Shortcut key for multiplication sign

Question

What is the shortcut key for making the "×" multiplication sign in Mathematica (n.b. × != x)?

You can enter all the other three basic arithmetic operators by simply typing "+", "-" and "/" (or ctrl+/).

Solution

If you look in the Mathematica documentation for "times" (which is the first place you should always check for questions like this) it gives you the key sequence Esc * Esc (escape-asterisk-escape). It has exactly the same meaning as a plain asterisk so pretty much nobody actually uses this symbol.

Comments

[Breakthrough]

Why x? The asterisk * is the widely used and standardized multiplication symbol. Also, Ctrl+X is cut in all operating systems, so you won't be able to do this anyways... Plus, what about variable names? How would you reference (or even define) them if you did this? Just use * and be done with it.

[Simon]

@Breakthrough: Asterisk as multiplication is only standard in programming/computing. "·" and "×" are by far the more standard symbols for multiplication in typesetting and writing. This was discussed on mathgroup a couple of times recently.