The combinatorial invariance conjecture asserts that the Kazhdan-Lusztig (KL) polynomial of an interval [u,v] in Bruhat order can be determined just from the knowledge of the poset isomorphism type of [u,v]. Recent work of Blundell, Buesing, Davies, Velicković, and Williamson posed a conjectural recurrence for KL polynomials depending only on the poset structure of [u,v]. Their formula uses a new combinatorial structure, called a hypercube decomposition, that can be found in any interval of the symmetric group. We give a new, simpler, formula based on hypercube decompositions and prove it holds for "elementary" intervals: an interval [u,v] is elementary if it is isomorphic as a poset to an interval with linearly independent bottom edges. As a result, we prove combinatorial invariance for Kazhdan-Lusztig R-polynomials of elementary intervals in the symmetric group, generalizing the previously known case of lower intervals. This is a joint work with Christian Gaetz (part of the activity of the MIUR Excellence Department Project Mat-Mod@TOV (CUP E83C23000330006)).