EXTREMEPUZZLE BOOKS

Extreme Sudoku 1, puzzle 135: 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.

Puzzle
Sudoku, number 135 of 150 in Extreme Sudoku 1
Difficulty
Expert 5 (expert and beyond), from the final, hardest third of the book
Key technique
XY-Chain
Hard steps
11 of 39 steps need an advanced or expert technique

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: XY-Chain

A chain of two-candidate cells, each linked to the next. Whichever way the start cell goes, one end of the chain holds the digit, so cells seeing both ends cannot.

Other advanced and expert techniques in this solve: ALS-XZ (×2), 2-String Kite, Cell Forcing Chains, Empty Rectangle, Finned Fish, Nice Loops/AICs.

Every move above the basics is listed on the sudoku techniques page, each with a one-sentence explanation and worked examples from the books.

The hard steps, in text (11)
  1. Step 5 · Empty Rectangle advanced
    Rules out 2 from R3C6.
  2. Step 6 · ALS-XZ expert
    Rules out 3 from R4C8.
  3. Step 8 · Cell Forcing Chains expert
    Rules out 3 from R1C7.
  4. Step 13 · 2-String Kite advanced
    Rules out 5 from R4C4.
  5. Step 14 · ALS-XZ expert
    Rules out 9 from R5C7.
  6. Step 15 · Nice Loops/AICs expert
    Rules out 2 from R2C7.
  7. Step 27 · Finned Fish expert
    Rules out 8 from R1C5.
  8. Step 28 · XY-Chain expert
    Rules out 7 from R1C6.
  9. Step 31 · XY-Chain expert
    Rules out 8 from R2C5, R9C4.
  10. Step 33 · XY-Chain expert
    Rules out 8 from R2C4.
  11. Step 35 · XY-Chain expert
    Rules out 7 from R2C3, R6C1.

The book

Classic 9×9 sudoku with the warm-up taken out. Every grid sits at the top of the expert range or beyond it, and the book ramps from hard to brutal.

150 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.

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More step-by-step solutions: Extreme Killer Sudoku 1 · Extreme Sudoku 2 · Extreme Killer Sudoku 2 · Extreme Sudoku 3 · Extreme Killer Sudoku 3.