25 Extended Cross Examples

7 years ago

Speedcubing Advice

Hi guys, 

Recently, one CubeSkills member has been practicing building extended crosses in his solves, and was interested in my thoughts on how to tackle a variety of different scrambles. I thought it would be a nice idea to share how I’d approach building the extended cross (or the reasoning for not building one) for each individual scramble. By no means can I guarantee these examples are the “perfect” solutions, and if you have any different thoughts or opinions on particular cases, let me know in the comments! :)

I’ll be building these as a colour neutral solver, but if you’re interested in following along and would find it easier on white, make sure to place the white side at the location specified before each scramble. Let me know if you spot any notation/other mistakes in the blog.

Lastly, this will be fairly advanced, and is intended for those who are quite comfortable with the CFOP method and some intuitive blockbuilding and other extended cross techniques.

 

  1. F' D2 B2 R B2 L U2 L R B2 U' R D L' D' R D2 L2 F (Cross on D)
    • y D’ L R’ B’ R’ D
    • The yellow-orange-blue 1x1x2 is nice, and the blue-orange edge is in the perfect position to take advantage of that. We need to do a B’ to place the yellow-green edge whilst preserving that 1x1x2 and solving the accompanying F2L edge.
    • To execute the B’, I’d use my right ring finger, which is a little bit risky.
    • An alternative execution is x2 y U’ R r’ U’ r’ D, but that is a little bit more complex and also leads to the solved pair ending up in one of the front F2L slots.
  2. R2 B U R' F D L' U' F' R2 B2 R2 L2 D2 B2 L2 F2 D' R2 D2 (Cross on R or F)
    • z R D’ R’ D R D R D’ can be executed quickly and also preserves the green/white F2L pair. Because it’s 2 generator, only pieces in the R or D layers will be affected by this solution.
    • As I said at the start, some solutions won’t actually be extended crosses, such as in this case where I don’t think a red X-Cross is a great option.
    • For the Green cross (F), the extended cross z2 x’ R F L’ D2 F’ R’ u’ R u is also decent.
  3. F U2 B2 L2 U2 F' D2 F' L2 U2 L F U' B R' U' L R F' (Cross on F)
    • x’ y2 D’ R2 L2’ D’
    • Similar to scramble 1, but a little bit easier still. The reason we do a y2 before executing that solution is to solve the extended cross such that the first F2L pair ends up in the back-left slot.
    • There are multiple different ways to do the R2 L2’. I’d probably do a regrip of my right hand after the R2 to get ready for the D’. Alternatively something like x y2 U’ R2 r2’ D’ might be a bit faster to execute.
  4. L2 D R2 B2 R2 B2 F2 D2 R2 U R2 F D' F' R' U2 L F D2 F' R2 (Cross on R)
    • This is a scramble where I don’t really think it’s worth it to do an extended cross, or rather, I probably wouldn’t have been able to see and plan this solution in inspection. Safer to go with one of the easy crosses (green, blue or yellow) and predicting pair 1.
    • However, an X-cross on red is: z y U’ F2 R D F D2 R B
  5. R2 U2 B' L2 F2 D2 B L2 F' D2 U2 L U L2 F2 D' F2 D' U R D (Cross on R)
    • Not super easy, but there are a few different ways we can build this one. The location of the green-yellow edge is a little bit troublesome.
    • y x’ L2 U (R U’ R B) D’ R2’
    • y x’ L2 R U’ B U2’ R2’ D’ R
    • y x’ F’ L’ U F L’ R2 D’ R2’
  6. L2 D' R2 D2 F2 D B2 U R2 B2 U' F' L' D' F2 U' L R' U L2 F (Cross on B)
    • Yellow looks promising, but the position of the yellow-green edge is a bit unfortunate, and so I couldn’t really find anything that great.
    • x2 U L R U R U z’ x’ R’ F R is a pretty straightforward solution on blue, and is pretty easy to execute, albeit with the rotation. Note that z’ x’ should really just be one regrip of the cube, and not two.
    • A lesson here is that if we have a 1x1x2 block (ie just a corner and an edge paired up), there are multiple crosses where we have the potential to use it. Here, for example, we could use it to try a either a yellow, blue, or orange extended cross.
  7. L' D2 R' B2 L R2 B2 R' D2 R' D L2 B' R B' U2 F R' B2 R2 (Cross on B)
    • x R D’ R’ U R L F is a nice solution here.
  8. F' U2 B2 L U2 L' D2 R F2 L B2 F' D' R U2 L' R2 F' R (Cross on U)
    • x2 U’ R2 U’ R’ D2 U’ F2 R2
    • The green-orange edge in its place is handy, and forms the basis of this extended cross. The D2 U’ can be performed simultaneously.
  9. U' L B2 R U2 L D' R' B' U2 F2 R2 D2 R2 F L2 B' U2 F2 U (Cross on B)
    • x y D2 R’ D U’ r U r’ R2
    • We can see that an initial D’ move would solve a 1x2x2 block, and so the challenge with this solution is simply to figure out how to insert the remaining blue cross edges in an efficient way which doesn’t destroy that block.
  10. U2 L D R F' U B L D R F2 R L U2 R2 B2 D2 R2 B' (Cross on D)
    • Probably the best thing to do on this scramble is to preserve that yellow pair and insert it right after the cross.
    • y R’ U R’ L F u’ or y R2’ U’ L F’ u’ solve the cross and preserve the pair.
    • The reason for doing u’ instead of D’ to align the cross is to ensure that we don’t need to do any rotations to solve the blue-orange F2L pair.
  11. B2 U R2 B2 L2 U' F2 D U2 B2 L F' U' L D2 L' B U2 L' B' (Cross on L)
    • z’ y’ D2 R’ D R L U’ L’ D’
    • A standard keyhole extended cross.
  12. U B2 R2 F2 L2 D2 B' D2 B' D2 F2 L U2 L F' D L D' U2 (Cross on D)
    • y r’ D’ r U2 L R2’
    • The key to doing this one most effectively is figuring out how to make it rotationless and fingertrick friendly. It’s tempting to just make the 2x2x2 with F’ R’ F2 and then do R2 B’ R2’, and the execution on that isn’t too bad, but it builds the X-Cross with the pair in a front slot.
  13. L' U2 L U2 F2 R B2 R' F2 R U B F' D U L' D R F L2 (Cross on D)
    • U2 F R’ U’ D2 R2 U L F’
    • This is a reasonably tricky X-Cross, the reason I’d consider it is because the 6 move 2x2x2 is decent to execute, and because the last two cross edges afterwards are in a good position. The yellow-orange edge is fairly easy to track (only affected by the F), but the yellow-green is probably the one to keep an eye on as you solve the 2x2x2.
  14. U' F' L F U' B' L' F R F2 D F2 U' F2 L2 D2 F2 U2 B2 (Cross on R)
    • z R’ u R’ L’
  15. F L2 D B2 D' R2 U R2 U2 L U' R' U' F' D' F U' B2 (Cross on F)
    • x’ y’ F D L R’ U’ R D2
    • A fairly standard keyhole extended cross on green - it can be tempting to also try and preserve the red-yellow pair. The simplest way to do this is probably just move it into the top layer before doing the D2 move to finish the cross.
  16. B2 D' L' F2 U2 F' D' L U B' U' D2 R2 F2 D2 B2 D2 (Cross on D)
    • The first thing I saw on this scramble was y2 F R’ D R U L U L’ F R’ F R.
    • The position of the red-blue edge makes the blue X-Cross a bit tricky. x U D’ R D R D2 was an initial idea for blue, but the blue-red is in basically the worst position possible at this point.
  17. U2 F2 U B2 F2 U' B2 R2 D B2 U' B U' B2 R U' L F' R D R' (Cross on B or R)
    • I would probably avoid doing the yellow cross in this example, the red-yellow edge is not placed very well. Instead, with that 1x1x2 block, either orange or blue are good places to try and build something.
    • x y2 U’ F U R2’ U’ L F2 is okay for blue, and z’ y’ R’ F R D’ r’ U’ M’ D’ a good solution for orange.
  18. B' U' B D' B' R' D2 L' D F' U2 L2 B R2 B' L2 F' D2 B2 R2 (Cross on F or R)
    • For the cross on F, x’ D2 R2 U L’ R’ F R solves the X-cross and sets up the second F2L pair.
    • For the cross on R, ideally we would like to solve the double extended cross using keyhole (as both of the edges we need to use are in the top layer and oriented the same way). When there are two corners solved diagonally opposite to one another, we need the cross to be offset by a single move, not a double move, in order to freely insert both edges without consequence.
    • Ie, a double extended cross solution here looks like z r’ D’ r u R U’ R’ L U L’ D
  19. L2 U' F2 U2 B2 L2 D' U' F2 U' B U R D' L' F2 R U2 R' B' (Cross on D)
    • y2 F R L D2 R2’ D’
    • Simple solution, but the key here is to actually break up that corner/edge pair.
  20. L2 U2 F' U2 B R2 B' R2 F' U2 R U' B L D2 B' R' B L D' (Cross on B)
    • x D’ U’ F U’ R’ U R U’ R’ D2
    • The important thing here is to cancel into the corner insertion for the keyhole X-cross.
  21. L' F2 U2 B2 R' B2 R U2 B2 L' U' F' L2 F2 L' U' B' R' D' U2 (Cross on R)
    • Very easy scramble
    • x z D’ L’ D F’ U2’ R2’ for a double extended cross. The hardest part of this one is seeing where the green/white edge ends up after the first 4 moves.
  22. D L2 D B2 F2 D L2 U R2 D2 R2 L' F2 R' U' R B' L D2 F2 U (Cross on U)
    • x2 y F R' L D2 L D U R2 is probably how I'd deal with that orange/blue edge piece. This was quite a tricky one to plan out and I'm not sure if I'd have done it in just 15 seconds of inspection time.
  23. R2 U L2 B2 F2 D' B2 D2 B2 U' L' F' R B U B' U2 R B2 (Cross on U)
    • Whilst it seems like an easy to see X-Cross, finding a nice way to execute this is the difficult part.
    • x2 y' r' U r F D R u R2' is the best I can do.
  24. L' U' B L2 D' R' L' U2 L F D2 F R2 B' L2 D2 B' L2 D2 F2 (Cross on B)
    • This one is a bit interesting - I think that a rotation and regrip for the X-cross solution isn't too bad, but the alternative solution (which simply sets up the first pair) is also decent.
    • y z R' U R y' R' U' R2 L or
    • x L R U R d L U' L'
  25. B2 R2 D2 R2 U2 B' L2 R2 B2 F' U L F2 U2 B2 F R D' B2 L2 (Cross on D)
    • Always nice to finish with an easy one.
    • y' L U F' D'
    • A double X-cross (still using keyhole) which takes advantage of the blue-red edge and the blue-orange-yellow corner is:
    • y' L R' F' U R y L U L' D'

 

I hope these were useful, and feel free to leave feedback which I could incorporate into something like this if I were to do it again! :)

Feliks


Thoughts on this blog

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Matthew  Kleineberg

Matthew Kleineberg Posted 5 years ago

Feliks , can you help me get past sub 25?


Abhoy Modak

Abhoy Modak Posted 5 years ago

How to solve cross faster ?

 


Ethan Lao

Ethan Lao Posted 5 years ago

Any tips on increasing your tps without locking up?


Cyrill Speiser

Cyrill Speiser Posted 5 years ago

Hey Feliks, do you know this scramble?

If not can you try it? Cross on white

D' F' L2 D2 F2 B R2 F2 U2 R2 F U2 L2 D2 F' L2 U2


Ben Yang

Ben Yang Posted 5 years ago

It help a lot!

 


polo velasco

polo velasco Posted 4 years ago

can you pls make a vid about this to be more informative

 


Jamie A

Jamie A Posted 4 years ago

great idea


Juan José  Quinta

Juan José Quinta Posted 1 year ago

Exelentes explicaciones siempre queriendo ayudar 

 

 


Cuberious The SpeedCuber

Cuberious The SpeedCuber Posted 10 months ago

I remember commenting a lot on these blogs when I was in middle school. Looking back, my comments are so cringe to look at lol. I might have come off as a little rude. Sorry everyone! Sometimes I wish I could delete them. 


Rithik  The Speed Cuber!!!

Rithik The Speed Cuber!!! Posted 8 months ago

It looks like I learn a lot from this 

 



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