The New Sudoku Players' Forum

[Jeans]

Here was I was gaily completeing Fiendish puzzles so easily and then this one came along. I seem to be completely stuck - and at a very early stage.

Can anyone give me a hint?

5*9|7*2|*3*
***|*91|*4*
1**|***|**6
6**|***|*1*
7*1|*8*|**4
*3*|*1*|**5
8**|***|***
*16|978|***
92*|1*5|687

I realise that most people have progressed to Killer SuDoku now but I am trying to avoid them - before the puzzle completely takes over my life.

[zebedeezbd]

Look at the bottom-centre block. The 2 must be in the top row, so the 2 in the bottom-right block must be in the middle row.
Now look at the bottom-left block. The 5 must be in the top row, so the 5 in the bottom-right block must be in the middle row as well.
You can thus eliminate 2s and 5s from the top row of the bottom-right block, which should give you your next cell...

[Jeans]

Thanks for the tip, although it still took a while to figure this particularly fiendish one out but I got there in the end!