EXTREMEPUZZLE BOOKS

Extreme Sudoku 2, puzzle 141: 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 141 of 150 in Extreme Sudoku 2
Difficulty
Expert 7 (expert and beyond), from the final, hardest third of the book
Key technique
XY-Chain
Hard steps
15 of 37 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: Finned Fish (×2), Nice Loops/AICs (×2), 2-String Kite, ALS-XZ, Cell Forcing Chains, Sue de Coq, WXYZ-Wing, X-Wing/Swordfish.

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 (15)
  1. Step 6 · 2-String Kite advanced
    Rules out 4 from R5C1.
  2. Step 7 · Finned Fish expert
    Rules out 4 from R4C1.
  3. Step 8 · Finned Fish expert
    Rules out 9 from R2C4.
  4. Step 9 · Sue de Coq expert
    Rules out 2 from R4C9, R5C9; 4 from R4C9, R5C9; 6 from R6C1, R6C5.
  5. Step 10 · Nice Loops/AICs expert
    Rules out 7 from R2C9.
  6. Step 11 · Nice Loops/AICs expert
    Rules out 7 from R2C3.
  7. Step 12 · Cell Forcing Chains expert
    Rules out 9 from R1C7.
  8. Step 18 · X-Wing/Swordfish advanced
    Rules out 4 from R2C1, R2C9.
  9. Step 19 · ALS-XZ expert
    Rules out 4 from R4C2.
  10. Step 21 · XY-Chain expert
    Rules out 8 from R4C9.
  11. Step 22 · XY-Chain expert
    Rules out 6 from R6C8, R6C9.
  12. Step 26 · XY-Chain expert
    Rules out 1 from R5C2.
  13. Step 27 · XY-Chain expert
    Rules out 8 from R2C8, R3C8, R6C9.
  14. Step 29 · XY-Chain expert
    Rules out 1 from R2C1, R3C1.
  15. Step 31 · WXYZ-Wing expert
    Rules out 8 from R5C3.

The book

Volume two: 150 new classic 9×9 grids, none repeated from book 1, 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.

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