So you’ve hit a roadblock and don’t how to solve the rest of the puzzle? Perhaps you want to erase and start over, or do you just want to close the app or throw away the paper? Hold on a second. You have to agree, Sudoku is one of the best games out there, in terms of challenge and engagement. Whether you are trying to improve your focus or winding down a long day, it’s the best bet.
However, regardless of your competence level, it does not hurt to have a few tricks up your sleeve. Not only does it make it more interesting, but it does help you play to win, and who doesn’t want that? Here are a few tips to help you complete that troublesome puzzle and get to the next level.
1. Start It Right
How you begin, your Sudoku has a significant impact on how everything ends. Naturally, Sudoku puzzles are partially filled depending on the difficulty level you are playing, so it can be a little hard to make the first move. Therefore, you will want to apply the elimination technique. With the numbers provided, choose and mark the ones you’d prefer to use.
The goal is to strategically eliminate all possible moves by broadening your view to every row and column.
2. Try Crosshatching
This trick is the slight reverse of the elimination method. Thus, maintain your focus on one 3×3 square and fill out all the required figures.
This trick is especially useful for beginner or amateur players because it reduces the pressure of filling out an entire grid.
Nevertheless, there are a lot of loopholes to this technique. There is a substantial possibility of going back to fill in squares to correct errors. This is not a terrible technique, but it does require lots of keenness.
3. Go Naked
This does not mean you strip off your clothes, not at all. With the naked pair technique, you decide the only possible numbers for a particular cell.
As such, you already have 2 probabilities, so you get to decide which one goes where.
However, these figures don’t have to necessarily align within a grid, and they can be spread out in the square.
For pros, this technique can be applied to more figures making naked triplets or quads.
4. The Hidden Pairs
If you’re looking for a clearer perspective on where to place your numbers, then this is the way to go. Here, you get rid of clustered numbers from two cells. Therefore, you are left with simple possibilities. This strategy is great if you want to learn advanced techniques.
Look at the pre-filled numbers and also the rows, squares, and columns to eliminate them as options.
The true value of the hidden pairs is masked by numerous possibilities. With practice, this technique can be used with triplets or quads.
5. Intersection Removal
This strategy is excellent for players who want to eliminate possibilities to solve the entire grid. Thus, any number that appears twice or thrice as a possibility is removed from any intersecting unit.
The key is to entirely figure out the unit in the puzzle. It may be easy to concentrate on a single square, but the goal is to fill out the entire grid. Any pair of triplets of numbers that intersect with a square, a column, or a row is eliminated as a probability.