I know that 17 is the minimum for a standard 9x9 (3x3 squares), but what about a 16x16 (4x4 squares) sudoku?
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5$\begingroup$ When you say 3x3 and 4x4, do you mean 9x9 (standard) and 16x16 (what's in the title)? $\endgroup$– Rand al'ThorCommented Sep 12, 2019 at 16:32
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3$\begingroup$ Of possible interest is Wikipedia's "Mathematics of Sudoku" section Sudokus of other sizes. $\endgroup$– Weather VaneCommented Sep 12, 2019 at 19:50
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$\begingroup$ The answer is here: forum.enjoysudoku.com/… $\endgroup$– DuckCommented Sep 12, 2019 at 22:14
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1 Answer
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As the comments say, the smallest number of clues found for a 16x16 sudoku (with 4x4 squares) is 55. It has not been proven that this is the smallest number, but no one's found a better one yet. I suspect that less research into a minimum number has occurred for the larger variants because they are less common and would require more computing power to brute-force.
References:
16×16(4×4) Sudoku: At least one puzzle with 55 clues has been created. It is not known if this is the fewest possible.
The example 55-clue Sudoku