First time I’ve seen the recommendation to only pencil mark in when the house can only contain a number with one of 2 squares. Simplifies your marking so much and you can make so many inferences from those without needing to clog your puzzle with marks
I really love the penciling of 2 squares. There are a few situations where I will do it for 3 (for example, number is missing from 3 squares and they form a triangle 2-3-2). There are harder puzzles that do require you to do complete markings, look up the Swordfish technique for example.
Yes, the technique is full of potential. But it will require me to UN-learn the technique that I have developed whereby I only pencil in numbers into a square when they are the full set of numbers that can go in that square. I can solve Easy, Medium, and Hard puzzles almost 100% of the time with my technique, but the Expert level usually leaves me having to guess once or twice. I'll practice this technique and see if it can lift me to the next level.
It's nice to know that I figured out all these little tricks on my own over the years. 😀 The only thing that takes me a little longer is the erasure of actual pencil marks. 😎
regarding pencil marks... ... I tend to just put a dot in the square corresponding with the possible number required that matches where it would be, as in the square being numbered 1 to 9 top left to bottom right. So a dot in the very top left of the box would be a 1 a dot in the centre would be a 5 and a dot below would be an 8 and to the right a 9. Three rows of three=1 to 9. I hope I'm making sense.
Same same .. then for the definite pairs that he numbers in the middle, I instead, just draw a faint line between the 2 which cancels out all other pencil marks and has precedence. In addition to that, I start with the 1"s and work through to the 9's completing all possible pairs as I go, then repeat. By this time all of the simple ones are solved, then you know you haven't missed any. Sometimes it needs a 3rd and a 4th time
I do mine with a pen. It gets a little messy without being able to erase so I tend to circle the value that is correct when I resolve, 2x2s and 3x3s. I try to be very neat with the pen and only start putting notes in when I get the 2x2s all set up. For the notes (any cells bigger than 2x2), I put them in order 123 at top, 456 in the middle, and 789 at the bottom of the box. Cross out when resolved and circle the final answer.
I do use the dot system as a last resort. If I'm on paper, I prefer to mark down outside the grid what numbers do columns and row miss, I find it faster. If I can't crack it like that, then I'll start putting dots in, but it happens rarely.
I still havent figured out the trick the title refers to (due to a lack of timestamp). All I see (though I skimmed) is regular logic such as "because we have a number here, the number cant be here". Nothing along the lines of tricks like finned x-wings or sashimis, or unique rectangles. Am I wrong to figure that the word "trick" refers to stuff that arent just a rephrasing of the rules (like he figured 3 cells must be any of 3 numbers, so the other two in same row can't be those (which is just rephrasing of how rules say you cant have duplicates on a row))? Or is the trick the placement of the notes, as he mentioned at 3:00 that outer marks are for what a number may be, and center marks are when he is sure it "can only be" (hidden pairs vs naked pairs?)?
@@adler5653 But that isn't a trick in any sense of the word. It is _literally_ saying "because those rows has a seven, they can't have another". Which is one of sudoku's rules, not a trick.
I followed your logic so easily. Thanks for going slow enough to explain and fast enough to not get boring. That was excellent. I am on my way to getting better at these!
This channel was randomly recommended to me by TH-cam a couple months ago, and just by the pencil marking method I have upped my game from suffering doing medium diff sudokus to finishing hard and very hard ones with relative ease... Thanks!
Because of this channel, I started playing Sudoku exactly 3 weeks ago. Here is my stats over time: [day 1] Easy: 9:00. Medium: 41:12. Hard: 48:28. (using multiple hints each game) [now, 3-day average] Easy: < 3:00. Medium: ~13 mins. Hard: ~21 mins. (without any hints) NYT doesn't tell you the reason behind hints, so I screenshotted every hint that I didn't understand, and quizzed myself on them every few days. On top of that, watching this channel religiously has been monumental as well. I usually pick a video and do the problem set until I slow down or get stuck, then compare my logic to the video to see how Simon and Mark got "unstuck". Usually it's by looking at the whole map and refocusing somewhere else, but finding that "somewhere else" was the hardest part honestly. Overtime I just picked up their thought process. Also learnt quite a few english vocabs along the way which is appreciated! (English is my third language, and learning it this way is so much more fun than dictionaries haha). Thank you for sharing your wonderful channel with the world!
For some reason the TH-cam algorithm put this in my feed today... amazing to see how far the channel has come in just three years, but also that this particular video has >2m views! And even though this puzzle is a pale shade of some of today's logic monsters, it's still as compelling and calming as ever to watch Simon solve! :)
That was excellent. And the pace wasn't too fast (at least most of the time) for a weak-ish sudoko solver like me. I see a number of comments here to the effect that you missed filling in some numbers sooner, but it seems to me that it's simply a question of where your focus is at any given moment. The main thing is that you get them all in the end, and I thought you did it amazingly quickly.
Jim Kyle If you have a pair of two digits in a box, and you fill in one of the cells, then your focus at that moment should be the box, and the respective column and row. There is no reason your focus should suddenly leave that box, row, and column, and jump to an entirely unrelated part of the grid. It's just messy and it overcomplicates the solving process. And if your video is meant to be educational and not just for entertainment, then you're supposed to teach the lesson as efficiently and cleanly as possible. I think it's completely valid to criticize the fact that he isn't being careful with how he goes about solving these puzzles, and that in turn, it makes it harder for learning viewers to understand the lesson. It's as my parents taught me: do your best, or don't do it.
I have found it natural that when I find the number that fits the square, I check for both other places that the number can go, but if I have only one square remaining in a box, a row, or column, then I fill those in as they open up the 'world' so to speak. I realize that you wrote this a year ago so might might not see this, unless you just want to do a simple puzzle to relax, I would suggest that you work a puzzle that you think might be harder that usual for you. As you do it, you will get better and faster at the simpler puzzles. On my MS version after getting used to doing them with a computer, I started doing the expert level and now I do the grandmaster puzzles. I found when I do the daily challenges that I can whip right through most of them as they don't go up that hard. I spend some time daily doing Sudoku as I am 65 and want to keep my brain sharper and to help ward off dementia. :)
When I was kid I used to do these markings on the harder sudokus, drives me crazy to see such a nice software so no messy markings all over the paper. : D
I'm self taught on Sudoku after seeing the puzzles my late Dad used to do which intrigued me. Sometimes I get careless and input a double mostly because I'm lazy and don't use a pencil with an eraser and attempt to do it mental. I'm going to buy some mini rubber tip pencil tomorrow and do them properly. Thanks for this.
To all of you who chimed in here at the comments section to say something like: "This was way too easy! I solved it in my sleep - and not even during my REM cycle!" (...or something similar); may I ask what your motivation might have been to watch a tutorial so clearly beneath your superior capabilities? Surely your time spent here with us simpletons and away from the DIY particle accelerator lab you are building in your garage is not worth your efforts? I'm quite sure you modern-day gods of thought have more lofty humanatarian pursuits than those involving those of my ilk. As you know, belittlement purely for its own sake is obviously beneath you and a rather pedestrian pasttime, is it not? Excellent. I'm so glad we agree. So, leave us now to our sad pathetic existence and our endless, pointless scratchings and scrabblings in the mud. Think no more of our lot in life. We are just grateful and humbled by your presence - however fleeting. Go now! You must harness your superior cerebral gifts lest they be squandered one moment more on us - the simple, the undeserving, the Great Unwashed. May God bless you and your beautiful brain.
Just as I'm sure you have better things to do than whine about mindless zealots with superiority complexes. Your disdain falls on deaf ears and was every bit as juvenile and unnecessary as the musings of those you seek to shame. .
Took me 23 minutes... pleased with that. First time using your solver too and it was great to use. The app i normally use deletes my obsolete pencil marks for me when I enter a value which I've always felt is almost cheating. I like that the app makes me do that myself. It made me realise why minimalist pencil marking is important as I had a lot to remove at times.
I copied it down on a piece of gridded paper and tried it first. It took me some time, but I solved it! Now I am watching the video. You are explaining it really well.
I solved this before watching your video just to prove I could, but your method of corner-marking only numbers that can only go in two squares is faster than my time. I'll try it that way next time. Thank you!
Yes I often use more that 2 number markings. I was thinking the same, maybe limiting to only 2 different numbers is better? These hard puzzles are relatively easy. Have u tried expert puzzles? I'm trying to find expert puzzles and advanced sudoku solving techniques videos.
Perfect! Thank you. It makes such a wonderful change to have someone speak clearly and intelligently (sorry, but I'm a Brit and I appreciate both the tempo and the accent...) and, of course, the overpowering logic laid out so clearly. As good as a good movie - oh, and I'm a techie, too!
The alternative logic for reaching that 2 in the 8th column (starting around 6:40) is after you've already eliminated it from the 9th row, you can see direct pre-written 2s eliminating it from every other position in the column. So while the logic you describe is valid, and I certainly use it a lot, there's often an easier way that we miss.
Another alternative can be seen at 12:30. There is also a pair 17 in the first column of the first sector, this allows you to remove both options (17) from the cell that is just to the right of the 2 in the first sector, so that only the 4 option would remain in that cell. In case you didn't understand: There can't be 2 options forming a perfect quadrilateral. The pair 17 is in 3 vertices of this imaginary quadrilateral, so neither 1 nor 7 can be in the last vertex. Otra alternativa se puede ver en el minuto 12:30. Hay también un par 17 en la primera columna del primer sector , esto permite eliminar ambas opciones (17) de la celda que está justo a la derecha del 2 en el primer sector, por lo que solo quedaría la opción del 4 en esa celda. Por si no se entendió: No puede haber 2 opciones formando un cuadrilátero perfecto. El par 17 está en 3 vértices de este cuadrilátero imaginario, así que en el último vértice no pueden estar ni el 1 ni el 7.
That lonely pencilmarked 6 was enough to drive my ocd absolutely crazy. Loved the video, though. The x-wing pattern has now been rammed into my consciousness really good. As has your pencilmark logic. I was trying to copy it from memory after seeing one video, but it turned into pencilmarking every single value that any of the cells could have, which made the sudoku a paint-by-numbers puzzle :) I have developed a love for sudoku all of a sudden, while I came here for the cryptic puzzles. The sandwiched sudoku app is so great! Keep the content coming ;)
I'm not the only one noticing that 6 :'v I just thpight he'd bang it out right there and then given that he'd just done the chain of the other 6 and 2 cells Edit: He came back to it and solved himself a nice 5, hooray :v
An alternative can be seen at 12:30. There is also a pair 17 in the first column of the first sector, this allows you to remove both options (17) from the cell that is just to the right of the 2 in the first sector, so that only the 4 option would remain in that cell. In case you didn't understand: There can't be 2 options forming a perfect quadrilateral. The pair 17 is in 3 vertices of this imaginary quadrilateral, so neither 1 nor 7 can be in the last vertex. Una alternativa se puede ver en el minuto 12:30. Hay también un par 17 en la primera columna del primer sector , esto permite eliminar ambas opciones (17) de la celda que está justo a la derecha del 2 en el primer sector, por lo que solo quedaría la opción del 4 en esa celda. Por si no se entendió: No puede haber 2 opciones formando un cuadrilátero perfecto. El par 17 está en 3 vértices de este cuadrilátero imaginario, así que en el último vértice no pueden estar ni el 1 ni el 7.
I was going to point out the same thing - it would have "exploded" the puzzle sooner. But based on how seldom this trick is needed for published sudoku, I wonder how many designers recognize it as a valid trick that can be used by solvers. Which is surprising, because knowledge of it is needed for the design of a valid puzzle. This might be easiest to see from the finished grid, at 17:15. A designer will start from such a finished grid, and remove numbers that leave the puzzle solvable. Look at the positions of the 3 and the 4 in top-right and bottom-right boxes. When deciding which numbers can be removed, and still have only one valid solution, the designer must leave at least one of these four numbers in. (In this case, both were left in the top-tight box.) Otherwise, the solver can find two solutions by reversing the 3's and 4's. But it is always something I look for when I discover a fixed-pair in either one column or one row of a box. And the trick can even be extended in two ways: First, at 15:23, a fixed-pair of "14" was discovered in the center column of the bottom-right box. But it is completes a quadrilateral with a "48" pair in the bottom-left box. This means that there can't be a "18" pair in a similar quadrilateral. (In this case, a 6 already prevents it.) Second, you can't have three complete rows (or columns), with the same filled-in numbers, in three boxes along a column (or row).
Niceeeeee. I'm still a Novice with Sudoku but I just purchased a Hard to Extreme level book and I've been watching your videos and getting some tips and tricks here and there and I'm getting really good. Thanks dude!!
I like to start methodically with filling in all one's possible in all boxes and all rows, then find all 2's, then 3's etc, also pencilling in the 2-square possibilities for each number as I go. Then I try to complete any nearly-filled row or box. Then check all 1's again, 2's etc.
I literally fell in love how you taught the tricks. It's actually really hard to teach me usually but i amazingly learned what have you taught in this video. Hope you come back to make more videos! ♥
This was really nice. I liked the process you started @ 2:00; the 2-3-6 in the upper left box and the blank row....which produced the locked 2-6 pair in row 3. And then you came at the X-wings all over the puzzle in a way that...clarified how it's seen and then used. Sometimes you just need something you already know about explained in a slightly different way to see it. Thanks again!
I've been doing sudoku for years and somehow never spotted the "x-wing" trick. I think my times are about to improve. also I'm totally calling it "x-wing"
You are a great teacher. Thank you for your patience and the respect you show to much more moderate players. Of course, you could polish off this sudoku in a fraction of the time this video clip took but that was not your purpose. Thank you.
I've been doing the Nikoli Expert book for the last few weeks and haven't had any problems. I was easily able to follow along with this video but didn't learn any "tricks" I didn't already know. Great video though for those starting out. It's cool I can kind of seem my progress as an "expert" puzzle solver. Thanks.
You made me start learning sudoku so I can hopefully by the end of this year or June next year I can get to your level of understanding in puzzles. Took me 13:00min to solve my first easy classic sudoku with no knowledge. Let’s go! Thanks for the videos :)
It took me 25 minutes roughly to solve an easily level Sudoku puzzle and now I can do Easy level in roughly 10 minutes, no mistakes. I did a Medium and that took around 17 minutes.
Once you get better you will be able to do expert puzzles in 5. I do expert on iPad in that time. The iPad version of the game kids helps you. When you click on a number like 1 all the ones highlight. Makes it easier and faster to see other things. Good luck. It’s a great game. Play chess? Find me on chess.com. Greekjanus
There's a better way to make pencil markings: Put a dot in a the upper left corner of a square for 1, middle top for 2, etc., 'til bottom right corner for 9. easier, less messy than suggested system. A stranger showed me this method a few years ago.
i don't think my brain would register those as easily. When I write in the actual number, I can stare at the center of the puzzle and my mind instantly sees all the 3's Ive marked. I don't think that would work with simple dots. With dots, I would have to look a the square itself for it to register as a 3.
WOW. I started a full immersion oh your videos 2 days ago. I tried the first to day didn't go very well. I tried this one as my second one and I did it! I will not tell how long it took, LOL but the result is awesome! Thanks so much for teaching so well!
I haven’t done sudokus in years but found this channel the other day and kept watching because I found your voice so soothing. This was the first sudoku I tried doing myself, I got a little stuck at the beginning and then watched the video until 07:00 and were then able to solve the whole thing by myself. Felt so good! And I love your software, will probably buy the app later. Thank you for all your work!
Nice one. I got this puzzle through a completely different method of finding a couple of x-wings then an empty 7 in a middle column and an empty 1 down in the bottom middle box. It's doable without so many fancy tricks but it was a pleasure to see you efficiently solve it without even needing to run through all the basic numbers first
Love the video. Very nice and clear explanations of the logic involved. My biggest takeaway though was your pencil marking method. I am stubborn and usually do that when I am having trouble going further, plus I brute force my way and put every possible number for every square before continuing. Your way is much more efficient and it is nice to know that it is recommended to do the marks as you go along.
Connor Hamilton same. I find that when you pencil mark along the way, it makes the entire puzzle look much clearer. With too many pencil marks, it’s a little overwhelming and it’s hard to focus.
I grew up with a pocket sudoku and always loved it Never learned how to do advanced stuff but followed along and you made it SO obvious I watched to get started, and when I was just stuck Then it clicked and everything unwound! Took me a frickin hour but I solved it with your help then finished your video, yes I appreciate the puzzle unwinding!
Thanks for your very clear video. One trick that I sometimes find useful but have never seen discussed is available at 12.40. You have 17-pair in the middle left square. There are three empty cells in the top left square, including 1 pencilled in two cells of row 2. We immediately know that 7 cannot appear in either of those two cells, because if it did, the solution could never be unique. We could never resolve the two 17 pairs. So can write 7 in the one remaining empty cell. A similar idea is very useful solving chess compositions.
For the NYT, uniqueness may be a safe assumption, since most better algorithm generators will require a unique solution, but for a random Sudoku or for a tutorial where people will apply the techniques elsewhere, it doesn't really make sense to teach since it won't always hold.
Ohhhhhhhhh I’ve seen so many videos explaining sudoku techniques while never understanding it, however, watching these videos allow me to learn effortlessly
I am fairly new to sudoku - I’ve been doing the NYT easy puzzles over the past month. As an engineer I was wracking my brains looking at some of the much more complicated techniques and this beats them all. Thank you for clearing up that the identified pairs are in squares of 9 blocks only, not columns or rows. Now I’m going to practice.
I did figure out, on my own, the trick of putting potential numbers in the corners when I narrowed down the possibilities to two squares per 9 square block. Then I would attack horizontal or vertical lines that were almost full. I can do medium difficulty sudoku puzzles, but the hard ones are still over my head.
I can do most difficult ones over 2 hours. Occasionally there is one I outright can't solve. That's happening less often as I'm learning more about the logic behind it
@@Stettafire Is there a universal system for telling which puzzle is easy, medium and hard? I think that's completely subjective. For example, I have an app with 5 levels, and hard (4/5) is not that hard at all, leaving extreme (5/5) to be really hard.
Thank you thank you! You are one of the very few to teach what I call the streamed line possibility matrix. I learned years ago that the full possibility matrix causes FAR MORE PROBLEMS THAN IT SOLVES. But all those sudoku authors develop strategy after strategy to solve the problems caused by the damned full possibility matrix (FPM) My sister is a mathematician but slavishly held onto the FPM. For months I kept telling her “THERES AN EASIER AND BETTER WAY TO SOLVE SUDOKU” But she wouldn’t listen. Finally I challenged her to print two identical level 4 sudoku puzzles and race see who could finish first. I even let her say when to say go! 7 minutes and 10 seconds later I shouted DONE! Her reaction was YOU CANT BE DONE “ I said “Check my work.” I solve the most difficult puzzles using only three strategies while sudoku books teach 50+ different strategies
AT 14:37 I INSTANTLY KNEW WHERE TO PUT THE OTHER FIVES AND I GOT SO MAD WHEN HE DIDNT PUT THEM IN. I WAS GENUINELY YELLING AT MY COMPUTER. I CHEERED WHEN HE FINALLY PUT THEM IN.
Wow….i learned a lot…….thanks soo much…just started a month ago…retired teacher..and it is a good enjoying brain workout…thanks so much…will watch this again…
Playing Sudoku, I came up with tactics that helped me win even the hardest of Sudokus: 1. Triple Threat - if there are three numbers missing in a row, column, or box, I'd note those three missing numbers in those grids, and eventually the numbers gradually started to show itself. 2. The Lone Number - it's hard to explain this but a number that is noted alone in a row and column even without two numbers (there is only a single 2 in a row or column) it actually is that number. These are the two tactics I came up or I discovered when playing Sudoku.
Great puzzle by the NYT. Lots of hidden pairs, triples, and x wing logic buried beneath. Very well crafted, even feels almost handmade at times. 9:10 on my solve this go around, I feel I should have been able to do better, but maybe one day I'll get there.
I don't watch videos as often as I used to, but I continue to subscribe and support you on patreon. I check in with both of you occasionally, and I continue to enjoy sudoku. Thanks, and keep up the great work.
Yeah ... me too; total newbie and now - this much is clear (*winks*) can't say it's embedded in my brain; but it's nicer to follow the work out, knowing this next step beyond "try to number 1-9 in the box and in the lines" This is a great site.
That was awesome!! Awesome pace for a first-time viewer of the page. I usually can run through one of these in about 25-30 minutes doing one in the paper, but doing another online with this technique, especially the corner/center labeling scheme, allowed me to complete a NYT Hard puzzle in
Up to 14:06 all was familiar to me. I think I never thought of putting the combination 4 9 there. The trick starting at 4:26 is very frequent in this puzzle. I have done hundreds of sudokus (level 7) and I have never seen so many cases of that situation in one puzzle.
Excellent video. I like how you slowed things down and explained the logic. I can generally follow the logic in your other videos but sometimes I have to pause the video to work it out. Thanks for your detailed explanation here.
I've done sudoku before. I completely understand it as you go along. I'm answering with you, I understand this 100%. Now I have to do it alone and have no fucking clue what's happening. That's college math in a nutshell.
I don't understand this 'concepts and tricks thing', be systematic, be logical , few sudokus take more than 10 minutes. This ain't maths, it's logic and if you do logic then the world is your lobster.
I would try to be methodical and run through each digit in each of the 9 boxes including the multiple possibilities in pencil. Sometimes a 2nd run through gets new fills, from prev fills. By 3:15 you could have a 2 in bottom row - lower left box forcing a 2 in mid row of far right bottom
I did 20:54 because I messed up something somewhere and had to restart, but I'm very happy. These videos really help. I also got their app and it has tons of very challenging ones :D
Is it better to be faster? Not necessarily because it’s easier to trip up. Logic dictates the speed. But what slows me down is wondering if I left the oven on etc. This was great at showing the patterns hidden within the puzzle.
Something I noticed that you almost touched on, the 7 in row 1, column 3 could have been put in a lot sooner. With the 1's paired in the 1 and 3 columns, when you placed the 7 in the 6th row and married with the 1, it forces the 7 into the only open space that isn't occupied by the 1's, as it would lead to a non-unique puzzle if correct. it bothered me the entire time since you placed the 7s there around 12:25
I really like the way he explains to people who don't know this game. (I did it with a screen shot and Paint in less than 13 mn but, and here is the difference, whithout any stress of camera.)
My first successful solve of any of the challenging Sudoku puzzles presented on this channel. I finally uncovered a logical error that I had been continually making and once I stopped making it SUCCESS! It took me an hour, though. I'm slow and methodical to the point of just plodding along. I put on some music and try to enjoy it.
You'll get faster. The key is the discoveries which occur as you work more and more. I love how you were able to uncover the logical error to make a breakthrough.
I have a trick I invented that is handy at 12:30. Probably known to pros but I think it's uncommon and interesting. Works with classical sudokus. Using chessboard notation (a1 for lower left corner), we now have 1+7 pair occupying a4 and c4. But we also have 1 in either a8 or c8. So, I can tell right away that there is no 7 on a8 nor c8. Why? Because a good puzzle always has a condition that the solution is unique. And if you had 1+7 pairs in both a4, c4 and a8, c8, then under classical sudoku rules you would have no way to distinguish between 1 on a4 and c8, 7 on a8 and c4, and vice versa. But this means there are actually at least two solutions: whichever numbers we have elsewhere, a4:1, c8:1, a8:7, c4:7 gives us one solution and swapping 7s with 1s gives us another. So 7 on a8 or c8 would violate the "unique solution" condition. Therefore 7 actually must be on c9.
First time I’ve seen the recommendation to only pencil mark in when the house can only contain a number with one of 2 squares. Simplifies your marking so much and you can make so many inferences from those without needing to clog your puzzle with marks
Yes!!! My main takeaway from this video is to be more methodical in my penciling.
Only penciling confirmed pairs and no other penciling makes it less confusing.
I really love the penciling of 2 squares. There are a few situations where I will do it for 3 (for example, number is missing from 3 squares and they form a triangle 2-3-2).
There are harder puzzles that do require you to do complete markings, look up the Swordfish technique for example.
I always find my self pencil marking almost everything, then regretting it once I need to tidy up... Now I'll try to do his advice and see how I do...
Yes, the technique is full of potential. But it will require me to UN-learn the technique that I have developed whereby I only pencil in numbers into a square when they are the full set of numbers that can go in that square. I can solve Easy, Medium, and Hard puzzles almost 100% of the time with my technique, but the Expert level usually leaves me having to guess once or twice. I'll practice this technique and see if it can lift me to the next level.
Who was shouting at the monitor?
"You forgot the six."
:-)
and you forgot the 1,9 and the 4 and....Simon is just a sloppy pencil marker and an easily distracted solver.
I was shouting 7's
😁
Made this harder than need be
IKR. Explains how to pencil mark etc and then just doesn't notice the 6.
It's nice to know that I figured out all these little tricks on my own over the years. 😀 The only thing that takes me a little longer is the erasure of actual pencil marks. 😎
I don’t erase them , just draw a line thru the false entries
Me, too!
I don't even usually make pencil marks. I use a men. No marks needed.
Me, too. Except that I use a pen and and mark out changes.
I do them in pen.
regarding pencil marks...
... I tend to just put a dot in the square corresponding with the possible number required that matches where it would be, as in the square being numbered 1 to 9 top left to bottom right. So a dot in the very top left of the box would be a 1 a dot in the centre would be a 5 and a dot below would be an 8 and to the right a 9. Three rows of three=1 to 9. I hope I'm making sense.
That's clever. My handwriting is pure gibberish, so i might start doing it this way.
I do it that way too
Same same .. then for the definite pairs that he numbers in the middle, I instead, just draw a faint line between the 2 which cancels out all other pencil marks and has precedence. In addition to that, I start with the 1"s and work through to the 9's completing all possible pairs as I go, then repeat. By this time all of the simple ones are solved, then you know you haven't missed any. Sometimes it needs a 3rd and a 4th time
I do mine with a pen. It gets a little messy without being able to erase so I tend to circle the value that is correct when I resolve, 2x2s and 3x3s. I try to be very neat with the pen and only start putting notes in when I get the 2x2s all set up. For the notes (any cells bigger than 2x2), I put them in order 123 at top, 456 in the middle, and 789 at the bottom of the box. Cross out when resolved and circle the final answer.
I do use the dot system as a last resort. If I'm on paper, I prefer to mark down outside the grid what numbers do columns and row miss, I find it faster. If I can't crack it like that, then I'll start putting dots in, but it happens rarely.
Am i the only one who realized that by watching this video that i am apparently a sudoku master?
All expert solver may know it but not everyone who knows it is an expert
I still havent figured out the trick the title refers to (due to a lack of timestamp). All I see (though I skimmed) is regular logic such as "because we have a number here, the number cant be here". Nothing along the lines of tricks like finned x-wings or sashimis, or unique rectangles. Am I wrong to figure that the word "trick" refers to stuff that arent just a rephrasing of the rules (like he figured 3 cells must be any of 3 numbers, so the other two in same row can't be those (which is just rephrasing of how rules say you cant have duplicates on a row))?
Or is the trick the placement of the notes, as he mentioned at 3:00 that outer marks are for what a number may be, and center marks are when he is sure it "can only be" (hidden pairs vs naked pairs?)?
@@feha92
Yes.
@@feha92 around 4:40 but he mentions it a few times throughout the video. at least that would be the 'trick' he explained the most
@@adler5653 But that isn't a trick in any sense of the word. It is _literally_ saying "because those rows has a seven, they can't have another". Which is one of sudoku's rules, not a trick.
I followed your logic so easily. Thanks for going slow enough to explain and fast enough to not get boring. That was excellent. I am on my way to getting better at these!
Literally the best Sudoku tips I've seen. Clear, concise, and not too fast. The x pattern is gold. So glad I found this video!
This channel was randomly recommended to me by TH-cam a couple months ago, and just by the pencil marking method I have upped my game from suffering doing medium diff sudokus to finishing hard and very hard ones with relative ease...
Thanks!
These videos have been popping up way too often in my recommended feed and I finally gave in and clicked on one of them... I was not disappointed
Because of this channel, I started playing Sudoku exactly 3 weeks ago. Here is my stats over time:
[day 1] Easy: 9:00. Medium: 41:12. Hard: 48:28. (using multiple hints each game)
[now, 3-day average] Easy: < 3:00. Medium: ~13 mins. Hard: ~21 mins. (without any hints)
NYT doesn't tell you the reason behind hints, so I screenshotted every hint that I didn't understand, and quizzed myself on them every few days. On top of that, watching this channel religiously has been monumental as well. I usually pick a video and do the problem set until I slow down or get stuck, then compare my logic to the video to see how Simon and Mark got "unstuck". Usually it's by looking at the whole map and refocusing somewhere else, but finding that "somewhere else" was the hardest part honestly. Overtime I just picked up their thought process. Also learnt quite a few english vocabs along the way which is appreciated! (English is my third language, and learning it this way is so much more fun than dictionaries haha).
Thank you for sharing your wonderful channel with the world!
For some reason the TH-cam algorithm put this in my feed today... amazing to see how far the channel has come in just three years, but also that this particular video has >2m views! And even though this puzzle is a pale shade of some of today's logic monsters, it's still as compelling and calming as ever to watch Simon solve! :)
That was excellent. And the pace wasn't too fast (at least most of the time) for a weak-ish sudoko solver like me.
I see a number of comments here to the effect that you missed filling in some numbers sooner, but it seems to me that it's simply a question of where your focus is at any given moment. The main thing is that you get them all in the end, and I thought you did it amazingly quickly.
Jim Kyle If you have a pair of two digits in a box, and you fill in one of the cells, then your focus at that moment should be the box, and the respective column and row. There is no reason your focus should suddenly leave that box, row, and column, and jump to an entirely unrelated part of the grid. It's just messy and it overcomplicates the solving process. And if your video is meant to be educational and not just for entertainment, then you're supposed to teach the lesson as efficiently and cleanly as possible. I think it's completely valid to criticize the fact that he isn't being careful with how he goes about solving these puzzles, and that in turn, it makes it harder for learning viewers to understand the lesson. It's as my parents taught me: do your best, or don't do it.
cant understand and your dialogue is over the puzzle very iratating
GO TO SUB TITLES YOU CAN PAUSE THEM TO READ AND FOLLOW THE MOVES SO EASY YEE
I have found it natural that when I find the number that fits the square, I check for both other places that the number can go, but if I have only one square remaining in a box, a row, or column, then I fill those in as they open up the 'world' so to speak. I realize that you wrote this a year ago so might might not see this, unless you just want to do a simple puzzle to relax, I would suggest that you work a puzzle that you think might be harder that usual for you. As you do it, you will get better and faster at the simpler puzzles. On my MS version after getting used to doing them with a computer, I started doing the expert level and now I do the grandmaster puzzles. I found when I do the daily challenges that I can whip right through most of them as they don't go up that hard. I spend some time daily doing Sudoku as I am 65 and want to keep my brain sharper and to help ward off dementia. :)
Pop ppl ppl ppl ppl
After binge watching your videos over the past couple of days, I can say that my sudoku skills have improved a lot! Managed to finish this in 18:17 :)
When I was kid I used to do these markings on the harder sudokus, drives me crazy to see such a nice software so no messy markings all over the paper. : D
Great, very clear explanations. Makes a tough sudoku feel quite accessible!
And I love your software, it is so easy to use.
I'm self taught on Sudoku after seeing the puzzles my late Dad used to do which intrigued me. Sometimes I get careless and input a double mostly because I'm lazy and don't use a pencil with an eraser and attempt to do it mental. I'm going to buy some mini rubber tip pencil tomorrow and do them properly. Thanks for this.
To all of you who chimed in here at the comments section to say something like: "This was way too easy! I solved it in my sleep - and not even during my REM cycle!" (...or something similar); may I ask what your motivation might have been to watch a tutorial so clearly beneath your superior capabilities? Surely your time spent here with us simpletons and away from the DIY particle accelerator lab you are building in your garage is not worth your efforts? I'm quite sure you modern-day gods of thought have more lofty humanatarian pursuits than those involving those of my ilk. As you know, belittlement purely for its own sake is obviously beneath you and a rather pedestrian pasttime, is it not? Excellent. I'm so glad we agree. So, leave us now to our sad pathetic existence and our endless, pointless scratchings and scrabblings in the mud. Think no more of our lot in life. We are just grateful and humbled by your presence - however fleeting. Go now! You must harness your superior cerebral gifts lest they be squandered one moment more on us - the simple, the undeserving, the Great Unwashed. May God bless you and your beautiful brain.
i was hoping to see examples of x-wing patterns or swordfish strategies, those are all still beyond me.
Some facts
Just as I'm sure you have better things to do than whine about mindless zealots with superiority complexes. Your disdain falls on deaf ears and was every bit as juvenile and unnecessary as the musings of those you seek to shame. .
I'm not even gonna read that whole thing but go off my guy
@@nunyabizness607100% agree. Sounds like a narcissist trying to get other narcissists to fight with. Some people like confrontation.
"I'm going to step through this reasonably slowly." (Looks at total time of 17 minutes) Dude, that's about half the time it'd take me...
Not if you were explaining the reasoning
Took me 23 minutes... pleased with that. First time using your solver too and it was great to use. The app i normally use deletes my obsolete pencil marks for me when I enter a value which I've always felt is almost cheating. I like that the app makes me do that myself. It made me realise why minimalist pencil marking is important as I had a lot to remove at times.
I copied it down on a piece of gridded paper and tried it first. It took me some time, but I solved it! Now I am watching the video. You are explaining it really well.
I solved this before watching your video just to prove I could, but your method of corner-marking only numbers that can only go in two squares is faster than my time. I'll try it that way next time. Thank you!
Yes I often use more that 2 number markings. I was thinking the same, maybe limiting to only 2 different numbers is better? These hard puzzles are relatively easy. Have u tried expert puzzles? I'm trying to find expert puzzles and advanced sudoku solving techniques videos.
Perfect! Thank you. It makes such a wonderful change to have someone speak clearly and intelligently (sorry, but I'm a Brit and I appreciate both the tempo and the accent...) and, of course, the overpowering logic laid out so clearly. As good as a good movie - oh, and I'm a techie, too!
The alternative logic for reaching that 2 in the 8th column (starting around 6:40) is after you've already eliminated it from the 9th row, you can see direct pre-written 2s eliminating it from every other position in the column. So while the logic you describe is valid, and I certainly use it a lot, there's often an easier way that we miss.
Another alternative can be seen at 12:30. There is also a pair 17 in the first column of the first sector, this allows you to remove both options (17) from the cell that is just to the right of the 2 in the first sector, so that only the 4 option would remain in that cell.
In case you didn't understand: There can't be 2 options forming a perfect quadrilateral. The pair 17 is in 3 vertices of this imaginary quadrilateral, so neither 1 nor 7 can be in the last vertex.
Otra alternativa se puede ver en el minuto 12:30. Hay también un par 17 en la primera columna del primer sector , esto permite eliminar ambas opciones (17) de la celda que está justo a la derecha del 2 en el primer sector, por lo que solo quedaría la opción del 4 en esa celda.
Por si no se entendió: No puede haber 2 opciones formando un cuadrilátero perfecto. El par 17 está en 3 vértices de este cuadrilátero imaginario, así que en el último vértice no pueden estar ni el 1 ni el 7.
That lonely pencilmarked 6 was enough to drive my ocd absolutely crazy. Loved the video, though. The x-wing pattern has now been rammed into my consciousness really good. As has your pencilmark logic. I was trying to copy it from memory after seeing one video, but it turned into pencilmarking every single value that any of the cells could have, which made the sudoku a paint-by-numbers puzzle :) I have developed a love for sudoku all of a sudden, while I came here for the cryptic puzzles. The sandwiched sudoku app is so great! Keep the content coming ;)
I'm not the only one noticing that 6 :'v I just thpight he'd bang it out right there and then given that he'd just done the chain of the other 6 and 2 cells
Edit: He came back to it and solved himself a nice 5, hooray :v
An alternative can be seen at 12:30. There is also a pair 17 in the first column of the first sector, this allows you to remove both options (17) from the cell that is just to the right of the 2 in the first sector, so that only the 4 option would remain in that cell.
In case you didn't understand: There can't be 2 options forming a perfect quadrilateral. The pair 17 is in 3 vertices of this imaginary quadrilateral, so neither 1 nor 7 can be in the last vertex.
Una alternativa se puede ver en el minuto 12:30. Hay también un par 17 en la primera columna del primer sector , esto permite eliminar ambas opciones (17) de la celda que está justo a la derecha del 2 en el primer sector, por lo que solo quedaría la opción del 4 en esa celda.
Por si no se entendió: No puede haber 2 opciones formando un cuadrilátero perfecto. El par 17 está en 3 vértices de este cuadrilátero imaginario, así que en el último vértice no pueden estar ni el 1 ni el 7.
I was going to point out the same thing - it would have "exploded" the puzzle sooner. But based on how seldom this trick is needed for published sudoku, I wonder how many designers recognize it as a valid trick that can be used by solvers.
Which is surprising, because knowledge of it is needed for the design of a valid puzzle. This might be easiest to see from the finished grid, at 17:15. A designer will start from such a finished grid, and remove numbers that leave the puzzle solvable.
Look at the positions of the 3 and the 4 in top-right and bottom-right boxes. When deciding which numbers can be removed, and still have only one valid solution, the designer must leave at least one of these four numbers in. (In this case, both were left in the top-tight box.) Otherwise, the solver can find two solutions by reversing the 3's and 4's.
But it is always something I look for when I discover a fixed-pair in either one column or one row of a box. And the trick can even be extended in two ways: First, at 15:23, a fixed-pair of "14" was discovered in the center column of the bottom-right box. But it is completes a quadrilateral with a "48" pair in the bottom-left box. This means that there can't be a "18" pair in a similar quadrilateral. (In this case, a 6 already prevents it.) Second, you can't have three complete rows (or columns), with the same filled-in numbers, in three boxes along a column (or row).
Niceeeeee. I'm still a Novice with Sudoku but I just purchased a Hard to Extreme level book and I've been watching your videos and getting some tips and tricks here and there and I'm getting really good. Thanks dude!!
I like to start methodically with filling in all one's possible in all boxes and all rows, then find all 2's, then 3's etc, also pencilling in the 2-square possibilities for each number as I go. Then I try to complete any nearly-filled row or box. Then check all 1's again, 2's etc.
I literally fell in love how you taught the tricks. It's actually really hard to teach me usually but i amazingly learned what have you taught in this video. Hope you come back to make more videos! ♥
This was really nice. I liked the process you started @ 2:00; the 2-3-6 in the upper left box and the blank row....which produced the locked 2-6 pair in row 3. And then you came at the X-wings all over the puzzle in a way that...clarified how it's seen and then used. Sometimes you just need something you already know about explained in a slightly different way to see it. Thanks again!
I've been doing sudoku for years and somehow never spotted the "x-wing" trick. I think my times are about to improve. also I'm totally calling it "x-wing"
Now we know what Sean Lock does on his days off!
ROFL!
Oh my god that's what I thought! Sean Lock with Miles Jupps voice.
Too funny. I think Sean would have 1 or 47 more f@*! as he solves it
Hahahahaha love this but Sean Lock wouldve had a lot more swearing
Well... this hits a little harder now. RIP
You are a great teacher. Thank you for your patience and the respect you show to much more moderate players. Of course, you could polish off this sudoku in a fraction of the time this video clip took but that was not your purpose. Thank you.
I've been doing the Nikoli Expert book for the last few weeks and haven't had any problems. I was easily able to follow along with this video but didn't learn any "tricks" I didn't already know. Great video though for those starting out. It's cool I can kind of seem my progress as an "expert" puzzle solver. Thanks.
You made me start learning sudoku so I can hopefully by the end of this year or June next year I can get to your level of understanding in puzzles.
Took me 13:00min to solve my first easy classic sudoku with no knowledge.
Let’s go!
Thanks for the videos :)
It took me 25 minutes roughly to solve an easily level Sudoku puzzle and now I can do Easy level in roughly 10 minutes, no mistakes. I did a Medium and that took around 17 minutes.
Once you get better you will be able to do expert puzzles in 5. I do expert on iPad in that time. The iPad version of the game kids helps you. When you click on a number like 1 all the ones highlight. Makes it easier and faster to see other things. Good luck. It’s a great game. Play chess? Find me on chess.com. Greekjanus
I've started doing sudokus a few days ago
First I needed 20 min for a easy sudoku
Today its under 5 min, its awesome how fast you get better
you doing any better?
How’s it going?
There's a better way to make pencil markings: Put a dot in a the upper left corner of a square for 1, middle top for 2, etc., 'til bottom right corner for 9. easier, less messy than suggested system. A stranger showed me this method a few years ago.
i don't think my brain would register those as easily. When I write in the actual number, I can stare at the center of the puzzle and my mind instantly sees all the 3's Ive marked. I don't think that would work with simple dots. With dots, I would have to look a the square itself for it to register as a 3.
@@Gnomaana takes about a week or two to learn "dots". With the dot system, some patterns become easier to spot.
for some people that just looks like a bunch of dots that don't form clear patterns
WOW.
I started a full immersion oh your videos 2 days ago. I tried the first to day didn't go very well. I tried this one as my second one and I did it!
I will not tell how long it took, LOL but the result is awesome!
Thanks so much for teaching so well!
I haven’t done sudokus in years but found this channel the other day and kept watching because I found your voice so soothing. This was the first sudoku I tried doing myself, I got a little stuck at the beginning and then watched the video until 07:00 and were then able to solve the whole thing by myself. Felt so good! And I love your software, will probably buy the app later. Thank you for all your work!
Nice one. I got this puzzle through a completely different method of finding a couple of x-wings then an empty 7 in a middle column and an empty 1 down in the bottom middle box. It's doable without so many fancy tricks but it was a pleasure to see you efficiently solve it without even needing to run through all the basic numbers first
I 'm self taught , a long time ago !! This video. is very helpful to many people !! Keep up the great work !!!
Love the video. Very nice and clear explanations of the logic involved. My biggest takeaway though was your pencil marking method. I am stubborn and usually do that when I am having trouble going further, plus I brute force my way and put every possible number for every square before continuing. Your way is much more efficient and it is nice to know that it is recommended to do the marks as you go along.
Connor Hamilton same. I find that when you pencil mark along the way, it makes the entire puzzle look much clearer. With too many pencil marks, it’s a little overwhelming and it’s hard to focus.
That six you overlooked in the top right was killing me! Liked the video. I need to get back to sudokus. Your software looks nice to use.
27:05 Pretty proud of myself given I am generally not able to solve the sudokus from this channel.
I did 44:57, but I'm still happy for the same reason :D
@@tiagocarreira99 omg I got almost the same time xD 44:45
This shows how much the channel has developed over three years: watching this feels like being back in kindergarten
i have been self teaching myself sudoku for about 2 weeks and i’m proud to say that i can understand what you’re saying! great video ❤️
I grew up with a pocket sudoku and always loved it
Never learned how to do advanced stuff but followed along and you made it SO obvious
I watched to get started, and when I was just stuck
Then it clicked and everything unwound! Took me a frickin hour but I solved it with your help then finished your video, yes I appreciate the puzzle unwinding!
Thanks for your very clear video. One trick that I sometimes find useful but have never seen discussed is available at 12.40. You have 17-pair in the middle left square. There are three empty cells in the top left square, including 1 pencilled in two cells of row 2. We immediately know that 7 cannot appear in either of those two cells, because if it did, the solution could never be unique. We could never resolve the two 17 pairs. So can write 7 in the one remaining empty cell. A similar idea is very useful solving chess compositions.
For the NYT, uniqueness may be a safe assumption, since most better algorithm generators will require a unique solution, but for a random Sudoku or for a tutorial where people will apply the techniques elsewhere, it doesn't really make sense to teach since it won't always hold.
Ohhhhhhhhh I’ve seen so many videos explaining sudoku techniques while never understanding it, however, watching these videos allow me to learn effortlessly
I watched the video till 7:39, then it took 22:52 to complete this sudoku without help, this method is the best! Thanks! :D
I am fairly new to sudoku - I’ve been doing the NYT easy puzzles over the past month. As an engineer I was wracking my brains looking at some of the much more complicated techniques and this beats them all. Thank you for clearing up that the identified pairs are in squares of 9 blocks only, not columns or rows. Now I’m going to practice.
I did figure out, on my own, the trick of putting potential numbers in the corners when I narrowed down the possibilities to two squares per 9 square block. Then I would attack horizontal or vertical lines that were almost full. I can do medium difficulty sudoku puzzles, but the hard ones are still over my head.
I can do most difficult ones over 2 hours. Occasionally there is one I outright can't solve. That's happening less often as I'm learning more about the logic behind it
@@Stettafire Is there a universal system for telling which puzzle is easy, medium and hard? I think that's completely subjective. For example, I have an app with 5 levels, and hard (4/5) is not that hard at all, leaving extreme (5/5) to be really hard.
Thank you thank you!
You are one of the very few to teach what I call the streamed line possibility matrix.
I learned years ago that the full possibility matrix causes FAR MORE PROBLEMS THAN IT SOLVES.
But all those sudoku authors develop strategy after strategy to solve the problems caused by the damned full possibility matrix (FPM)
My sister is a mathematician but slavishly held onto the FPM. For months I kept telling her “THERES AN EASIER AND BETTER WAY TO SOLVE SUDOKU” But she wouldn’t listen.
Finally I challenged her to print two identical level 4 sudoku puzzles and race see who could finish first. I even let her say when to say go!
7 minutes and 10 seconds later I shouted DONE! Her reaction was YOU CANT BE DONE “ I said “Check my work.”
I solve the most difficult puzzles using only three strategies while sudoku books teach 50+ different strategies
Right right then. You sound like the sorting hat at Hogwarts.
Watching you solve a sudoku is such a joy. I've learned so much from this channel.
AT 14:37 I INSTANTLY KNEW WHERE TO PUT THE OTHER FIVES AND I GOT SO MAD WHEN HE DIDNT PUT THEM IN. I WAS GENUINELY YELLING AT MY COMPUTER. I CHEERED WHEN HE FINALLY PUT THEM IN.
Wow….i learned a lot…….thanks soo much…just started a month ago…retired teacher..and it is a good enjoying brain workout…thanks so much…will watch this again…
Very good. Learned a new trick with the “8”s towards the end. This works well with paper. Thanks.
I've just ascended from filling out answers in pen exclusively to actually having a pencil technique for harder puzzles I couldn't solve. Thank you
I took a shot every time he said "ahhh"
I'm dead of alcohol poisoning now.
Lol Ha ha ha ha good one
Playing Sudoku, I came up with tactics that helped me win even the hardest of Sudokus:
1. Triple Threat - if there are three numbers missing in a row, column, or box, I'd note those three missing numbers in those grids, and eventually the numbers gradually started to show itself.
2. The Lone Number - it's hard to explain this but a number that is noted alone in a row and column even without two numbers (there is only a single 2 in a row or column) it actually is that number.
These are the two tactics I came up or I discovered when playing Sudoku.
Another excellent tutorial, thank you, highlighting the cells in your software helps a lot.
Perfect pace for me. Just getting to where I can keep up. Helps so much when you highlight why certain cells are available. Thanks for your patience.
I thought I was improving my logic skills and becoming more intelligent... realised I have only cloned myself into a poor facsimile of Simon.
This is how I've been working my Sudoku puzzles, love these challenging and fun puzzles.
Great puzzle by the NYT. Lots of hidden pairs, triples, and x wing logic buried beneath. Very well crafted, even feels almost handmade at times. 9:10 on my solve this go around, I feel I should have been able to do better, but maybe one day I'll get there.
I don't watch videos as often as I used to, but I continue to subscribe and support you on patreon. I check in with both of you occasionally, and I continue to enjoy sudoku. Thanks, and keep up the great work.
ahh, now finally the reason for the two different numbering systems is clear to me! thanks for this so much!
Yeah ... me too; total newbie and now - this much is clear (*winks*) can't say it's embedded in my brain; but it's nicer to follow the work out, knowing this next step beyond "try to number 1-9 in the box and in the lines" This is a great site.
Most of my work is paper. I keep the candidates in the “proper” spots but underline showing the importance
That was awesome!! Awesome pace for a first-time viewer of the page. I usually can run through one of these in about 25-30 minutes doing one in the paper, but doing another online with this technique, especially the corner/center labeling scheme, allowed me to complete a NYT Hard puzzle in
Cannot find any Sudoku puzzles with that excellent feature, which means I sometimes get into trouble.
@@castelodeossos3947 yes I’ve noticed recently I tunnel vision too much into searching for it, resulting in wasted time or much easier clues missed 😂
Up to 14:06 all was familiar to me. I think I never thought of putting the combination 4 9 there. The trick starting at 4:26 is very frequent in this puzzle. I have done hundreds of sudokus (level 7) and I have never seen so many cases of that situation in one puzzle.
Excellent video. I like how you slowed things down and explained the logic. I can generally follow the logic in your other videos but sometimes I have to pause the video to work it out. Thanks for your detailed explanation here.
I've done sudoku before. I completely understand it as you go along. I'm answering with you, I understand this 100%.
Now I have to do it alone and have no fucking clue what's happening.
That's college math in a nutshell.
Absolutely brilliant! I stopped playing coz i couldn't figure out what's nx... Now I'm hooked again!
5:58
Me: INDEED, that’s what I was thinking
He's so dim he's off the scale. The way he does it is just so slow and laborious.
Gordon Stainforth lol hes an extremely skilled sudoku player hes just trying to explain everything logically and go slow for beginners
I hoped to learn a trick but I see he toils along just as I do. Which is comforting.
Thanks for clarifying everything in a really nice way,
Do you have a sandwich sudoku puzzle app for android
They have now
I am stuck on this for few hours. I just started with sudoku though. I finally watched this video learned some techniques and logic.
I’m listening along while trying to do my own puzzle. Like, I should know all these concepts and tricks.
I just can’t find them on the board...
You sort of develop a pattern of what to look at and an eye for coincidences. Some quicker than others. You just have to know what to look for.
I don't understand this 'concepts and tricks thing', be systematic, be logical , few sudokus take more than 10 minutes.
This ain't maths, it's logic and if you do logic then the world is your lobster.
Steve Muscato Exactly.
I would try to be methodical and run through each digit in each of the 9 boxes including the multiple possibilities in pencil. Sometimes a 2nd run through gets new fills, from prev fills.
By 3:15 you could have a 2 in bottom row - lower left box forcing a 2 in mid row of far right bottom
9:33 for me
For the first time, I was faster than Simon and I'm so happy about it !
I'm seriously unsure if he legitimately took this long or if he was slowing down for instructional purposes. this felt like a very slow pace for him.
@@RaindropsBleeding Yes, I know
But still, let me be happy and proud about it !
Why it was 4. Pls tell me.
This popped up in youtube recommended for me in 2023. My how the videos have evolved!
It actually helped me a bit, thank you.
12:12 !! months of watching and tons of playing really paid off
I did 20:54 because I messed up something somewhere and had to restart, but I'm very happy. These videos really help. I also got their app and it has tons of very challenging ones :D
Took me 24 minutes! I did it the newbie way but it worked. You guys are geniuses
After missing the "6" I found it difficult to concentrate.
Is it better to be faster? Not necessarily because it’s easier to trip up. Logic dictates the speed. But what slows me down is wondering if I left the oven on etc. This was great at showing the patterns hidden within the puzzle.
Something I noticed that you almost touched on, the 7 in row 1, column 3 could have been put in a lot sooner. With the 1's paired in the 1 and 3 columns, when you placed the 7 in the 6th row and married with the 1, it forces the 7 into the only open space that isn't occupied by the 1's, as it would lead to a non-unique puzzle if correct. it bothered me the entire time since you placed the 7s there around 12:25
When you took care of that right corner box's 6 my anxiety went down lol I knew as soon as you did that the puzzle would quickly resolve itself
Amazing, and thank you. I am new at sudoku. I will be watching this video over and over. You rock!
I really like the way he explains to people who don't know this game. (I did it with a screen shot and Paint in less than 13 mn but, and here is the difference, whithout any stress of camera.)
I do not want to speak for other Expert Solvers, but I solve all my sudoku's out of my head. No pencil markings required.
to do this puzzle AND talk the method at the same time.....pretty awesome.
OMG, the way you are using the corner and center is exactly the way I used it when I first play suduko!!!
Realised im better at suduko than i thought
You explain things really well. You’ve upped my sudoku game with only two videos.
So what was THE TRICK.? 8 x wing? Thank you
best tips video for Sudoku I have ever seen
the solving at this level doesn't seem difficult to me. but the speaking during solving is like craazy hard. wow!
My first successful solve of any of the challenging Sudoku puzzles presented on this channel. I finally uncovered a logical error that I had been continually making and once I stopped making it SUCCESS! It took me an hour, though. I'm slow and methodical to the point of just plodding along. I put on some music and try to enjoy it.
You'll get faster. The key is the discoveries which occur as you work more and more. I love how you were able to uncover the logical error to make a breakthrough.
The "6" would have been the obvious cryptic break for me, followed with the frequency rank of numbers
That was brilliant. I got a lot from that video. Thanks
"I just sucked away 17 minutes and 52 seconds of your life" - and I love it!
Energy vampire
I have a trick I invented that is handy at 12:30. Probably known to pros but I think it's uncommon and interesting. Works with classical sudokus.
Using chessboard notation (a1 for lower left corner), we now have 1+7 pair occupying a4 and c4. But we also have 1 in either a8 or c8. So, I can tell right away that there is no 7 on a8 nor c8. Why? Because a good puzzle always has a condition that the solution is unique. And if you had 1+7 pairs in both a4, c4 and a8, c8, then under classical sudoku rules you would have no way to distinguish between 1 on a4 and c8, 7 on a8 and c4, and vice versa. But this means there are actually at least two solutions: whichever numbers we have elsewhere, a4:1, c8:1, a8:7, c4:7 gives us one solution and swapping 7s with 1s gives us another. So 7 on a8 or c8 would violate the "unique solution" condition. Therefore 7 actually must be on c9.
Unfortunately this condition is not ALLWAYS respected in commercial puzzles...