The New Sudoku Players' Forum

[EmmaG1959]

I've been working really hard on sudoku lately, and have got better, but at this level I keep getting stuck. I've applied all the techniques I know, and even tried looking for XWings, but can get no further with this one. What should I be looking for next? I slice and dice, pencil in possibles, look for pairs and (I think) triples etc. To me, there is no more that can be done with this puzzle, so either I've gone wrong or I'm missing something. (Should I have posted original puzzle? Took me ages to get this far but will try if necessary...)

Code: Select all

256 |2456|469|7   |248 |268 |3  |249|1
126 |1246|469|5   |3   | 26 |8  |249|7
7   |8   |3  |1   |24  |9   |24 |56 |56
----------------------------------------
3568|9   |678|348 |78  |158 |14 |468|2
238 |23  |1  |3489|6   |28  |5  |7  |489
4   |256 |678|89  |2789|1258|19 |3  |689
----------------------------------------
38  |34  |48 |2   |59  |7   |6  |1  |59
9   |167 |2  |68  |158 |3   |47 |458|458
16  |167 |5  |689 |189 |4   |279|28 |3

Thanks for any suggestions where I should tackle this next!

Emma

[tarek]

Look closely at Column 4,,,,,

Look at the candidates 3 & 4..... can you draw any conclusions......

you may find this easier........

In the same column......Look where candidates 6,8,9 are located...Any conclusions

Tarek

[EmmaG1959]

Yes, of course. I'd gone into mechanical auto-pilot, looking for those damn X-Wings, and not seen the obvious. Back to the puzzle, perhaps this will solve it for me!

Thanks! I needed a kick!

[robhenry]

Those darn Xwings can be a tad tricky to spot at times, with other numbers in the way.

[Cec]

"..(Should I have posted original puzzle?..."

Hi EmmaGI959,
Well.. the short answer to your question is "Yes". If you click on Here you can read up on the procedures "How to ask for Help" which includes, amongst other things, a suggested grid layout for the initial puzzle and pencilmarks grid. Just ask if you need more help and I'm sure someone will oblige.
Cec