If salt crystals make a cube shape, what is this 'X' marking?
When salt (NaCl) crystals are grown under normal conditions, the edges of the cubes usually grow faster than the faces (because the edges have more contact with the saturated salt solution than the faces). So the crystals grow with a square-pyramidal indentation on each face. The "X" you observe is your view of the edges of that inverted pyramid. On the other hand, if the crystals are grown really slowly under controlled conditions, this does not occur and you get a more or less perfect cube.