Sudoku Blog & Tips

Strategies, solving techniques, and guides to help you master every difficulty level — from your first puzzle to expert grids.

Games like Sudoku guide with logic puzzle grids and number games
Guide

Games Like Sudoku: Best Logic Puzzles and Number Games to Try

A comprehensive guide to the best games like Sudoku, including number games, math puzzles, brain games, apps, and Sudoku variants.

May 1, 2026

Sudoku Dark Mode online puzzle
Feature

Sudoku Dark Mode: Play Online in a Low-Glare Theme

Play classic Sudoku in dark mode and learn how the site-wide sun/moon toggle works across all our Sudoku games.

April 30, 2026

Sudoku Pencil Marks: What They Are and How to Use Them
Guide

Sudoku Pencil Marks: What They Are and How to Use Them

Learn pencil marks, candidates, manual notes, Auto Notes, and the solving workflow that makes harder Sudoku puzzles manageable.

April 29, 2026

Sudoku Variations List — grid collage showing different sudoku types
Guide

The Complete Sudoku Variations List — Every Type of Sudoku Explained

From Classic and Killer to Thermo, Arrow, Anti-Knight, and dozens more — rules, tips, and free playable games for 100+ sudoku variants organised by category.

March 30, 2026

Electronic Sudoku — handheld devices, tablets and online puzzles
Buying Guide

Electronic Sudoku: Handheld Devices vs. Online Puzzles

A complete guide to electronic sudoku — dedicated handheld devices, tablets, apps and free online puzzles. Find the perfect option for any sudoku lover.

April 3, 2026

Sudoku Techniques roundup — annotated puzzle grid with solving strategy labels
Guide

Sudoku Techniques: Complete List of Solving Strategies

A comprehensive roundup of Sudoku techniques, from singles and pairs to fish, wings, chains, colouring, uniqueness, ALS, and expert-level solving patterns.

April 29, 2026

Sudoku strategies for beginners guide — annotated easy puzzle grid with beginner solving steps
Beginner Guide

Sudoku Strategies for Beginners: The Step-by-Step Guide

A beginner-friendly Sudoku strategy guide covering scanning, cross-hatching, singles, pencil marks, pairs, common mistakes, and a repeatable solving routine.

April 29, 2026

Sudoku Terms glossary — annotated sudoku grid with vocabulary labels
Glossary

Sudoku Terms: Complete Glossary of Definitions & Terminology

A complete Sudoku glossary covering grid terms, candidate notation, solving techniques, fish patterns, chains, uniqueness terms, variants and common abbreviations.

April 28, 2026

Mathematics of Sudoku guide — annotated 9x9 grid showing rows, columns, boxes and constraints
Guide

Mathematics of Sudoku: The Logic Behind a 9x9 Grid

How classic Sudoku works mathematically: constraints, combinations, uniqueness, solving logic, exact cover, symmetry, clue counts, and why it is not arithmetic.

April 29, 2026

Sudoku difficulty levels guide showing easy, medium, hard and expert puzzle grids
Guide

Sudoku Difficulty Levels: Easy to Expert Explained

A comprehensive guide to Sudoku difficulty levels: easy, medium, hard, expert and extreme puzzles, rating systems, clue counts and techniques.

May 5, 2026

Sudoku Mistakes guide showing a puzzle grid with highlighted errors and corrected notes
Guide

Sudoku Mistakes: Common Errors and How to Avoid Them

Learn the mistakes Sudoku players make most often, how to fix a bad grid, and what mistake counters, no-mistake play, and unlimited mistakes mean.

May 1, 2026

Rules of Killer Sudoku guide with cages, sums and beginner examples
Beginner Guide

Rules of Killer Sudoku: How to Play

Learn Killer Sudoku rules, cage sums, no-repeat cages, beginner examples, the Rule of 45, and the first solving steps.

May 9, 2026

Killer Sudoku tips and strategies guide with cages, sums and candidate notes
Guide

Killer Sudoku Tips and Strategies: Complete Roundup Guide

A complete roundup of Killer Sudoku tips: cage sums, combinations, the rule of 45, innies, outies, notes, pairs, and advanced solving habits.

May 8, 2026

Killer Sudoku combinations guide with cage sums, combination charts and candidate notes
Guide

Killer Sudoku Combinations: Complete Chart and Solving Guide

Complete Killer Sudoku combination charts for 2, 3 and 4-cell cages, plus minimum sums, complements, notation tips and worked examples.

May 8, 2026

Rule of 45 Sudoku guide showing Killer Sudoku cages, innies, outies and 45 totals
Killer Strategy

Rule of 45 Sudoku: Complete Killer Sudoku Guide

Master the Rule of 45 in Killer Sudoku with innies, outies, cage totals, multi-house examples, and common solving mistakes.

May 8, 2026

X-Wing Sudoku Technique — four cells forming a rectangle pattern on a sudoku grid
Strategy

X-Wing Sudoku Technique: How to Find & Use It (With Examples)

Master the X-Wing pattern — the key advanced technique for eliminating candidates and unlocking hard sudoku puzzles. Step-by-step guide with visual examples.

April 10, 2026

Naked Pairs Sudoku Technique — two cells highlighted with the same two candidates in a sudoku grid
Strategy

Naked Pairs in Sudoku: How to Find & Use Them (With Examples)

Master the Naked Pairs technique — the essential intermediate strategy for eliminating candidates and simplifying your sudoku grid. Step-by-step guide with diagrams.

April 12, 2026

Hidden Pairs Sudoku Technique — two cells highlighted with hidden pair candidates in a sudoku grid
Strategy

Hidden Pairs in Sudoku: How to Find & Use Them (With Examples)

Master the Hidden Pairs technique — the powerful intermediate strategy for stripping extra candidates from cells and unlocking stuck sudoku grids. Step-by-step guide with diagrams.

April 12, 2026

XY-Wing Sudoku Technique — three bivalue cells highlighted showing pivot and pincers in a sudoku grid
Strategy

XY-Wing in Sudoku: How to Find & Use This Technique (With Examples)

Master the XY-Wing pattern — the elegant advanced technique using three bivalue cells to eliminate candidates across the grid. Step-by-step guide with diagrams.

April 12, 2026

Pointing Pairs Sudoku Technique — two cells in a box pointing along a column with elimination arrows
Strategy

Pointing Pairs in Sudoku: How to Find & Use This Technique (With Examples)

Master the Pointing Pairs technique — exploit box-line interactions to eliminate candidates along rows and columns. Step-by-step guide with before-and-after diagrams.

April 12, 2026

Box/Line Reduction Sudoku technique — candidate confined to one box within a row, with elimination arrows inside the box
Strategy

Box/Line Reduction in Sudoku: How to Master the Claiming Technique (With Examples)

Learn Box/Line Reduction (Claiming) — the inverse of Pointing Pairs. When a candidate in a row or column is confined to one box, eliminate it from the rest of that box.

April 12, 2026

Swordfish Sudoku technique — three rows and three columns forming a fish pattern to eliminate candidates
Strategy

Swordfish in Sudoku: Strategy & Technique Explained (With Examples)

Master the Swordfish technique — an advanced fish pattern using three rows and three columns to eliminate candidates across a wider area than an X-Wing.

April 15, 2026

Jellyfish Sudoku technique — four rows and four columns forming a fish pattern to eliminate candidates
Strategy

Jellyfish in Sudoku: Strategy & Technique Explained (With Examples)

Master the Jellyfish technique — an expert-level fish pattern using four rows and four columns for powerful candidate eliminations across the grid.

April 13, 2026

Naked Triples Sudoku technique — three cells sharing three candidates in the same row to eliminate possibilities
Strategy

Naked Triples in Sudoku: How to Find & Use Them (With Examples)

Master the Naked Triples technique — an intermediate strategy that uses three cells and three candidates to eliminate possibilities from your Sudoku grid.

April 14, 2026

Hidden Triples Sudoku technique — three candidates confined to three cells in Box 1, with extra candidates marked for elimination
Strategy

Hidden Triples in Sudoku: How to Find & Use Them (With Examples)

Master the Hidden Triples technique — an intermediate strategy that finds three candidates restricted to three cells and strips away the extras.

April 14, 2026

Hidden Singles Sudoku technique — a single candidate highlighted in green in a cell within Box 1, with other candidates marked for elimination
Strategy

Hidden Singles in Sudoku: How to Find & Use Them (With Examples)

Master the Hidden Singles technique — the most fundamental Sudoku strategy that finds a candidate appearing in only one cell of a row, column, or box.

April 14, 2026

Naked Singles Sudoku technique — cell R1C8 highlighted in green with only one remaining candidate (7)
Strategy

Naked Singles in Sudoku: How to Find & Use Them (With Examples)

Master the Naked Singles technique — the simplest Sudoku strategy where a cell has only one candidate remaining, making it the easiest digit to place.

April 13, 2026

XYZ-Wing Sudoku technique — pivot cell R1C3 highlighted in blue with {1,5,6}, wing cells in green, elimination cells in red
Strategy

XYZ-Wing in Sudoku: How to Find & Use This Advanced Technique (With Examples)

Master the XYZ-Wing technique — an advanced Sudoku strategy that extends the XY-Wing with a three-candidate pivot to eliminate candidates from cells that see all three.

April 13, 2026

W-Wing Sudoku technique — bi-value cells R3C2 and R8C1 highlighted in blue with {3,7}, strong link cells in green, elimination cells in red
Strategy

W-Wing in Sudoku: How to Find & Use This Advanced Technique (With Examples)

Master the W-Wing technique — an advanced chain-based strategy that connects two bi-value cells through a strong link to eliminate candidates at a distance.

April 13, 2026

Skyscraper technique on digit 4 — base cells R1C3 and R7C3 in green (Column 3), top cells R1C5 and R7C6 in blue, elimination targets R2C6, R3C6, R9C5 in red
Strategy

Skyscraper Technique in Sudoku: How to Find & Use This Elimination Pattern (With Examples)

Master the Skyscraper technique — a single-digit elimination pattern that uses two conjugate pairs sharing one base endpoint to remove candidates from distant cells.

April 13, 2026

Simple Colouring on digit 6 — Color A cells R4C6 and R5C7 in blue, Color B cells R4C7, R5C5, R8C6 in green, elimination targets R1C7, R3C7, R7C7, R8C7 in red
Strategy

Simple Colouring in Sudoku: How to Find & Use This Chain-Based Elimination Technique (With Examples)

Master Simple Colouring (Singles Chains) — build alternating colour chains along conjugate pairs for a single digit to eliminate candidates from cells that see both colours.

April 14, 2026

Unique Rectangle Type 1 on digits 5 and 7 — floor cells R7C5, R7C7, R9C7 highlighted green with candidates {5,7}, roof cell R9C5 highlighted red with candidates {1,5,7}, green lines connecting the rectangle corners
Strategy

Unique Rectangles in Sudoku: How to Find & Use This Deadly-Pattern Elimination Technique (With Examples)

Master Unique Rectangles — use uniqueness reasoning to spot deadly patterns and eliminate candidates from the roof cell in four easy steps.

April 14, 2026

Locked Candidates (Pointing) on digit 5 in Box 6 — R6C7 and R6C9 highlighted green showing the locked pair, R6C4 and R6C6 highlighted red showing eliminations
Strategy

Locked Candidates in Sudoku: How to Use Pointing & Claiming to Eliminate Candidates (With Examples)

Master the Locked Candidates technique — use box–line interactions to eliminate candidates with Pointing (Type 1) and Claiming (Type 2).

April 14, 2026

ALS-XZ technique — ALS A (green) in Row 1, ALS B (blue) in Row 2, connected by RCC digit 8 through Box 1, candidate 9 eliminated from R1C4, R1C5, R1C6 (red)
Strategy

Almost Locked Sets (ALS) in Sudoku: The ALS-XZ Rule Explained (With Examples)

Master the ALS-XZ technique — use two Almost Locked Sets connected by a Restricted Common Candidate to eliminate candidates like an expert.

April 16, 2026

3D Medusa technique — chain cells R1C2, R3C2, R1C6, R3C6 with Color A (blue) and Color B (green) for digits 5 and 7, arrows showing conjugate links, elimination cells in red
Strategy

3D Medusa in Sudoku: Multi-Digit Colouring Explained (With Examples)

Master 3D Medusa — extend Simple Colouring across multiple digits via bivalue cells and conjugate pairs for powerful eliminations.

April 16, 2026

Sue de Coq technique — intersection cells R6C1, R6C2, R6C3 highlighted in green, Line ALS R6C5 and Box ALS R5C3 in blue, elimination targets in red
Strategy

Sue de Coq in Sudoku: Two-Sector Disjoint Subsets Explained (With Examples)

Master Sue de Coq — use Almost Locked Sets at the intersection of a line and box to eliminate candidates from both sectors simultaneously.

April 16, 2026

Remote Pairs chain R2C1–R2C6–R7C6–R7C9 with {4,9} — Color A cells in blue, Color B cells in green, elimination targets in red, green arrows showing chain links
Strategy

Remote Pairs in Sudoku: Chain Bivalue Cells to Eliminate Candidates (With Examples)

Master Remote Pairs — chain bivalue cells sharing the same two candidates across connected houses and eliminate both digits from any cell that sees both ends of the alternating chain.

April 17, 2026

Finned X-Wing on digit 7 — X-Wing corners R3C2, R3C7, R8C2, R8C7 in blue, fin cell R8C1 in green, elimination targets R7C2 and R9C2 in red
Strategy

Finned X-Wing in Sudoku: How the Extra Fin Restricts Eliminations (With Examples)

Master the Finned X-Wing — find an almost-perfect X-Wing, locate the fin cell that breaks the pattern, and eliminate the target digit from cells that see both the fin and the X-Wing column.

April 17, 2026

Finned Swordfish on digit 5 — six Swordfish pattern cells in blue, fin cell R8C2 in green, elimination targets R7C1 and R9C1 in red
Strategy

Finned Swordfish in Sudoku: How to Find and Apply This Advanced Fish Technique

Master the Finned Swordfish — spot a near-perfect Swordfish pattern, identify the fin cell that breaks it, and eliminate the target digit from cells that see both the fin and the Swordfish column.

April 17, 2026

Sudoku vs chess comparison showing a sudoku grid beside a chessboard
Comparison

Sudoku vs Chess: Which Is Better for Your Brain?

Compare sudoku and chess for logic, memory, focus, mood, learning curve, and everyday brain training.

April 29, 2026

History of Sudoku: Origins, Timeline and Global Rise
History

History of Sudoku: Origins, Timeline and Global Rise

Trace Sudoku from Latin squares and Number Place to Nikoli, Wayne Gould, global newspapers, apps, variants, and modern online play.

April 29, 2026

New York Times Sudoku Alternatives guide with several online sudoku grids and variants
Comparison

New York Times Sudoku Alternatives

A positive comparison of NYT Sudoku alternatives, with our free variants, difficulty levels, 17-clue puzzles, and hardest Sudoku picks first.

May 9, 2026