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Solving Sudoku by Michael Mepham: About Guessing What Is Sudoku?
Solving Sudoku by Michael Mepham: About Guessing What Is Sudoku?
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puzzle, each row, column and 8. The only place for an 8 is in
box must contain each of the column 9, and in this box the only
4 6 5 7 1 numbers 1 to 9. square available is in row 9. So
put an 8 in that square. You have
7 Throughout this document I refer
© Crosswords Ltd, 2005
a square.
Rows and columns are referred to with row number first, followed by the column
number: 4,5 is row 4, column 5; 2,8 is row 2, column 8. Boxes are numbered 1−9
in reading order, i.e. 123, 456, 789.
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8 3 4 3 8 3 4 5
We were looking at box 9. As you
3 4 8 2 1 can see, there is a 2 in boxes 7 3 4 8 2 1 Having proved the 2 in box 9
8 8 and 8, but none in box 9. The 2s 8 8 earlier, check to see if this helps
7 in row 8 and row 9 mean the only
7 you to solve anything else. For
example, the 2 in box 3 shows
9 4 1 8 3 place for a 2 in box 9 appears 9 4 1 8 3 where the 2 should go in box 6:
to be in row 7, and as there is 4 24
already a 2 in column 8, there is it can only go in column 9, where
only one square left in that box 2
there are two available squares.
4 6 5 7 1 for a 2 to go. You can enter the 2
4 6 5 7 1 As we have not yet proved the
2 7 for box 9 at 7,7. 2 7 position of the 4, one of the
© Crosswords Ltd, 2005
#5096
Copyright © 2005 Crosswords Ltd
8 3 4 6 The search for the lone number
Now solve a number on your Daily Telegraph easy sudoku puzzles are called ‘gentle’. This indicates a level of
3 4 8 2 1 own. Look at box 8 and see complexity that can be tackled by beginners and casual sudoku solvers. However,
8 8 where the number 7 should go. no matter what level of puzzle you are attempting, there are a few strategies
7 that will allow you to get to a solution more quickly.
Continue to solve the more
9 4 1 8 3 obvious numbers. There will The key strategy is to look for
4 24 come a point when you will 3 5 678 4 1 the lone number. In this example,
need to change your strategy. all the options for box 5 have
2 7 2 5
4 6 5 7 1 What follows will provide you
178
been pencilled in. There are three
with some schemes to solve the 5 2 6 squares where the number 1
2 7
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other number can go in that box.
8 3 4 While our example uses pencil
3 5 678 4 1 marks to illustrate the rule, more
3 4 8 2 1 7 2 5 experienced solvers are quite
capable of doing this in their
7 5 2
78
6 head.
678
9 4 2 5
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1 2 5 3 9
7 2 4
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MODERATE DIABOLICAL
6 2 1 Will require some skill and
9 7 8 6 Be prepared for multiple
8 7 1 practice. 3 1 5 2 seeming dead ends that
require advanced solving
1 7 3 2 8 6 strategies or intelligent
guessing. This example is as
7 3 4 7 5 6 hard as you will ever get in a
newspaper or book, but they
5 8 3 7 can be much more difficult.
8 4 7 5 1 7
4 6 5 8 1 9
© Crosswords Ltd, 2005
1 7 4 2 6 3 5
4 6 5 5 4 8 7
#5329
MODERATE DIABOLICAL
7 3 6 2 9 1 4 5 8 2 9 5 7 4 3 8 6 1
8 4 2 6 5 3 9 7 1 4 3 1 8 6 5 9 2 7
5 9 1 7 8 4 6 3 2 8 7 6 1 9 2 5 4 3
9 1 7 5 3 8 2 4 6 3 8 7 4 5 9 2 1 6
2 5 4 9 6 7 1 8 3 6 1 2 3 8 7 4 9 5
6 8 3 1 4 2 7 9 5 5 4 9 2 1 6 7 3 8
4 6 9 3 1 5 8 2 7 7 6 3 5 2 4 1 8 9
1 7 5 8 2 9 3 6 4 9 2 8 6 7 1 3 5 4
3 2 8 4 7 6 5 1 9 1 5 4 9 3 8 6 7 2
Copyright © 2005 Crosswords Ltd
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