The full ladder
Sudoku techniques
Every method worth knowing, easiest first — each one taught with a worked example you can read off the grid, then practised on real puzzles that genuinely require it.
Easy
- Naked Singles One cell, one possible digit. The first move you learn.
- Hidden Singles A digit with only one home in its row, column, or box.
Medium
- Naked Pairs & Triples Two cells, the same two candidates — lock them, clear the rest.
- Hidden Pairs & Triples Two digits that live in only two cells — strip everything else.
- Pointing Pairs A digit pinned to one line of a box points down that line.
- Box/Line Reduction The mirror of pointing: a line pins a digit inside one box.
Hard
- X-Wing A rectangle of one digit that forbids it from two lines.
- XY-Wing Three linked bi-value cells that force a digit out.
Expert
New to all this? Start with how to play, or jump straight into an easy puzzle. Want a whole grid solved and explained? Use the solver.