The New Sudoku Players' Forum

[sudophil]

Ok, I limit myself to inserting just 2 candidates to try and solve and have done most of the paper's 'hard' ones but this one has been sitting too long on my table and I can't get past what I got so far.

Maybe there's a chain I can't spot.

Code: Select all

 . . 1|. . 2|. . .
 . 2 8|. . 7|. 5 .
 9 . 7|5 . 6|. . .
 -----+-----+-----
 4 . 2|3 6 .|. 7 .
 7 . 5|8 4 9|3 . .
 . 9 .|7 2 .|. . 4
 -----+-----+-----
 . . .|. . 3|. . 5
 . 7 4|2 . 8|6 1 .
 . . .|6 . 4|8 . .
 

[Mike Barker]

Look in row 6 for a naked pair and then column 2 for locked candidates, followed by another naked pair in block 7. Alternatively you can crack the puzzle with a naked triple in column 1 and a hidden single in row 6.

[sudophil]

Thanks, I should have found the pair in r6c7 and that should have got me over the hump.