Extreme Killer Sudoku 3, puzzle 131: step-by-step solution
Step through the whole solution, or skip to the hard parts. Blue digits are placed by the walkthrough; red strike-through marks a candidate being ruled out.
Blue digits are placed by the walkthrough. Red strike-through marks a candidate being ruled out. Cells are named by row and column: R3C5 is row 3, column 5. Arrow keys step too.
The key technique: Coloring/Multi-coloring
Following one digit’s strong links, cells get two colours: one colour is true and the other is false. A cell that sees both colours cannot hold the digit.
Other advanced and expert techniques in this solve: Advanced Innies (3+ sectors), Forcing Chains, Multi-Sector Locking.
Every move above the basics is listed on the killer sudoku techniques page, each with a one-sentence explanation and worked examples from the books.
The hard steps, in text (5)
- Step 34 · Advanced Innies (3+ sectors) advanced
Rules out 3 from R1C6; 1 from R2C6; 2 from R2C6. - Step 41 · Coloring/Multi-coloring expert
Rules out 5 from R2C7, R2C8, R3C8. - Step 51 · Coloring/Multi-coloring expert
Rules out 9 from R3C7, R5C9. - Step 55 · Multi-Sector Locking advanced
Rules out 1 from R8C8; 4 from R8C8. - Step 56 · Forcing Chains expert
Rules out 1 from R2C1.
The book
Volume three: 150 new killers, none repeated from books 1 or 2. No starting digits, just cages and their totals, ramping from hard to brutal.
150 new puzzles. Expert and beyond. Puzzles by M. J. Bailey. Paperback, 5 × 8 in, 196 pages, £9.99 / $11.99. Every solution in the book carries a QR code to its own walkthrough, so you can check one step without seeing the whole answer.
Try a free sample puzzle (PDF) · prints on A4 or US Letter
More step-by-step solutions: Extreme Sudoku 1 · Extreme Killer Sudoku 1 · Extreme Sudoku 2 · Extreme Killer Sudoku 2 · Extreme Sudoku 3.