Sudoku Puzzle Secrets

How do I start? Everybody has his or her own way of solving the puzzle. However, the following strategies will help prepare you to unlock even the most difficult of Sudoku puzzles.1. Use a pencil

Pens are for the professional players. This may seem obvious, but you are probably going to need to erase some of the numbers, especially when you first start out.

2. Think! Don’t just try to guess.

Although it is possible to guess some of the numbers, it is a game of logic and you will need to think logically. Try not to place a number if you are not quite sure that it should go in the square. Trial and error is not a good technique in Sudoku.

3. Begin with the common numbers

Examine the puzzle to find which of the numbers come out frequently. Choose these numbers and see if you can place any of them. As you begin, draw light lines cutting every row and column that holds the numbers. Look at each box that doesn’t have a number yet. If you find a box with a single empty space that is crossed out, put the number in that space.

4. Then go on to the nearly filled boxes

As you begin placing the numbers, watch out for the rows, columns, or the 3 x 3 blocks that are nearly filled in. Once you find one, decide which of the remaining numbers should be placed in that box. Look at the numbers that haven’t been placed yet, and check if there is a suitable position in the box.

5. Are you puzzled? Start making notes

Once the easy numbers have been placed the puzzle begins to get more complicated. What should you do? Go back and work on each block again. Make notes of the “probables”, these are the number that will probably fit within each square. Choose a square and record any of the numbers from one to nine that do not appear in each row, column or 3 x 3 grid. In this way, you should find that each square has a single possible answer only. Place the number, then; remove the “probables” that you lightly pencilled in, from the other squares.

6. Search for other options

There will be times when you will have reached the point where all the empty boxes have many probable solutions. If this happens, the puzzle becomes more difficult. Now, your plan should be to look for the boxes in a row, column or box that have similar options. For example, if you locate two boxes that have same two options, the two numbers should be placed in those two boxes. This should cut down the options in the remaining boxes to a point where you can solve the others. This strategy will work if the options overlap in two boxes or more.

7. If you duplicate, start again

Lastly, if you find an illegal duplicate, stop, and find the reason behind it. If you still can’t find the reason, it is often better to work through the puzzle again stage by stage.

Over time you begin to find a strategy that suits you best and the easier it will become, but by following the seven strategies given above, you will increase your chances of solving the puzzle – whether it be an easy level or the most difficult level of Sudoku.

Good luck and happy solving!