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Sudoku #44 — the solutions

The three Sudoku boards from November 13, 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 | 3 4 · | · 7 1
· · · | 6 · · | 9 · 2
· 3 5 | 9 · · | 6 · 8
------+-------+------
· · 2 | 4 · · | · · ·
8 1 3 | · · · | 4 5 6
· · · | · · 5 | 3 · ·
------+-------+------
2 · 1 | · · 4 | 7 6 ·
3 · 4 | · · 2 | · · ·
9 7 · | · 6 3 | 2 · ·

The solution

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

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

The board

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

The solution

6 3 5 | 4 2 7 | 8 9 1
8 7 2 | 9 6 1 | 4 5 3
4 1 9 | 5 8 3 | 2 7 6
------+-------+------
3 4 8 | 1 5 6 | 7 2 9
7 2 1 | 3 4 9 | 5 6 8
9 5 6 | 8 7 2 | 3 1 4
------+-------+------
5 6 3 | 2 9 8 | 1 4 7
1 9 4 | 7 3 5 | 6 8 2
2 8 7 | 6 1 4 | 9 3 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. 57 steps; yours need not match, and any order that never guesses ends on the same grid.

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

Hard — 25 digits given

Beyond singles, this board asks for a pointing line (6 times), a claimed box (2 times), an X-wing and an XY-wing.

The board

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

The solution

6 8 7 | 9 3 4 | 1 5 2
3 5 4 | 7 1 2 | 8 6 9
2 9 1 | 5 6 8 | 7 4 3
------+-------+------
1 2 8 | 4 9 7 | 5 3 6
7 4 6 | 2 5 3 | 9 1 8
5 3 9 | 1 8 6 | 4 2 7
------+-------+------
8 6 5 | 3 7 1 | 2 9 4
9 7 2 | 6 4 5 | 3 8 1
4 1 3 | 8 2 9 | 6 7 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. 66 steps; yours need not match, and any order that never guesses ends on the same grid.

  1. Row 3, column 9 is 3. 3 has only one place left in the top-right box.
  2. Row 3, column 8 is 4. 4 has only one place left in the top-right box.
  3. Row 6, column 5 is 8. 8 has only one place left in the center box.
  4. Row 9, column 3 is 3. 3 has only one place left in the bottom-left box.
  5. Row 7, column 1 is 8. 8 has only one place left in the bottom-left box.
  6. Row 7, column 4 is 3. 3 has only one place left in the bottom-center box.
  7. Row 7, column 9 is 4. 4 has only one place left in the bottom-right box.
  8. Row 8, column 5 is 4. 4 has only one place left in the bottom-center box.
  9. Row 8, column 8 is 8. 8 has only one place left in the bottom-right box.
  10. Row 2, column 7 is 8. 8 has only one place left in the top-right box.
  11. Row 3, column 6 is 8. 8 has only one place left in the top-center box.
  12. Row 2, column 6 is 2. 2 has only one place left in the top-center box.
  13. Row 2, column 8 is 6. 6 has only one place left in the top-right box.
  14. Row 5, column 9 is 8. 8 has only one place left in the middle-right box.
  15. Row 8, column 6 is 5. 5 has only one place left in column 6.
  16. Row 4, column 9 is 6. 6 has only one place left in column 9.
  17. Row 6, column 9 is 7. 7 has only one place left in the middle-right box.
  18. Row 1, column 9 is 2. 2 has only one place left in column 9.
  19. In the top-right box, 1 can only sit in row 1, so it leaves the rest of that row.
  20. In the top-right box, 5 can only sit in row 1, so it leaves the rest of that row.
  21. In the center box, 7 can only sit in row 4, so it leaves the rest of that row.
  22. Row 5, column 1 is 7. 7 has only one place left in column 1.
  23. Row 5, column 2 is 4. 4 has only one place left in the middle-left box.
  24. Row 5, column 3 is 6. 6 has only one place left in the middle-left box.
  25. Row 9, column 1 is 4. 4 has only one place left in the bottom-left box.
  26. In the bottom-left box, 1 can only sit in column 2, so it leaves the rest of that column.
  27. In the top-left box, 1 can only sit in row 3, so it leaves the rest of that row.
  28. In the bottom-right box, 2 can only sit in row 7, so it leaves the rest of that row.
  29. In row 5, 1 can only sit inside the middle-right box, so it leaves the rest of that box.
  30. In row 5, 9 can only sit inside the middle-right box, so it leaves the rest of that box.
  31. X-wing: rows 1 and 6 each have 9 in the same two columns, so it leaves the rest of those columns.
  32. XY-wing: one of its two wings must be 1, so no cell that sees both can be.
  33. Row 2, column 5 is 1. 1 has only one place left in the top-center box.
  34. Row 6, column 4 is 1. 1 has only one place left in column 4.
  35. Row 4, column 1 is 1. 1 has only one place left in the middle-left box.
  36. Row 3, column 3 is 1. 1 has only one place left in the top-left box.
  37. Row 6, column 3 is 9. 9 has only one place left in row 6.
  38. Row 3, column 2 is 9. 9 has only one place left in the top-left box.
  39. Row 3, column 1 is 2. 2 has only one place left in the top-left box.
  40. Row 2, column 2 is 5. 5 has only one place left in the top-left box.
  41. Row 1, column 3 is 7. 7 has only one place left in the top-left box.
  42. Row 3, column 4 is 5. 5 has only one place left in the top-center box.
  43. Row 3, column 5 is 6. 6 has only one place left in the top-center box.
  44. Row 2, column 4 is 7. 7 has only one place left in the top-center box.
  45. Row 1, column 4 is 9. 9 has only one place left in the top-center box.
  46. Row 4, column 2 is 2. 2 has only one place left in the middle-left box.
  47. Row 6, column 1 is 5. 5 has only one place left in the middle-left box.
  48. Row 6, column 8 is 2. 2 has only one place left in the middle-right box.
  49. Row 4, column 7 is 5. 5 has only one place left in the middle-right box.
  50. Row 1, column 8 is 5. 5 has only one place left in the top-right box.
  51. Row 1, column 7 is 1. 1 has only one place left in the top-right box.
  52. Row 5, column 8 is 1. 1 has only one place left in the middle-right box.
  53. Row 5, column 7 is 9. 9 has only one place left in the middle-right box.
  54. Row 8, column 3 is 2. 2 has only one place left in the bottom-left box.
  55. Row 8, column 4 is 6. 6 has only one place left in the bottom-center box.
  56. Row 7, column 7 is 2. 2 has only one place left in the bottom-right box.
  57. Row 9, column 7 is 6. 6 has only one place left in the bottom-right box.
  58. Row 7, column 2 is 6. 6 has only one place left in the bottom-left box.
  59. Row 9, column 2 is 1. 1 has only one place left in the bottom-left box.
  60. Row 8, column 2 is 7. 7 has only one place left in the bottom-left box.
  61. Row 7, column 6 is 1. 1 has only one place left in the bottom-center box.
  62. Row 7, column 5 is 7. 7 has only one place left in the bottom-center box.
  63. Row 4, column 6 is 7. 7 has only one place left in the center box.
  64. Row 4, column 5 is 9. 9 has only one place left in the center box.
  65. Row 9, column 6 is 9. 9 has only one place left in the bottom-center box.
  66. Row 7, column 8 is 9. 9 has only one place left in the bottom-right box.

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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.