How can beaming create a cross-rhythm against the meter?

In musical notation, beaming—the practice of linking successive notes together—serves as a supplementary system for indicating stress. Generally, the first note of a beamed group is understood to carry a rhythmic stress.

While beaming is often used to reinforce the standard stress patterns defined by the time signature (the meter), it can also be used to contradict those patterns. By grouping notes in a way that shifts the implied stress away from the expected beats of the meter, a composer can create a cross-rhythm, which is the simultaneous use of contrasting rhythmic patterns.1