Sudoku Directions For Solving XY-Wing

Many people have asked me for step-by-step Sudoku directions for solving XY-Wing example number 1.

If you have been puzzled about how I solved this puzzle, read this article.

It seems that some people have found it difficult to get to the starting point to apply the XY-Wing technique as shown in the graphic. Here is one way to arrive at the starting point.

Sudoku Directions

Cell	Action	Reason or Pattern
R7C7	Enter a 3	Naked Single
R7C9	Enter a 4	Naked Single
R1C9	Enter a 6	Hidden Single
R2C5	Enter a 6	Hidden Single
R2C2	Enter a 5	Hidden Single
R2C1	Enter a 4	Hidden Single
R9C2	Enter a 4	Hidden Single
R4C5	Enter a 3	Hidden Single
R4C4	Enter a 5	Hidden Single
R1C4	Enter a 8	Naked Single
R1C6	Enter a 4	Naked Single
R1C5	Enter a 5	Naked Single
R5C5	Enter a 4	Hidden Single
R6C5	Enter a 7	Hidden Single
R6C9	Enter a 5	Naked Single
R9C8	Enter a 5	Hidden Single
R6C4	Enter a 2	Hidden Single
R5C4	Enter a 9	Naked Single
R9C4	Enter a 6	Naked Single
R9C6	Enter a 9	Hidden Single
R9C9	Enter a 7	Naked Single
R5C9	Enter a 3	Naked Single
R8C9	Enter a 9	Naked Single
R8C3	Enter a 7	Hidden Single
R8C2	Enter a 6	Hidden Single
R9C7	Remove the 8	Naked Pair (3,8) in R9C1, R9C3
R1C7, R1C8	Remove all the 2s	Locked Candidates (2) in R1C1, R1C2
R4C1, R5C1, R6C3	Remove all the 8s	Locked Candidates (8) in Column 2 (R4C2, R5C2)

Now we have arrived at the starting point to apply the XY-Wing technique as explained in my article "Sudoku XY-Wing Solves Difficult Sudoku Puzzles".

From this point onward, you can follow the remaining steps discussed in the article.

If you have difficulty identifying and solving Sudoku XY-wing, I recommend buying the Sudoku Solving Techniques video. This video covers the Sudoku techniques to solve Sudoku including XY-Wing. Read my review and see for yourself.

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