The New Sudoku Players' Forum

[goldie5218]

hi guys, heres a puzzle from the simple suduko program (hard) that has been randomly selected, and does not carry any type of numerical identification - so i cant tell you what the original grid was! however, after my last effort i have been very very careful in this posting and am sure the grid as i have typed it is correct. have done all the usual candidate eliminations that my tiny mind is capable of and now i am stuck! just what is the key to see these suduko 'mirages' and identify the breakthroughs?
please help ! feel im so near to solving it but just cannot finalise!!

(29) (139) (6) - (7) (25) (4) - (139) (539) (8)

(789) (5) (78) - (6) (1) (3) - (79)(4) (2)

(72) (4) (173) - (8) (25) ( 9) - (6) (753)(137)

-----------------------------------------------------------

(48) (39) (48) - (5)(6)(2) - (1379) (379) (1379)

(6) (7) (2) - (3) (9) (1) - (4) (8) (5)

(59) (139) (135) - (4) ( 8) (7) - (2) (39) (6)

------------------------------------------------------------

(475) (2) (9) - (1) (43) (8) - (753) (6) (347)

(3) (8) (45) - (2) (7) (6) - (59) (1) (49)

(1) (6) (47) - (9) (43) (5) - (8) (2) (347)

[SteveF]

Look at box 1. Where can the values 1 and 3 go (hidden pair). This should allow further eliminations in box 1.

[george-no1]

Yes, or if it's easier to see, you could call it a naked quad (i.e. 2,7,8,9).

G

[goldie5218]

hi guys, thanks very much for your assistance, just couldnt spot the obviously obvious to you guys - have learnt from this, thanks to you guys! will look a lot more carefully in the future - best regards cheers goldie

[angusj]

hi guys, thanks very much for your assistance, just couldnt spot the obviously obvious to you guys

Since you're already using Simple Sudoku, why not use hint (F7) function whenever you get stuck?

[SteveF]

As angusj may have reason to favour the program, I'd like to add my endorsement to Simple Sudoku and its hint function. It is an invaluable friend.

[Ianac]

It has certainly saved me a lot of heartache - especially hidden pairs I never seem to be able to spot them on my own

[goldie5218]

thanks angusj and others for your help. but here is another that has me in a bit of a bother ,to say the least. oh and i do not use the hint system as i am not that pc literate, a friend downloaded the puzzles for me so thats where i get them from . now this one is again 'hard' and like about 20 others in this 'hard' category i seem to have no probs getting the candidates down to a reasonable 'headcount' but then always seem to get stuck after ive looked for all sorts of tricks minimise them - oh and i am very familiar with the normal reducing techniques including x wings - my achilles heel(s) though could be said to be a distinct lack of recognition of the harder methods to reduce candidates- my score at the moment re the 'hard' categories would be in the region of 5 'solved' for every 10 stuck on this type of level! anyone any suggestions as to what i should be brushing up on? please help - if this is a normal example of where/why i am getting stuck ,then a little push would be of great help -
not neccessary to just solve this particular puzzle but some hint as to why /how/ where i am going wrong ?? puzzle to follow under the heading 'geronimo"

[goldie5218]

(2586) (258) (357) - (9) (156) (17) - ( 4) (73) (28)

( 15) (145) (13457) - (57) (2) (8) - ( 13) (9) (6)

(1268) (128) (9) - ( 67) ( 4) ( 3) - (28) ( 17) ( 5)

-----------------------------------------------------------------

(15) (7) (2) - ( 3456) ( 156) (14) - ( 136) (8) ( 9 )

( 9) ( 3) (18) - ( 27) ( 168) 27) - ( 16) (5) ( 4 )

( 4) ( 6) (158) - ( 53) ( 158) ( 9) - ( 7 ) (2) (13)

--------------------------------------------------------------------

( 7) (1245) (145) - ( 8) ( 9) ( 246) - ( 1235) ( 1346) ( 13)

(3) ( 9) (45) - ( 1) ( 7 ) (246) - ( 258) ( 46) ( 28)

( 128) ( 1248) (6) - ( 24) ( 3 ) ( 5 ) - ( 9) ( 14) ( 7)

cheers goldie - hope someone can help me ?

[stuartn]

Any chance of exporting in the usual format?

[xxx]xx[xxx] etc ?

[737 driver]

Goldie,

Look for a naked pair in col 1.
Look for a hidden pair in box 1, perhaps a 3 and something else
Now you can find a number in box 1, and another in row 1.
From there, things should be straightforward.

'driver

[goldie5218]

hi 737 driver, thanks for your help - cannot believe i could not see the naked pair in row one and the hidden pair as well - ok seems my problem is just that i need to concentrate more and really look for the clues before calling for help. but thanks for your patience - sorry stuartn but i dont understand your comment , are you saying i must use square brackets only? or is there a better format than the one i am using? and im not that pc literate so dont understand the term 'export'. are you really saying i should post my puzzles in a diff format? cheers goldie