EXTREMEPUZZLE BOOKS

Extreme Sudoku 2, puzzle 143: 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 143 of 150 in Extreme Sudoku 2
Difficulty
Expert 6 (expert and beyond), from the final, hardest third of the book
Key technique
ALS-XZ
Hard steps
24 of 43 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: ALS-XZ

Two almost-locked sets (n cells with n+1 candidates) share a restricted digit X. Then a digit Z common to both must be in one of them, so cells seeing all of its copies cannot be Z.

Other advanced and expert techniques in this solve: Nice Loops/AICs (×4), 2-String Kite (×3), W-Wing (×3), Finned Fish (×2), XY-Wing (×2), XYZ-Wing (×2), Cell Forcing Chains, Sue de Coq, X-Wing/Swordfish, XY-Chain.

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 (24)
  1. Step 2 · 2-String Kite advanced
    Rules out 2 from R5C3.
  2. Step 3 · 2-String Kite advanced
    Rules out 5 from R9C6.
  3. Step 4 · XY-Wing advanced
    Rules out 2 from R5C6, R6C6.
  4. Step 5 · XYZ-Wing advanced
    Rules out 7 from R5C4.
  5. Step 6 · Finned Fish expert
    Rules out 1 from R8C8.
  6. Step 7 · ALS-XZ expert
    Rules out 3 from R7C4, R8C4, R9C4.
  7. Step 8 · ALS-XZ expert
    Rules out 4 from R2C1.
  8. Step 10 · ALS-XZ expert
    Rules out 7 from R5C8, R6C8.
  9. Step 11 · Nice Loops/AICs expert
    Rules out 3 from R8C1.
  10. Step 13 · Nice Loops/AICs expert
    Rules out 2 from R5C8.
  11. Step 14 · Cell Forcing Chains expert
    Rules out 7 from R2C1.
  12. Step 18 · 2-String Kite advanced
    Rules out 7 from R5C7.
  13. Step 19 · XYZ-Wing advanced
    Rules out 2 from R4C8.
  14. Step 20 · Finned Fish expert
    Rules out 7 from R6C7.
  15. Step 21 · ALS-XZ expert
    Rules out 4 from R6C2.
  16. Step 22 · Nice Loops/AICs expert
    Rules out 4 from R7C2.
  17. Step 23 · Nice Loops/AICs expert
    Rules out 2 from R1C5.
  18. Step 27 · Sue de Coq expert
    Rules out 2 from R4C9; 7 from R4C9; 5 from R8C8.
  19. Step 31 · X-Wing/Swordfish advanced
    Rules out 7 from R3C3, R5C3, R6C3.
  20. Step 32 · W-Wing advanced
    Rules out 2 from R9C6.
  21. Step 34 · W-Wing advanced
    Rules out 1 from R6C3.
  22. Step 35 · W-Wing advanced
    Rules out 1 from R5C7, R5C8.
  23. Step 36 · XY-Wing advanced
    Rules out 4 from R5C1.
  24. Step 38 · XY-Chain expert
    Rules out 7 from R3C1, R4C3.

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.