It is now just over a year since I came across sudoku puzzles and I am still learning. It appears to me that there are two distinct methods of solving. Firstly, continuously looking for each number, which more often than not involves pencil marks, and can take 20 or more mins. Secondly disregarding individual numbers, no pencil marks, and which takes half the time, maybe 10 mins. Today it took me 11 mins.
But the problem for me is that I find looking at the permutations of multiple digits much harder - there are so many to consider. Anyway, I don't think it has to be a one-size-fits all solution - that's the major disagreement I have with the 'dark side' commenters here. There are times when either method might be more efficient, it just depends on the particular sudoku.
This is actually the NYT Hard of 2 May 2024. It has a less-than-obvious step that requires a bit of wide-ranging scanning (57 = row 5 column 7): 57, 63, 61, 67, 58 (UR available here in boxes 3 and 6; skipped), 91 (hidden single, owing to hidden triple in column, further restricted by hidden pair in box 9; far from obvious), 38 (using the hidden pair in box 9), 39, 78, 89, 68, 69, 98, 83, 51 (hidden pair and triple in box; triple resolvable), 52, 53, 33, 73, 95, 54, 55, 71, 41, 42, 72, 74, 32, 22, 97, 35, 16, 26, 19, 87, 77, 92, 82, 76, 99, 48, 49, 18, 27, 25, 24, 21, 14, 34, 11, 31, 15, 84, 44, 36, 84, 86, 45, 46.
The same visual message as always: block 1 has 278 outside the left column. So in column 1: remoe 27 pairs in rows 5 and 7 and the 8 in row 9. The rest follows in no time.
No fluke, you simply forgot to place the 8s in block 2. That was a very good idea. You had difficulty finishing the puzzle due to the excessive candidates confusing the grid, but all you had to do after finding the 8 in r9c1 was to play sudoku for moderately advanced beginners. Only the candidates made this difficult.
Ah, I see what has happened here. The date given in the title is wrong. This was not the super-easy offering of 1 May, but the rather harder one of 2 May. It doesn't surprise me at all that Neill resorted to pencil marks for this one, although you are right to point out that they obscure the solution (as they so often do).
Hey, guys. I had to suffer a lot with this sudoku. But I managed to solve it without pencil marks. Look, at the 15th minute in the 1st column you can see that the pair 27 is only in R5C1 b R7C1. Therefore, the digit 8 will be in R9C1. There was no further difficulty. That's it! Bye.
It is now just over a year since I came across sudoku puzzles and I am still learning. It appears to me that there are two distinct methods of solving. Firstly, continuously looking for each number, which more often than not involves pencil marks, and can take 20 or more mins. Secondly disregarding individual numbers, no pencil marks, and which takes half the time, maybe 10 mins. Today it took me 11 mins.
But the problem for me is that I find looking at the permutations of multiple digits much harder - there are so many to consider. Anyway, I don't think it has to be a one-size-fits all solution - that's the major disagreement I have with the 'dark side' commenters here. There are times when either method might be more efficient, it just depends on the particular sudoku.
This is actually the NYT Hard of 2 May 2024. It has a less-than-obvious step that requires a bit of wide-ranging scanning (57 = row 5 column 7):
57, 63, 61, 67, 58 (UR available here in boxes 3 and 6; skipped),
91 (hidden single, owing to hidden triple in column, further restricted by hidden pair in box 9; far from obvious),
38 (using the hidden pair in box 9),
39, 78, 89, 68, 69,
98, 83, 51 (hidden pair and triple in box; triple resolvable),
52, 53, 33, 73, 95,
54, 55, 71, 41, 42,
72, 74, 32, 22, 97,
35, 16, 26, 19, 87,
77, 92, 82, 76, 99,
48, 49, 18, 27, 25,
24, 21, 14, 34, 11,
31, 15, 84, 44, 36,
84, 86, 45, 46.
The same visual message as always: block 1 has 278 outside the left column. So in column 1: remoe 27 pairs in rows 5 and 7 and the 8 in row 9. The rest follows in no time.
No fluke, you simply forgot to place the 8s in block 2. That was a very good idea. You had difficulty finishing the puzzle due to the excessive candidates confusing the grid, but all you had to do after finding the 8 in r9c1 was to play sudoku for moderately advanced beginners. Only the candidates made this difficult.
Thanks for checking, Georges.
I actually though this was the easiest NYT hard grid in a while. I agree with George l, for this grid pencil marks obscure the solution.
Ah, I see what has happened here. The date given in the title is wrong. This was not the super-easy offering of 1 May, but the rather harder one of 2 May. It doesn't surprise me at all that Neill resorted to pencil marks for this one, although you are right to point out that they obscure the solution (as they so often do).
Hey, guys. I had to suffer a lot with this sudoku. But I managed to solve it without pencil marks. Look, at the 15th minute in the 1st column you can see that the pair 27 is only in R5C1 b R7C1. Therefore, the digit 8 will be in R9C1. There was no further difficulty. That's it! Bye.