The New Sudoku Players' Forum

[Clock24]

Hi everyone,

Last week while traveling, I picked up a sudoku book at a bus terminal and played around with the puzzles on the way. I decided to get an the Sudoku 2 app when I returned and worked up the levels. When I got to the "expert" level on a puzzle yesterday, however, I got to a point where I could no longer just reason things out. I tried a new puzzle today, got to this point (attached), got stuck, then started Googling strategy. Suddenly I realized there are terms, notations I don't understand, and... all kinds of things that make this seem very complicated! The simpler strategies were at least related to things I had been doing in one way or another, but the more advanced ones didn't seem to help.

My app doesn't allow you to draw "chains". I'm wondering if I've reached the limit of what I can do without transferring puzzles to pen, colored pencils, and paper or studying Sudoku with seemingly intense dedication. I've really been doing this casually, for fun, but perhaps this is the end of the line. What do you think? Am I missing something that will crack these puzzles or is this as much as I can do in an app?

[JasonLion]

You can go a little further with that puzzle without coloring/chains. For example I see a unique rectangle you haven't done. Still, it will require a short chain at some point. It is common to learn to do chains without coloring. It is also possible to get apps that support coloring (like mine).