Speed Blindfolded Solving
Solving a Rubik's Cube blindfolded using a regular F2L (i.e. Fridrich) method.
March 12-25, 2006
My current record: 20:43 memorization, 18.04 execution

• Introduction • The Basic Idea • Examples • Cross • F2L: Tracing • Finishing up F2L • F2L: Tips and Tricks • OLL • Compound OLL • PLL •

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Cross

If you're familiar with the cross, you'll have no problem with this; just place all four pieces in one look. Make the cross short, easy, and/or efficient; you will have to trace every other cubie through these moves.
Make sure to form the cross on the bottom; it will be very disorienting if you do any cube rotations before LL. You can find the cross any way you want, but then put the cross color on the bottom and ingrain the sequence into your memory. It helps to number each move so that when you trace other pieces you can go "1, 2, ...3, 4, 5!" -vigorous hand movements help- and make sure that you haven't missed tracing a single move.
If you don't find an easy cross for your favorite color, try others, especially the opposite face; during F2L most of the tracing will not be confused by color scheme, and OLL/PLL are only based on orientation/cycles. So if you can find a particularly short solution, solve cross on any face (and rotate that face to the bottom).
Also, since you are trying to use fewest moves (to trace more quickly and make less errors), you can try to reduce the number of overall moves by forming an extended cross. Anytime in speed BLD you can get a little extra done, it's worth it. I used an extended cross, for example, in my 18.04 solve (with twenty minutes of memorization).

• If you'd like a good guide for cross, try Dan Harris's or Macky's.
• See Chris Hardwick's page for the extended cross and opposite color solving.