
Re: Killer Sudoku 15 January 2021
paulv66 wrote:
This was another real toughie. It took me quite a while to get a hook into it, although it fell into place after that. Be interesting to see how many people in total solve it.
Here is my method for solving this puzzle. I found it to be an interesting puzzle to solve.
1. Calculate cage values
b9=7,9
g6=6,8,9
i6=6,7,8,9
2. Add row 9
>> a9+d9=8
>> a9 & d9=2,3,5,6
3. Cage e9 must have 8, it is the only cage in row 9 that can have 8
4. g9,h9,i9 can not be 8 (refer to cages g6,i6: both g6 and i6 would be 8)
>> e9 or f9 must be 8
5. g7,g8,i7 can not be 6,8,9 (by adding cages in the 3x3 box e9+f9 would have to total 8)
>> i7=7
6. Using same method as step 5
g6 is not 9
7. Add columns f,g,h,i
>> e1,e7,e9 = 6,8,9
8. Add 3x3 box (g7:i9)
>> e9+f9=9
>> e9=8, f9=1
9. Calculate cage values
i2=6,9
i4=1,2,4,5
g5=2,4,7,9
10. Cage h5 must have 2 or 4
>> cage i4 can not be 2,4
11. Calculate cage values
h7=1,2,3,4,5,6
cage e9: g9=2,3,4,5 h9=3,4,5,6 i9=2,3,4
12. Calculate cage values
h3=2,3,7,8
(note in column h 1 must be in h7 or h8)
13. Cage g5 must be 2,9 (only cage with 9 in 3x3 box)
14. Calculate cage values
h3=3,7 (refer to cage h5)
e1 each cell can be all available values
b1 =4,5,6,7,8,9
15. g4 & g5=3,4,7 (note that g4 or g5=4)
16. Cage b2 is not 4,9 (cage e1 would have no possible values)
(note h2 would be 4 if cage b2=4,9)
17. Add row 1
>> a1+d1=h2+1
>> a1+d1=5,6 or 9
>> a1,d1=1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8
18. Add 3x3 box (a7:c9)
>> a7+c7+c8=8
a7=3,5 c7&c8=1,2,4
(note c7 or c8 must be 1)
19. In column d the only cell that could be 9 is d5
20. g5=2, g6=9, a6=7, a7=5
c7&c8=1,2
21. Add 3x3 box (d7:f9)
>> d7=c8+2
>> d7=3,4
22. d8,e8 or d9 must be 2
>> c8 is not 2
>> c7=2, d7=3, d6=4
From this point it is all basic steps to complete the puzzle.