[Help Thread] Xcross Tips and Discussion

[cmhardw]

I know you put a cross peice in then match the corner up with that, thus making 2x2x1, setup the other cross peice to be inserted in one move, and then get the corner setup in there?

You can make an Xcross starting with any pieces you want, but for some reason I almost always start with a 2x2x1 made out of the F2L corner/edge pair and one cross edge. You can sometimes get good Xcrosses starting with a 2x2x1 made out of two cross pieces and only the corner of the corner/edge pair.

If you think about it, there are two ways to make a 2x2x1 using the corner/edge pair and one way with a 2x2x1 using two cross pieces and the F2L pair's corner, so theoretically using the corner edge pair in your 2x2x1 should happen about twice as often as the other way.

I very rarely do a cross while making/preserving the corner edge pair and then inserting the pair. It's a perfectly viable way to do Xcross, but for some reason I try to block build rather than do cross+pair.

The best way to practice it, is to just try it over and over and over. I would recommend to do the same scramble over and over until you find an Xcross. Once you do, try a new scramble.

Hope this helps,
Chris

 

[Kirjava]

I know you put a cross peice in then match the corner up with that, thus making 2x2x1, setup the other cross peice to be inserted in one move, and then get the corner setup in there?

There is no set sequence for creating an xcross. The one you have described seems fairly inefficient.

A common approach is starting with a 2x2x2 and adding the extra cross edges at the end. Eventually, you should try to do both of these at the same time, usually by ensuring the cross edges are ready to be added during the 2x2x2 creation. This also allows you to know where the pieces will be so there's no pause while you work out how to complete the cross.

 

[RyanReese09]

practiced nearly 2 hours now.. only been able to get a few successful xcross (that i believe to be actually efficient xcrosses)

:fp:

my biggest problem: when i create the 2x2x1, i need the cross peice in there, like, ill have a 2x2x1 block, and obviously the center makes it a ..this

* * *
* * O

The * represent done peices, the O represents the bottom cross peice which i need in. my problem is getting that inserted. >_<

 

[riffz]

practiced nearly 2 hours now.. only been able to get a few successful xcross (that i believe to be actually efficient xcrosses)

:fp:

my biggest problem: when i create the 2x2x1, i need the cross peice in there, like, ill have a 2x2x1 block, and obviously the center makes it a ..this

* * *
* * O

The * represent done peices, the O represents the bottom cross peice which i need in. my problem is getting that inserted. >_<

Most people don't try to do an x-cross for every solve. They often just take advantage of a nice case. I wouldn't worry too much about it, but keep practicing.

 

[jackdexter75]

is the 2x2x1 a typo? anywho. xcross is a usefull tactic that uses an already solved f2l pair, and inserting it inbetween it's corresponding edges. It is not generally used by making an f2l pair and THEN inserting it inbeween. It's mostly just used when the pair is already made. and easily made. At least that's how I do it. and was advised to do. Hope that helps...

 

[xXzaKerXx]

practiced nearly 2 hours now.. only been able to get a few successful xcross (that i believe to be actually efficient xcrosses)

:fp:

my biggest problem: when i create the 2x2x1, i need the cross peice in there, like, ill have a 2x2x1 block, and obviously the center makes it a ..this

* * *
* * O

The * represent done peices, the O represents the bottom cross peice which i need in. my problem is getting that inserted. >_<

Most people don't try to do an x-cross for every solve. They often just take advantage of a nice case. I wouldn't worry too much about it, but keep practicing.

X-cross is best done when a 2x2x2 block + 2 cross pieces is faster then cross + F2L. So when you see a case with a couple of pairs here and there, it's usually a good setup to a X-cross.

 

[AngeL]

Listen to these guys, lol. Don't beat yourself up trying to get an Xcross every time. Like I said in my first post, the thing that will help you the most is blockbuilding. But, if you're going to try for Xcross every solve, you might as well just go with Petrus instead. Or Roux, because it's win.

 

[riffz]

is the 2x2x1 a typo?

Probably not. It's often easy to make an xcross from a 2x2x1. Just do D' R D for example. The matching edge piece can often easily be solved if you already have a 2x2x1.

 

[QCcuber4]

Xcross and LL edge control?

Holla!

I recently got into Xcross... I don't get it! I understand what it is, but I'm not quite good at it. I make more moves trying to use it than i would with normal cross and f2l.... So whats the trick? I tried paring an edge with a corner into a 2x1x1 block, then solve it with the other cross edges and the corner's edge... but thats alot to consider during inspection... or am i too slow minded?

i also tried pairing my f2l block as i solve the cross and magically insert it with the rest along the way, but that usually ends up in a cross, with an f2l pair ready to insert... so thats not x cross, and i did not save on moves...

just gimme hints... ill practice

And for LL edge control... Dunno if thats actually how you call it, what i do is:
On my last f2l pair, I insert in a way that I have 2 or 4 edges oriented properly, goal being i dont have to bother with those anoying edgless and cornerless olls, i hate them. So any tricks or tutorials for that would help too...

k well thx to those who'd help, screw the trolls.

Bb thx alot.

 

[Joker]

Feliks has some vids on the X cross (youtube name is fazrulz1 )
Theres not too many videos on youtube that teach this (that I found helpful).
Sorry I probably didn't help much.

 

[Anthony]

I'm not sure how helpful it really is, but I made this a year ago.

 

[Toad]

The main thing about xcross is that it isn't always helpful / benifitital, depending on the scramble. If you only have to do say 2 extra moves to change your corss into an xcross, then it'd be great. However, if you struggle around trying to make an xcross when there isn't really one available you're just wasting time.

It's certainly not something that will make you consistently much faster but it is worth looking into it at your times just to boost that odd solve when a good one is possible.

Hope this has helped.

 

[bluedasher]

Color neutrality plays a big roll in x-cross I use it probably 50% of the time and finish it in about 3-5 sec. which I guess is a long time for some people. What I do is scan the cube for any corner edge pair and make a 2x1x1 block then finish the 2x2x2 block and connect the last 2 cross pieces. Being able to solve a 2x2x2 block regardless of the three colors of the block really saves moves compared to picking the corner in witch you build your 2x2x2 block. Some people however are better at planning out the cross in inspection time as opposed to planning out a 2x2x2 block.

 

[Ranzha]

I agree with bluedasher a whole bunch, but I have to say that I unfortunately don't follow his advice.
Usually what I do is I either:
a.) Plan cross and find an easy pair in which to manipulate
b.) Plan 2x2x2 and find additional cross pieces
c.) Plan pseudo block.
d.) Screw the x-cross.

Now, LL edge control isn't too hard. If you're looking for an algorithmic way of doing it, ELS (from the submethod MGLS) is a great system to use.
ELS inserts the last slot's edge and orients edges. Then, you can insert the corner using a 2-gen alg, which doesn't mess with edge orientation.

 

[QCcuber4]

OK, so,

Joker -- I'll check it out, thx, i did not know he had tutorials. It helps.

Anthony -- wow, ur vid is good, you should trust your skills a little more, you underestimate yourslef imo.

Random -- I'd like to believe what ur saying is true.... but if im not mistaking, macky made a post not too long ago about it... and prooved with 12 solves with no Xcross, and 12 xcross solves, that the move count was 90% of the time a benefit... he showed a significant 7*-8 move economy... which can save about 1 or 2 seconds in a solve... But you could be right tho, i guess not all xcrosses are flashing to the eye at first...

Bluedash -- Yeah, I wish i could practice colour neutrality, but i honestly have alot of trouble with it, i constantly mix up with white cross... I cross on white, or yellow at best... even yellow gets me mixed up at times... but ill look into it. I already thought it was obvious how it mattered to be neutral, but never rly took the time to practice it deeply.

Ranzha -- uhm, I don't understand anything you said about Edge control. Thx for the help lol, but I kinda tried figuring it out on my ownand dont wanna get into massive algs for now... But if you have good tutorial pages to show me, go ahead, I most likely will look them over.


Thx everyone!

 

[Louis McDonald]

Extended Cross (Xcross) help?

Hey forum,

I just stumbled on the concept of the 'x-cross',

As of now i have no idea on what this is, i searched the wiki yet it just gave me a summary of the theory and who invented it,

Could someone give us a hand?

Cheers

 

[cyoubx]

An Xcross is where a cross is formed with a C/E pair already placed. It's different than cross+1st F2L because it's more of a block building technique.

 

[teller]

A quick YouTube search yielded Weston's video:

 

[cmhardw]

I wrote up a page about it on my site.

 

[teller]

I wrote up a page about it on my site.

That's a great resource, Chris, thanks!

I'm intrigued by this notion of direct-solving. There was a time when I couldn't track all 4 cross pieces, and now I can. It should be possible to work my way up to six...are you having success with this?