When four cells in a group (row, line or box) contain between them exactly 4 different candidates, then each of those four cells will contain one of the candidates and those four candidates can be excluded from all other cells in that group.
- Code: Select all
*--------------------------------------------------------------------*
| 5 1 2 | 346 9 36* | 8 346 7 |
| 3 8 6 | 57 14 57* | 2 9 14 |
| 7 9 4 | 236 68 12(36)8 | 5 36 16 |
|----------------------+----------------------+----------------------|
| 26 7 1 | 26 5 4 | 3 8 9 |
| 246 246 5 | 8 3 9 | 1 7 26 |
| 9 3 8 | 1 7 2(6) | 4 26 5 |
|----------------------+----------------------+----------------------|
| 124 24 9 | 37 14 37* | 6 5 8 |
| 16 56 3 | 9 68 1(56)8 | 7 24 24 |
| 8 456 7 | 456 2 56* | 9 1 3 |
*--------------------------------------------------------------------*
In this case, in column 6, the four cells r1c6, r2c6, r7c6 and r9c6 contain only the four candidates (3,5,6,7). Therefore all 3s, 5s, 6s, and 7s can be excluded from the other cells in column 6.
Above, the four cells that form the quad are marked with asterisks, and the candidates that get excluded have parentheses around them.
It's just like naked pairs, but with four candidates in four cells instead of two candidates in two cells.
http://angusj.com/sudoku/hints.phphas a decent explanation of naked pairs, triples and quads.