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Sudoku - Hidden Singles

Hidden singles in Sudoku are defined as pencil marks that are the only instance of a number in a row, column, or block. Identifying them requires checking all rows, columns, and blocks for each number, which can be tedious but is essential for solving the puzzle. Tools like Sudoklue can assist by highlighting pencil marks, although some may view this as a form of cheating.

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44 views2 pages

Sudoku - Hidden Singles

Hidden singles in Sudoku are defined as pencil marks that are the only instance of a number in a row, column, or block. Identifying them requires checking all rows, columns, and blocks for each number, which can be tedious but is essential for solving the puzzle. Tools like Sudoklue can assist by highlighting pencil marks, although some may view this as a form of cheating.

Uploaded by

mpox18681868
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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‫מידע נוסף‬ ‫ ימים במחנה קיץ ישראלי‬10

Hidden Singles
Hidden singles are a simple enough concept, but are often quite hard to spot.

The definition of a hidden single is when a pencil mark is the only one of its kind in an
entire row, column, or block.

For example, can you find one in the sample below?

This row must have a "7" in it somewhere, because in Sudoku all rows have a "7". If you
look closely at the pencil marks, you will see only one cell that has a "7" as one of its
candidates.

What does this mean? Simple. That cell must be the "7"! Erase all the other pencil
marks, fill in the "7" with your pen, and erase any other "7" pencil marks in the same
column or block (we already know there aren't any in that row!).

Similarly, the below sample shows there is only one "4" pencil mark in the entire block:

As I said, the problem with these guys is that they're hard to find! In order to perform an
exhaustive search, you need to look at every row, column, and block, for each of the
numbers, 1 through 9. This means nine rows, nine columns, and nine blocks (these are
sometimes referred to as the 27 different "houses"), for nine different numbers. That's
243 (27 x 9) different searches!

OK, I may have overstated it a bit for effect. The truth is, you wouldn't scan a row for a
single "5" pencil mark if the row already had a "5" in it. Also, many times a "house" (row,
column, or block) will only have two or three cells left to fill in, and then they are much
easier to spot…

Computer programs can make this easier, as well. Sudoklue, for example, will highlight
all the pencil marks of a given number if you press CTRL + [number]. See the
screenshot below after I've pressed CTRL + 5:
This makes the hidden single "5" in the center much easier to spot.

Of course, some may consider getting help like this "cheating"…

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