[Help Thread] 3x3 Cross Help and Discussion

[JL58]

Agreed. As I said earlier recognition is the key to faster times. And colors are very key to recognition.

 

[gpt_kibutz]

I suggest not to try to do the cross very fast (try even to avoid fingertricks) so if you only plan 3 edges you can earch the 4th while inserting the others. Speed will come with practice!

 

[teller]

Wow...listen to the blind leading the blind...color-neutral is only for the most advanced cubers who are looking to exploit what few advantages remain for their fast fingers; to recommend it to a beginner or intermediate is not just ridiculous--it's cruel. You just ruined their F2L.

 

[EmersonHerrmann]

Being color neutral is only necessary when using different methods like petrus.....at least thats what I believe.

You don't have to be color neutral for it, Erik Johnson uses White/Yellow for Petrus and averages sub-14, I know a Roux user (I think he's the best with it?) I can't recall his name, but his username is BigGreen. He uses red for the bottom of his Roux blocks (if I recall correctly).

 

[Ellis]

Being color neutral is only necessary when using different methods like petrus.....at least thats what I believe.

You don't have to be color neutral for it, Erik Johnson uses White/Yellow for Petrus and averages sub-14, I know a Roux user (I think he's the best with it?) I can't recall his name, but his username is BigGreen. He uses red for the bottom of his Roux blocks (if I recall correctly).

Rouxs different. I can't think of anyone who does roux neutral. I think that would be way tough. Petrus isn't like that usually.

 

[holypasta]

badmephisto.com
go to the cross section

 

[Mr Cubism]

More tips here:

http://www.cubefreak.net/Fridrich/cross.html

 

[Zaxef]

Cross -_-

Stupid question.
How can I get better at the cross?

I feel like I've gotten WAY better at F2L and OLL/PLL.. learning and recognition and speed etc etc

But my cross is still horrible.. it's like it hasn't gotten better at all, I'll take like 4 or 5 seconds to do a cross, which is ridiculous (I think) with my averages (see sig)

Or is that the kind of cross time you'd expect from someone at my level?
I can't do cross on D either -_-
My fingers don't know how to turn the D layer without just grabbing it and wristing it.. and I get confused because everything is backwards, since I usually do it on U :/

Thoughts? Help? Ideas? Websites?
Thanks

 

[endless_akatsuki]

Practice cross on D. It may help after a bit. Other than that, if you keep solving, you will eventually use more efficient ways to get a cross.

 

[Lt-UnReaL]

Try to get your cross under 7-8 moves for every solve. Solve multiple pieces at once and work on planning out the entire cross solution within preinspection time.

 

[royzabeast]

Here is what I sometimes do: I would find the cross edges, and then just mentally solve the cross (on D). Then, I close my eyes and just do it. Keep trying to memorize it faster so that you can eventually memorize the cross within inspection time, and the second that clock goes, you can just do the moves you planned out in your head.

I hope I described it right.

 

[4Chan]

Ah, you dont have to turn the D layer, you can also do u and u'. Turn the E slice along with the U layer to facilitate the edges.

I think your progress is fine! I sometimes have 4 second crosses and still get 17 second times!

 

[jonny guitar]

I followed a forum member's advice to remove all the stickers but the cross on a trainer cube and practice with it until you attain the results you desire. The limited stickers allow for you to really focus on just the cross and get a better feel for what is happening. I found this worked well and I also used another cube with no last layer or top stickers to practice my F2L (also worked really well for improvment).

 

[nigtv]

I followed a forum member's advice to remove all the stickers but the cross on a trainer cube and practice with it until you attain the results you desire.

I can't believe I've never thought of that before, that's a really good suggestion. Except I would say that instead of peeling off the stickers, if you only have one cube, just order new pieces and change those out when you need to. You can use it for any step, just note the cube state and trade out. I'd say this over peeling stickers, because you will be able to practice any color, and not get really confused if you have just used one color every time.

As for the speed thing, this may be a little bit basic if you are experienced, but what helped me get the cross faster when I was first starting was never moving the first piece of the square, and trying harder to notice just how much reordering (or thinking about it) can help to avoid redundancy. In the same way, I learned if it was faster to permute, orient, or both quickly.

Something that has helped me recently is using the middle layers instead of R L' and the like, i learned corners first a few months ago, and it helped my speed with middle layers a lot.

 

[Zarxrax]

How to make my cross faster?

My cross averages about 5 seconds, maybe even more. I've heard that you are supposed to plan your cross out in the inspection time, so you can just execute it really fast as soon as you start.
I've tried this though, and I can't do it! It takes me at least a minute or two to fully memorize and plan out a cross. Will my memorization speed drastically increase if I just keep practicing that?
Does anyone have any tips for how they memorize the cross? I especially find it difficult to visualize how the pieces are going to move.

 

[waffle=ijm]

that's why you have to practice...

and yes...take the time to memo cross....find the shortest and best solution....no matter how long it takes....and then do it....over and over again...

 

[SaberSlash49]

I'm no expert at the cross, but I can easily plan out my cross in about 20~ seconds, and I'm still practicing. I'd suggest following the tips on Macky's site..

" * Learn your color scheme by heart. From the center colors of any two adjacent sides, you should be able to immediately tell the colors of the other sides.
* Taking as much time as needed for each scramble, form the cross in 7 or less moves. You should be able to do this over 99% of the time.
* Repeat 2, but solve the cross blindfolded. Practice until there are no mistakes.
* Repeat 2, gradually decreasing the inspection time until you can always read the cross in 15 seconds. Once you get faster, you don't need to always follow the 7-move rule. Some solutions will be slightly longer but easier to execute.
* The transition from cross to F2L is important! This is where even fast cubers have to stop most often ("cube amnesia").
* Slow down during the cross to prepare for the first corner-edge pair of F2L. You may want to avoid using finger tricks for the cross to help look ahead.
* Solve without preinspection. This forces you to slow down and lets you move from cross to F2L more smoothly.
* Form the cross in such a way that, when it is completed, it ends up where you want it during F2L. This eliminates a cube turn before F2L and also helps the transition. (There are a few top speedcubers who do not do this.) " - Shotaro Makisumi "Macky"

I myself, have worked on my cross using this method. Another useful thing to imagine where the pieces would be is either a cube applet or practicing the cross using the same scramble until you get it perfectly and able to do it blindfolded.

 

[Zarxrax]

It's a bit disheartening to me that you can plan your cross so quickly, SaberSlash, as my average solves are already slightly faster than your PB

I think some people are just poor at visualizing 3d images in their mind. I took a sort of IQ test before that tested that, and I did fairly poorly on it. I just wonder if this is something that will always be a problem for me, or if I can overcome it.

Actually, I just went and looked for one of those tests, and found this Spatial IQ test. It told me "Your score on the test was much lower than average."

 

[Edmund]

Just practice it like crazy, and then x-crosses really help for me. Def figure the cross out blind and you don't always have to do it on bottom if say an r2 would put it on bottom at the end.

 

[Andreaillest]

I know what you mean. If I spent most of my time practicing instead of complaining and being stubborn, I'd be Sub 20 by now. Practice is key to better times.(Corny, I know) But you have to practice at things that will help you eventually. Looking ahead, Cross inspection, etc.