Before I start, this article presupposes that you know the Sudoku game, and you're familiar with how the game works, and the layouts on the grid.
If you don't know how Sudoku works, then head over to somewhere like www.sudoku.com and check it out... or just do a Google search!
Now, how do you quickly solve those Sudoku puzzles and amaze your friends at your skills? Here's what you do.
When you start with your Sudoku grid, you'll have a number of numbers in various positions throughout the grid, the first thing you do is write down the numbers 1-9 below the grid, this is going to be your reference.
Each time you get a set of 9 for each number, you cross it off; it is a basic visual so that you can see where you are at and how you are going.
Now, what you want to do is cross reference your numbers. Here's what I want you to do... to get a visual representation of the grid, and so you know what I am talking about, imagine that you have the grid in front of you. Grid 1 is the top left grid, grid 2 is the top middle, and grid 3 is the top right, grid 4 is the middle left and so on. So when I say that a number is in grid 7, I'm talking about the bottom left grid.
Starting at the number 1, you want to see how many you can cross off easily. Say you have a number 1 in grid 9, and grid 6, that means you only have one spot left for the vertical position in grid 3. Chances are you'll have a number 1 in grids 1 or 2, which will give you the position of the number 1 in grid number 3. Following me?
Now, you go through and see how many that you can cross off quickly with number 1, then number 2, then number 3 etc. through to number 9.
Once you've done that, you're grid should have filled up slightly, sometimes on the first round I'll knock off 6-12 numbers, but here is where the power of this technique comes into play.
When you put a number down that is 100% right, it cancels out that space for any other variables (I'll save the variables technique for a later date). This means that when you go through the numbers 1-9 again, you'll find more numbers to cross off.
This is probably the most basic method for solving a Sudoku puzzle, it is almost important to note that when you have finished a number (you've got all 9 numbers in the grids) that you cross the number off that you noted down below the puzzle. Again, it's a nice visual for you to check and see your progress.
This one method though, should allow you to solve your Sudoku puzzles without that awful mess that most people end up with when they are doing a puzzle, as well as improve the speed at which you solve your puzzles. |
