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Note: sorry for posting this on Dec. 1, but don't worry, I haven't looked at the Sudoku solution yet.

So today I decided to try to solve the Sudoku in the Wisconsin State Journal. Now, even though this is a Level 3 Sudoku (22 clues), I have solved plenty of them in the past online and attempted to solve this one. So far, I have managed to solve a fair bit of it. Here is the original Sudoku compared to my current progress:

             Original                           My current progress
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+   +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|   |   |   |   | 9 |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   | 9 |   |   |   |   |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+   +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|   | 8 |   |   |   |   | 6 |   |   |   |   | 8 | 9 |   |   |   | 6 |   |   |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+   +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|   |   | 7 | 4 |   |   | 1 |   |   |   |   |   | 7 | 4 |   |   | 1 | 9 |   |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+   +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|   |   | 5 | 6 |   |   | 8 |   | 2 |   |   |   | 5 | 6 |   |   | 8 |   | 2 |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+   +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|   | 7 |   |   |   |   |   | 1 |   |   | 2 | 7 | 8 |   |   |   |   | 1 | 6 |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+   +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| 3 |   | 4 |   |   | 2 |   |   |   |   | 3 | 6 | 4 |   |   | 2 |   |   |   |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+   +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|   |   | 2 |   |   | 7 |   |   |   |   |   |   | 2 |   |   | 7 |   |   |   |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+   +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|   |   | 6 |   | 3 |   |   | 5 |   |   |   |   | 6 |   | 3 |   | 2 | 5 |   |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+   +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|   |   |   |   | 2 |   |   |   | 9 |   |   |   |   |   | 2 |   |   |   | 9 |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+   +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+

And now I don't know if there is anything that I would be able to do from here or if I really will need to start over. So my question is:

Is there anything I can logically deduce in this Sudoku right now, or am I really stuck?

Note: If you're confused how I deduced that there is a 9 in R2C3, it's because there isn't already a 9 in that column, and the 9s in R1C5 and R9C9 eliminate the other two possible cells that the 9 in Box 1 could be in.

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7
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ Row 6 Col 8 can only be one number... $\endgroup$
    – Stevish
    Commented Dec 1, 2023 at 14:36
  • $\begingroup$ @Stevish Is that deduced through that 7 is the only number that even has the option of going in R6C8? $\endgroup$
    – CrSb0001
    Commented Dec 1, 2023 at 14:44
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    $\begingroup$ Yes, that's how I deduced it. I only wanted to give you a hint, not the answer. $\endgroup$
    – Stevish
    Commented Dec 1, 2023 at 14:48
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    $\begingroup$ Ok, cool. Update your answer if you need any more hints $\endgroup$
    – Stevish
    Commented Dec 1, 2023 at 14:57
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    $\begingroup$ Hey, thanks for posting this! I haven't done one of these in a while. I used to breeze right through them but this one had me stuck for a while. Thanks for sharing (even though that may not have been your intent) $\endgroup$
    – Stevish
    Commented Dec 1, 2023 at 16:10

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
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There are a number of techniques that are available at this stage. The first one that jumped out to me was a:

Hidden Pair

Looking at:

Box five (the middle one)

We see that:

the one and the eight must both go into one of the two cells in row six. This means that the remaining three cells in row six must be five, seven, and nine. The nine must be column seven.

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