway, i just timed myself.

Cross:00:05.15
F2l:00:14.83
2 look Oll:00:09.02
2 look Pll:00:10.14
Total:00:39.14

Look at the bottom of the page for similar threads. Also, look at http://www.speedsolving.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5922.

 

[DAE_JA_VOO]

i mean is there any method?
like how to practice?
do i jus solve and solve and solve?

Practice. Once you're done with inspection, you should be able to close your eyes and solve the cross completely.

 

[fcwy1]

i gave up on cross. i currently av.4-5.
but still can sub-20 overall, so just improve others first.

 

[PCwizCube]

Here are some sites that will help you:

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hY_FbpdNRCQ
• http://www.cubestation.co.uk/cs2/index.php?page=3x3x3/cfop/cross/cross
• http://www.cubefreak.net/cross.html

Try to solve the cross with your eyes closed. Inspect as long as needed (if it's 10 minutes that's okay) to solve the cross without looking at it. Then GRADUALLY lower your inspection time, maybe to a minute, but you should still be able to solve it blindfolded. Your goal inspection time should be around 12 seconds.

 

[WannaBeCuber]

How to solve cross faster?

Hi, I 'am a begginer cuber and when I timed myself i was pretty dissapointed. My cross took to long ( 10 - 15 sec!) Is there a way to make it faster? Please tell then.

 

[PCwizCube]

There other threads on this....
http://www.speedsolving.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7897
http://www.speedsolving.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6964
http://www.speedsolving.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6576
http://www.speedsolving.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6487
http://www.speedsolving.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4197

Anyway. Practice solving your cross blindfolded. To do that, try to memorize how to do your entire cross. If it takes you 10 minutes, do it. Then try to solve the cross without looking at the cube. Keep on practicing this so that you solve the cross most of the time and your memorization time is under 15 seconds.

Also try to solve your cross in under 9 moves. All crosses can be solved in 8 moves or less, and most of them about 5-6 moves. To help you achieve this watch this video, and if necessary, read this.

 

[JTW2007]

Read the cross section on Macky's website. It helps you sort of see the ways pieces relate and see the effects of your moves.

 

[julesv]

Cross

When I make the cross, is it OK if I have one or several corner peices attached to the cross? Because right now, I take them off.

 

[Ellis]

yes its ok, I dont think I've ever gone out of my way to take them off of cross pieces or out of the cross layer, even though I don't really like them being there. Sometimes those corners will come out by themselves when your doing your other f2l pairs, but I really don't think you should be spending any time worrying about them.

 

[Kian]

execute the 4 edges of the cross as efficiently as you can without regard for the corner pieces.

 

[julesv]

OK thanks. I was just wnadering because that waswhat my friend was doing.

 

[nitrocan]

Can you please ask why he was doing that?

 

[Zaxef]

It's actually good to have corners already placed, as long as they're oriented correctly..

 

[Ellis]

It's actually good to have corners already placed, as long as they're oriented correctly..

Can you explain to me the reasoning? I like corners to be in the right place, but only when they are misoriented because they are quick insertions. when I only have one correct corner Ill do D/D' quick insertion D/D', but even then I still don't really like it. Having do do it in a cases where you can't use the D just sucks. My worst F2L nightmare would be having all bottom layer corners correct after the cross, I honestly would cry.

 

[Zaxef]

It's actually good to have corners already placed, as long as they're oriented correctly..

Can you explain to me the reasoning? I like corners to be in the right place, but only when they are misoriented because they are quick insertions. when I only have one correct corner Ill do D/D' quick insertion D/D', but even then I still don't really like it. Having do do it in a cases where you can't use the D just sucks. My worst F2L nightmare would be having all bottom layer corners correct after the cross, I honestly would cry.

You answered your own question :x

 

[Ellis]

No I didn't. I only gave a reason as to why I think you're not right, and my question was for you to explain your reasoning. Using keyhole can take off a couple moves but that doesn't make it finger trick friendly. I'm still saying its not a particular situation you would hope for.

 

[Mr Cubism]

How to do a fast cross if the solution is like this:

F2 D` R`L`D` U2 B2


For me it seems impossible to do it fast....how people can do it in 2 seconds or faster when this kind of cases are coming up, is an enigma for me, even with practice.

 

[a small kitten]

F2 is a bad move. Maybe if you turned the cube and did R2 or L2 that would help. If I were going to make that sequence of moves I'd do something like y' R2 D' y R' L' y R U'

Except I ZZ and don't make crosses like that so I'm not used to it either. That's just what I'd do if I had that specific sequence.

Ew. What an old topic xD

 

[Mr Cubism]

....two cube rotations instead.....maybe that is the best way anyway...


R2 L D B2 U F is not fun eiather... :-(

 

[bundat]

How to do a fast cross if the solution is like this:

F2 D` R`L`D` U2 B2

*tries to setup that case... B2 U2 D L R D F2*
Um, I'd solve this via "D L D".
But I get your point, that those movements are awkward.

You're not supposed to solve the cross at full-speed anyway while doing ultra-fast fingertricks, ala PLL or OLL. You're supposed to do it slow (like 3 TPS) WHILE looking ahead for your first F2L pair (which is why BLD memo'd cross practice helps). Even wristing your cross isn't that bad at all.

Since most crosses can be solved in less than 8 moves (5-7 in my experience), you should be able to get occasional sub-2 crosses even with a slow 3 TPS turning speed (although I usually fumble when grabbing the cube after starting the timer that I lose an entire second just from that...)

R2 L D B2 U F is not fun eiather... :-(

*tries to set that up as well... F' U' B2 D' L' R2*
I'd solve that instead as: y D' R' D2 R'

Just goes to show that sometimes, maybe there is a better (shorter, and more fingertrick-friendly) solution. You should always try to find the easiest cross.