Description
Sudoku is a fairly popular form of leisure, which has various solution strategies and, as a result, not everyone can do it. Therefore, before you arm yourself with a pencil, you need to clearly understand that Sudoku is much more than just writing numbers in rows and columns. The process of solving a puzzle requires logic and knowledge of techniques, not guesswork and assumptions. If you are just learning to play Sudoku online or already consider yourself a Sudoku master, the following tips will help you solve even the most difficult puzzle once or twice.
What does it take to solve the puzzle?
You can reread all the known Sudoku tips, but in order to become a true puzzle master, you need more than an understanding of the rules and strategies of the game. As a rule, the best Sudoku players know many secrets.
According to the data, the best players know how to get rid of visual clutter in the Sudoku grid and go straight to finding valuable clues and data for further solving. Other Sudoku players have the ability to abstract away from the outside world and focus on the time allotted for them to solve the puzzle.
Can Sudoku Be Guessed?
“Sudoku is a puzzle that only requires logic to solve. No calculations and assumptions! "
You can, of course, solve Sudoku by guessing, but if your assumptions are wrong and you go too far, sooner or later you will find yourself in a dead end, and you have to start from the beginning.
Basic technique
There are several methods for solving Sudoku, but according to the generally accepted information about Conceptis Puzzles, the simplest one is to “look through the rows and columns in each square and find cases where only one specific number (candidate) can fit in an empty cell” . If you are just learning how to play Sudoku, this technique is a quick and generally effective method for solving simple puzzles. Having mastered it and learning how to solve easy puzzles, you will gradually move on to solving more difficult ones.
Pencil marks
Pencil markup is a free Sudoku easy solving strategy for beginners, which involves filling in presumed numbers inside cells. According to Conceptis Puzzles, after listing all possible number options, the player must analyze the results, determine the combinations and then decide which of the written options turned out to be correct.
"Loner"
This is a very simple strategy to help you solve the puzzle. Its essence: you use the technique of pencil marks, inscribing possible variants of numbers in each cell. Then you analyze the surrounding columns, rows, and block and rule out the wrong choices for one cell, leaving only one good number.
"Naked couples, threesomes, foursomes"
Let's look at the example of "naked twos". Any group of 2 cells in one block, in which only 2 candidates can be placed, is called a “bare two”. When such a group is found, these 2 numbers can be removed from other cells of the block. The same happens with threes and fours.
"Hidden Pairs, Threes, Fours"
Quite an interesting useful trick for solving a puzzle. If in two cells of the same block in the possible variants you recorded there are numbers that are no longer repeated within this block, then all other numbers from these cells can be removed. By the same logic, the techniques of "hidden threes" and "hidden fours" are used.
Swordfish technique
This technique is more suitable for advanced players who solve more difficult puzzles. But for beginners, you should still get familiar with it if you advance in your training and come across the swordfish position.
The swordfish position occurs when three rows (or three columns) contain 2-3 cells with the same candidates. Thus, columns and rows form a special grid, at the nodes of which only “real” candidates can be located. The rest of the candidates that are on the intersection lines of the grid must be removed.