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Sudoku #43 — the solutions

The three Sudoku boards from November 12, 2026 — Easy, Medium and Hard — each with its solved grid and a path through it, step by step, that never needs a guess.

Easy — 36 digits given

Every cell falls to scanning: a digit with only one place left in a row, a column or a box.

The board

· 9 6 | 2 · · | 3 · 7
· · 2 | 6 · 1 | · · 9
· 4 · | 5 7 · | · 1 ·
------+-------+------
· · 8 | 3 · · | · 7 ·
2 7 · | · · · | · 3 4
· 1 · | · · 4 | 5 · ·
------+-------+------
· 3 · | · 9 7 | · 2 ·
6 · · | 4 · 5 | 1 · ·
9 · 1 | · · 3 | 7 4 ·

The solution

1 9 6 | 2 4 8 | 3 5 7
7 5 2 | 6 3 1 | 4 8 9
8 4 3 | 5 7 9 | 2 1 6
------+-------+------
4 6 8 | 3 5 2 | 9 7 1
2 7 5 | 9 1 6 | 8 3 4
3 1 9 | 7 8 4 | 5 6 2
------+-------+------
5 3 4 | 1 9 7 | 6 2 8
6 8 7 | 4 2 5 | 1 9 3
9 2 1 | 8 6 3 | 7 4 5

A path through it

The order a solver takes — always the cheapest move left, so a pattern is only reached for when the singles run dry. 45 steps; yours need not match, and any order that never guesses ends on the same grid.

  1. Row 1, column 1 is 1. 1 has only one place left in the top-left box.
  2. Row 2, column 1 is 7. 7 has only one place left in the top-left box.
  3. Row 2, column 2 is 5. 5 has only one place left in the top-left box.
  4. Row 3, column 1 is 8. 8 has only one place left in the top-left box.
  5. Row 3, column 3 is 3. 3 has only one place left in the top-left box.
  6. Row 2, column 5 is 3. 3 has only one place left in the top-center box.
  7. Row 1, column 5 is 4. 4 has only one place left in the top-center box.
  8. Row 1, column 6 is 8. 8 has only one place left in the top-center box.
  9. Row 3, column 6 is 9. 9 has only one place left in the top-center box.
  10. Row 2, column 7 is 4. 4 has only one place left in the top-right box.
  11. Row 1, column 8 is 5. 5 has only one place left in the top-right box.
  12. Row 2, column 8 is 8. 8 has only one place left in the top-right box.
  13. Row 6, column 1 is 3. 3 has only one place left in the middle-left box.
  14. Row 4, column 1 is 4. 4 has only one place left in the middle-left box.
  15. Row 5, column 3 is 5. 5 has only one place left in the middle-left box.
  16. Row 4, column 2 is 6. 6 has only one place left in the middle-left box.
  17. Row 6, column 3 is 9. 9 has only one place left in the middle-left box.
  18. Row 4, column 5 is 5. 5 has only one place left in the center box.
  19. Row 6, column 4 is 7. 7 has only one place left in the center box.
  20. Row 5, column 4 is 9. 9 has only one place left in the center box.
  21. Row 5, column 5 is 1. 1 has only one place left in the center box.
  22. Row 6, column 5 is 8. 8 has only one place left in the center box.
  23. Row 4, column 6 is 2. 2 has only one place left in the center box.
  24. Row 5, column 6 is 6. 6 has only one place left in the center box.
  25. Row 4, column 9 is 1. 1 has only one place left in the middle-right box.
  26. Row 6, column 9 is 2. 2 has only one place left in the middle-right box.
  27. Row 3, column 7 is 2. 2 has only one place left in the top-right box.
  28. Row 3, column 9 is 6. 6 has only one place left in the top-right box.
  29. Row 6, column 8 is 6. 6 has only one place left in the middle-right box.
  30. Row 5, column 7 is 8. 8 has only one place left in the middle-right box.
  31. Row 4, column 7 is 9. 9 has only one place left in the middle-right box.
  32. Row 7, column 3 is 4. 4 has only one place left in the bottom-left box.
  33. Row 7, column 1 is 5. 5 has only one place left in the bottom-left box.
  34. Row 8, column 3 is 7. 7 has only one place left in the bottom-left box.
  35. Row 7, column 4 is 1. 1 has only one place left in the bottom-center box.
  36. Row 9, column 5 is 6. 6 has only one place left in the bottom-center box.
  37. Row 8, column 5 is 2. 2 has only one place left in the bottom-center box.
  38. Row 9, column 2 is 2. 2 has only one place left in the bottom-left box.
  39. Row 8, column 2 is 8. 8 has only one place left in the bottom-left box.
  40. Row 9, column 4 is 8. 8 has only one place left in the bottom-center box.
  41. Row 8, column 9 is 3. 3 has only one place left in the bottom-right box.
  42. Row 9, column 9 is 5. 5 has only one place left in the bottom-right box.
  43. Row 7, column 7 is 6. 6 has only one place left in the bottom-right box.
  44. Row 7, column 9 is 8. 8 has only one place left in the bottom-right box.
  45. Row 8, column 8 is 9. 9 has only one place left in the bottom-right box.

Medium — 28 digits given

Beyond singles, this board asks for a pointing line (3 times).

The board

· · 7 | 4 2 · | 3 · ·
5 4 · | · · · | 1 2 9
· · · | 1 · · | · · ·
------+-------+------
· · 5 | · 8 · | · 7 ·
9 · · | · · · | · · 6
· 1 · | · 6 · | 2 · ·
------+-------+------
· · · | · · 2 | · · ·
2 7 6 | · · · | · 9 4
· · 1 | · 4 9 | 7 · ·

The solution

1 9 7 | 4 2 5 | 3 6 8
5 4 8 | 7 3 6 | 1 2 9
6 2 3 | 1 9 8 | 5 4 7
------+-------+------
3 6 5 | 2 8 4 | 9 7 1
9 8 2 | 5 1 7 | 4 3 6
7 1 4 | 9 6 3 | 2 8 5
------+-------+------
4 5 9 | 8 7 2 | 6 1 3
2 7 6 | 3 5 1 | 8 9 4
8 3 1 | 6 4 9 | 7 5 2

A path through it

The order a solver takes — always the cheapest move left, so a pattern is only reached for when the singles run dry. 56 steps; yours need not match, and any order that never guesses ends on the same grid.

  1. Row 1, column 1 is 1. 1 has only one place left in the top-left box.
  2. Row 3, column 5 is 9. 9 has only one place left in the top-center box.
  3. Row 1, column 2 is 9. 9 has only one place left in the top-left box.
  4. Row 3, column 9 is 7. 7 has only one place left in the top-right box.
  5. Row 6, column 1 is 7. 7 has only one place left in the middle-left box.
  6. Row 4, column 7 is 9. 9 has only one place left in the middle-right box.
  7. Row 6, column 4 is 9. 9 has only one place left in the center box.
  8. Row 7, column 3 is 9. 9 has only one place left in the bottom-left box.
  9. Row 7, column 1 is 4. 4 has only one place left in the bottom-left box.
  10. Row 9, column 9 is 2. 2 has only one place left in the bottom-right box.
  11. Row 4, column 6 is 4. 4 has only one place left in row 4.
  12. Row 4, column 9 is 1. 1 has only one place left in row 4.
  13. Row 7, column 8 is 1. 1 has only one place left in the bottom-right box.
  14. In the top-left box, 6 can only sit in row 3, so it leaves the rest of that row.
  15. Row 1, column 8 is 6. 6 has only one place left in the top-right box.
  16. Row 7, column 7 is 6. 6 has only one place left in the bottom-right box.
  17. Row 9, column 4 is 6. 6 has only one place left in the bottom-center box.
  18. Row 2, column 6 is 6. 6 has only one place left in the top-center box.
  19. Row 5, column 6 is 7. 7 has only one place left in column 6.
  20. Row 5, column 5 is 1. 1 has only one place left in the center box.
  21. Row 8, column 6 is 1. 1 has only one place left in the bottom-center box.
  22. In the top-center box, 5 can only sit in column 6, so it leaves the rest of that column.
  23. Row 5, column 4 is 5. 5 has only one place left in the center box.
  24. Row 4, column 4 is 2. 2 has only one place left in the center box.
  25. Row 6, column 6 is 3. 3 has only one place left in the center box.
  26. Row 5, column 8 is 3. 3 has only one place left in the middle-right box.
  27. Row 7, column 9 is 3. 3 has only one place left in the bottom-right box.
  28. In the top-center box, 3 can only sit in row 2, so it leaves the rest of that row.
  29. Row 3, column 3 is 3. 3 has only one place left in column 3.
  30. Row 3, column 2 is 2. 2 has only one place left in the top-left box.
  31. Row 3, column 1 is 6. 6 has only one place left in the top-left box.
  32. Row 2, column 3 is 8. 8 has only one place left in the top-left box.
  33. Row 5, column 3 is 2. 2 has only one place left in the middle-left box.
  34. Row 6, column 3 is 4. 4 has only one place left in the middle-left box.
  35. Row 4, column 2 is 6. 6 has only one place left in the middle-left box.
  36. Row 4, column 1 is 3. 3 has only one place left in the middle-left box.
  37. Row 5, column 2 is 8. 8 has only one place left in the middle-left box.
  38. Row 5, column 7 is 4. 4 has only one place left in the middle-right box.
  39. Row 3, column 8 is 4. 4 has only one place left in the top-right box.
  40. Row 9, column 2 is 3. 3 has only one place left in the bottom-left box.
  41. Row 7, column 2 is 5. 5 has only one place left in the bottom-left box.
  42. Row 9, column 1 is 8. 8 has only one place left in the bottom-left box.
  43. Row 8, column 5 is 5. 5 has only one place left in the bottom-center box.
  44. Row 8, column 4 is 3. 3 has only one place left in the bottom-center box.
  45. Row 2, column 5 is 3. 3 has only one place left in the top-center box.
  46. Row 2, column 4 is 7. 7 has only one place left in the top-center box.
  47. Row 7, column 5 is 7. 7 has only one place left in the bottom-center box.
  48. Row 7, column 4 is 8. 8 has only one place left in the bottom-center box.
  49. Row 9, column 8 is 5. 5 has only one place left in the bottom-right box.
  50. Row 6, column 9 is 5. 5 has only one place left in the middle-right box.
  51. Row 3, column 7 is 5. 5 has only one place left in the top-right box.
  52. Row 1, column 6 is 5. 5 has only one place left in the top-center box.
  53. Row 3, column 6 is 8. 8 has only one place left in the top-center box.
  54. Row 1, column 9 is 8. 8 has only one place left in the top-right box.
  55. Row 6, column 8 is 8. 8 has only one place left in the middle-right box.
  56. Row 8, column 7 is 8. 8 has only one place left in the bottom-right box.

Hard — 29 digits given

Beyond singles, this board asks for a pointing line (2 times), a claimed box, a naked pair, an X-wing and an XY-wing.

The board

9 · · | 1 4 · | · 8 ·
· · 8 | 2 6 · | · · 5
· 5 · | · · 8 | 1 · ·
------+-------+------
5 · · | · · 6 | · · ·
· · 2 | · 3 · | 6 · ·
· · · | 7 · · | · · 3
------+-------+------
· · 4 | 6 · · | · 3 ·
8 · · | · 5 1 | 2 · ·
· 6 · | · 2 4 | · · 1

The solution

9 2 6 | 1 4 5 | 3 8 7
1 7 8 | 2 6 3 | 4 9 5
4 5 3 | 9 7 8 | 1 6 2
------+-------+------
5 3 1 | 4 8 6 | 7 2 9
7 8 2 | 5 3 9 | 6 1 4
6 4 9 | 7 1 2 | 8 5 3
------+-------+------
2 1 4 | 6 9 7 | 5 3 8
8 9 7 | 3 5 1 | 2 4 6
3 6 5 | 8 2 4 | 9 7 1

A path through it

The order a solver takes — always the cheapest move left, so a pattern is only reached for when the singles run dry. 58 steps; yours need not match, and any order that never guesses ends on the same grid.

  1. Row 1, column 6 is 5. 5 has only one place left in the top-center box.
  2. Row 6, column 6 is 2. 2 has only one place left in the center box.
  3. Row 5, column 4 is 5. 5 has only one place left in the center box.
  4. Row 4, column 4 is 4. 4 has only one place left in the center box.
  5. Row 9, column 3 is 5. 5 has only one place left in the bottom-left box.
  6. Row 7, column 7 is 5. 5 has only one place left in the bottom-right box.
  7. Row 6, column 8 is 5. 5 has only one place left in the middle-right box.
  8. Row 9, column 4 is 8. 8 has only one place left in column 4.
  9. Row 8, column 4 is 3. 3 has only one place left in the bottom-center box.
  10. Row 2, column 6 is 3. 3 has only one place left in the top-center box.
  11. Row 3, column 5 is 7. 7 has only one place left in the top-center box.
  12. Row 3, column 4 is 9. 9 has only one place left in the top-center box.
  13. Row 1, column 7 is 3. 3 has only one place left in the top-right box.
  14. Row 9, column 1 is 3. 3 has only one place left in the bottom-left box.
  15. Row 3, column 3 is 3. 3 has only one place left in the top-left box.
  16. Row 4, column 2 is 3. 3 has only one place left in the middle-left box.
  17. Row 7, column 6 is 7. 7 has only one place left in the bottom-center box.
  18. Row 7, column 5 is 9. 9 has only one place left in the bottom-center box.
  19. Row 5, column 6 is 9. 9 has only one place left in the center box.
  20. Row 7, column 9 is 8. 8 has only one place left in the bottom-right box.
  21. Row 5, column 2 is 8. 8 has only one place left in row 5.
  22. In the bottom-left box, 7 can only sit in row 8, so it leaves the rest of that row.
  23. In the bottom-left box, 9 can only sit in row 8, so it leaves the rest of that row.
  24. Row 4, column 9 is 9. 9 has only one place left in column 9.
  25. Row 4, column 8 is 2. 2 has only one place left in the middle-right box.
  26. Row 5, column 8 is 1. 1 has only one place left in the middle-right box.
  27. In column 3, 1 can only sit inside the middle-left box, so it leaves the rest of that box.
  28. Two cells in column 8 hold only 4 and 6, so no other cell there can.
  29. X-wing: columns 2 and 7 each have 4 in the same two rows, so it leaves the rest of those rows.
  30. Row 6, column 1 is 6. Nothing but 6 is left for this cell.
  31. Row 1, column 3 is 6. 6 has only one place left in the top-left box.
  32. XY-wing: one of its two wings must be 1, so no cell that sees both can be.
  33. Row 2, column 1 is 1. 1 has only one place left in the top-left box.
  34. Row 7, column 2 is 1. 1 has only one place left in the bottom-left box.
  35. Row 7, column 1 is 2. 2 has only one place left in the bottom-left box.
  36. Row 1, column 2 is 2. 2 has only one place left in the top-left box.
  37. Row 2, column 2 is 7. 7 has only one place left in the top-left box.
  38. Row 3, column 1 is 4. 4 has only one place left in the top-left box.
  39. Row 3, column 9 is 2. 2 has only one place left in the top-right box.
  40. Row 2, column 7 is 4. 4 has only one place left in the top-right box.
  41. Row 3, column 8 is 6. 6 has only one place left in the top-right box.
  42. Row 1, column 9 is 7. 7 has only one place left in the top-right box.
  43. Row 2, column 8 is 9. 9 has only one place left in the top-right box.
  44. Row 6, column 2 is 4. 4 has only one place left in the middle-left box.
  45. Row 6, column 3 is 9. 9 has only one place left in the middle-left box.
  46. Row 4, column 3 is 1. 1 has only one place left in the middle-left box.
  47. Row 5, column 1 is 7. 7 has only one place left in the middle-left box.
  48. Row 6, column 5 is 1. 1 has only one place left in the center box.
  49. Row 4, column 5 is 8. 8 has only one place left in the center box.
  50. Row 5, column 9 is 4. 4 has only one place left in the middle-right box.
  51. Row 4, column 7 is 7. 7 has only one place left in the middle-right box.
  52. Row 6, column 7 is 8. 8 has only one place left in the middle-right box.
  53. Row 8, column 3 is 7. 7 has only one place left in the bottom-left box.
  54. Row 8, column 2 is 9. 9 has only one place left in the bottom-left box.
  55. Row 8, column 8 is 4. 4 has only one place left in the bottom-right box.
  56. Row 8, column 9 is 6. 6 has only one place left in the bottom-right box.
  57. Row 9, column 8 is 7. 7 has only one place left in the bottom-right box.
  58. Row 9, column 7 is 9. 9 has only one place left in the bottom-right box.

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About Sudoku

Sudoku on Noggin is three boards a day, on the second shelf: every entry is checked at once, a hint fills the next cell a solver would and says why, and the first board finished is the day’s score, outside the daily line-up. How to play Sudoku, or play today’s.