The New Sudoku Players' Forum

by **brucec** » Fri Oct 14, 2005 2:34 pm

I know there is no order that is written in stone, but for those of you who have gotten good and confident, what order do you use. All input and opinions are welcome.

So far,
I have been using these strategies in this order:
Naked Pairs
Naked Triples, Quads
Hidden pairs, trips and quads
XWing
Swordfish

Does anybody do it differently?

by **CathyW** » Fri Oct 14, 2005 2:51 pm

I always look for the singles first :!:

And I don't think I've yet had occasion to use a swordfish but otherwise, yes, I use the easier solving techniques first.

Cathy

Everything will be OK in the end. If it's not OK, it's not the end!

by **PaulIQ164** » Fri Oct 14, 2005 3:05 pm

I use the tactics as I see them. I can't imagine going through a grid forst looking for singles, then for pairs, etc. Wouldn't that be frightfully dull?

by **CathyW** » Fri Oct 14, 2005 3:15 pm

Perhaps it depends on whether you do your puzzles with pen and paper (inputting candidates as required) as I usually do, or on computer and eliminate candidates. Even so, why would you not enter any singles first?

Each to their own

Cathy

Everything will be OK in the end. If it's not OK, it's not the end!

by **brucec** » Fri Oct 14, 2005 3:17 pm

Yes PaulIQ164, you are right, that would be dull. I did not mean to say that I use this order religiously. I use the strategies as I need them at the time, but I have found that the naked groups always work better then the hiddens. That is not to say that if I see a hidden pair, I will wait until a naked pair comes up first. So, I agree with you. Thanks for your input.

Bruce

by **brucec** » Fri Oct 14, 2005 3:18 pm

CathyW wrote:Perhaps it depends on whether you do your puzzles with pen and paper (inputting candidates as required) as I usually do, or on computer and eliminate candidates. Even so, why would you not enter any singles first?

Each to their own

Cathy

Everything will be OK in the end. If it's not OK, it's not the end!

You're right, Kathy. Singles are usually the hard first strategy, but I just forgot to mention it above.

by **PaulIQ164** » Fri Oct 14, 2005 3:20 pm

Well, if I notice a pair (say) on the first line I look at, I'm not going to just ignore it until I've done all the singles.

by **brucec** » Fri Oct 14, 2005 4:28 pm

Yes singles are the top priority.

The New Sudoku Players' Forum

Is there an order to using the solving techniques?

Is there an order to using the solving techniques?