Sudoku Puzzles #122, #123, & #124

Can you believe how quickly summer left us at the River?  Good thing we have Sudoku to keep our minds sharp through the off-season.

Clueless?

We start with a Sudoku puzzle in progress, where it appears that there are no more obvious or not-so-obvious clues.  Can you find the hidden clue in Puzzle #122?

Puzzle #122

(The answer follows the conclusion of Puzzle #124, the feature puzzle for October)

Logic Puzzle

Difficult rating … 4/10

(Rating based on puzzles not requiring advanced techniques)

Puzzle #123 should present a moderate challenge!

Puzzle #123

Feature Puzzle

Difficult rating … 4/10

(Rating based on puzzles requiring advanced techniques)

Puzzle #124

PUZZLE PREPARATION

Prior to utilizing techniques 1-8, complete the 5 Steps of Puzzle Preparation …

1.     FILL IN DATA FROM OBSERVATIONS

2. FILL IN OBVIOUS ANSWERS

3. FILL IN NOT-SO-OBVIOUS ANSWERS

4. MARK UNSOLVED CELLS WITH OPTIONS THAT CANNOT EXIST IN THOSE CELLS

5.       FILL IN THE OPTIONS FOR THE UNSOLVED CELLS

The first thing we observe is that C9R9=8 & C8R7=9.

In box two, a 7 can only exist as an option in C5R2 & C5R3; therefore, a 7 cannot exist as an option in C5R5 & C5R6.

C1R4=2.

Now your grid should look like Example #124.1 below:

Example #124.1

This completes Puzzle Preparation Steps 1-4. Next, we will fill in options for all unsolved cells, giving us Example #124.2 below:

Example #124.2

Dan recommends the following Steps to complete the puzzle.

Step 1:  Sudoku Pairs, Triplets and Quads – See September 2015
Step 2:  Turbos & Interaction – See October 2015
Step 3:  Sudoku Gordonian Rectangles and Polygons – See November 2015
Step 4:  XY-Wings & XYZ Wings – See December 2015
Step 5:  X-Wings – See January 2016

Step 6:  DAN’S YES/NO CHALLENGE
Step 7:  DAN’S CLOSE RELATIONSHIP CHALLENGE
Step 8:  AN EXPANSION OF STEP 7. Steps  1-5 are relatively common techniques and are explained in the TI LIFE articles. Steps 6-Posts8 are covered in detail, in Dan’s book.


There are no Step-1-5 techniques hat can be further applied.  Are there are any good Step 6 potentials.  As in previous articles, we determined a particular number was a potential for a successful Step 6 exercise if that number appears as a given answer in 3 separate boxes, such that the boxes are not side-by-side, nor over each other. Which numbers do you see that are good candidates?   Yes, the 5’s & 6’s.

We will start with the 5’s and perform a Step 6 exercise, Dan’s Yes-No Challenge”, per Example #124.3 below, using C3R1 & C9R1 as our starter cells highlighted in yellow.

Example #124.3

Either C3R1 or C9R1 has to be a 5.   First, we will assume C3R1=5 and mark it with a capital Y, for yes. Then we will mark the cells it affects with a Y or N, indicating a yes or no.

Next, we will assume C9R1=5, and mark it with a “y”.  Then we will mark the cells it affects with a y or n.

We see that C5R6, C4R8 & C9R4 are marked N,n.  It means that those cells cannot be a 5, regardless of which starter cell is a 5.  The 5 can be eliminated as an option for those cells.

We also note that C4R4 is marked Y,y, which means this cell is a 5 regardless of which starter cell is a 5.  So, C4R4=5

From this discovery, you are “off to the races”, and the puzzle leads to an easy conclusion, as per Example #124.4 below:

Example #124.4

May the gentle winds of Sudoku be at your back.

By Dan LeKander, Wellesley Island

Thought of the day … a friend recently asked me regarding Sudoku, “have you always been good with numbers?” My reply was “yes, and I have always been good with letters, since you can perform Sudoku with letters A-I instead of numbers 1-9”. Of course, being proficient with Sudoku does not require any magical mastery of numbers or letters.  It is purely a game of logic.

Clue for Puzzle #122 …  did you find the clue?  If not, read on.

Check row 6.  What do you see?

We see that C1R6 & C8R6 have options 5 & 6.  That leaves C8R6=9.

You may want to continue and see if you can solve the puzzle!


Editor's Note:  

Note: we went into the 100s in May 2022. Now here are Puzzles #122, #123, & #124

"I keep saying . . . when we published the final article in Dan's Series of steps to learn the logic of Sudoku, I never in a zillion years thought that Dan would so graciously offer to do one or two puzzles for us each month - and he has done so without my asking. Now we are up to 3!

Then his wife, Peggy, does the proof reading and I only have to post in on TI Life. We would love to know how many you have solved.  (Many, darn it, have stumped me, but I look forward to them each month.)

Recently someone wrote to ask how to fill them out online. Unfortunately, you need to print them yourself - but that is easy to do and I know you will have just as much fun.

And, if you have not already done so, I suggest you purchase Dan’s book: “3 Advanced Sudoku Techniques, That Will Change Your Game Forever!” Purchase of a book includes a 50-page blank grid pad, 33 black and two green tokens. The book is available by contacting info@thousandislandslife.com.

Be sure to read the TI Life's review of Dan's book by Jesse Kahn published in Jun 2015.

Here are links to all past Sudoku Puzzle Challenge beginning: February 2016, March 2016, April 2016, May 2016, June 2016, July 2016, August 2016, September 2016, October 2016, November 2016, December 2016, January 2017, February 2017, March 2017, April 2017, May 2017, June 2017, July 2017, August 2017, September 2017, October 2017, November 2017, December 2017, January 2018, February 2018, March 2018, April 2018, May 2018, June 2018, July 2018, August 2018, September 2018, October 2018, November 2018, December 2018, January 2019, February 2019, March 2019, April 2019, May 2019, June 2019, July 2019, August 2019, September 2019, October 2019, November 2019, December 2019, January 2020, February 2020, April 2020, May 2020,  June 2020 and July 2020, August 2020,  September 2020, October 2020, November 2020 and December 2020, January 2021, February 2021, March 2021, April 2021, May 2021, June 2021, July 2021 , August 2021, September 2021 ,  October 2021, November 2021, December 2021, January 2022, February 2022, March 2022, April 2022 , May 2022, June 2022, July 2022 , August 2022 and September 2022.