Sudoku Strategies: From Beginner to Expert
Every Sudoku on Wink Puzzle can be solved with logic alone. These guides show you the patterns to look for, in the order most players learn them.
How to use these guides
Sudoku techniques build on each other. Easy puzzles need only the first technique, singles. Medium puzzles add notes and pointing pairs. Hard, Expert and Master puzzles regularly need pairs and occasionally an X-Wing. If you get stuck, start at the top of the list and work down: most of the time the next move is a simpler pattern you have overlooked, not an advanced one.
Before you start: candidates and notes
A candidate is a number that could still go in an empty cell without breaking a rule. If a cell's row already has a 3, its column has a 5 and its box has a 9, then 3, 5 and 9 are not candidates for that cell. Writing the remaining possibilities in small print is called taking notes (or "pencil marks").
In our game, tap Notes to switch into note mode, or tap Auto to fill in every candidate at once. Auto notes save time on harder levels, but working out the candidates yourself on Easy and Medium is the best way to build the scanning habits the techniques below depend on.
A simple solving routine
- Scan for singles. Go number by number (all the 1s, then all the 2s…) and look for boxes, rows or columns where that number has only one possible place.
- Take notes. When singles dry up, fill in candidates for the remaining cells.
- Look for locked candidates. Check each box for a number whose candidates line up in one row or column.
- Look for pairs. Two cells in a unit with the same two candidates, or two numbers that only fit in the same two cells.
- Look for an X-Wing. When nothing else works, check rows and columns where a number appears exactly twice.
- Go back to step 1. Every elimination can create a new single.
Tip: Our hint button explains its reasoning. When it says "Hidden single" or "Naked single", the highlighted cells show exactly why, so you can learn the pattern instead of just copying the answer.
Which difficulty needs which technique?
| Level | Usually needs |
|---|---|
| Easy | Hidden and naked singles |
| Medium | Singles plus notes; sometimes pointing pairs |
| Hard | Pointing pairs, naked pairs |
| Expert | Naked and hidden pairs, triples |
| Master | All of the above, sometimes an X-Wing |
Our levels are set by how many numbers are given at the start, so an individual puzzle can sometimes be easier or harder than its label.