GridWits
Medium tier Technique 5 of 20 Used by Smart Hint

Naked Pair

Two cells in a row or column share the exact same two candidates — remove those values from the rest of the line.

How it works

  1. 1The first two cells of this row both have exactly the candidates 1 and 2.
  2. 2Between them they will use up both the 1 and the 2 — you don't need to know which way round.
  3. 3So no other cell in the row can be 1 or 2. Strike them: the third cell is down to 3 or 4, the fourth to 3, 4 or 5, the last to 4 or 5.
  4. 4Note that this leaves no cell solved. The pair narrows the rest of the row; it does not finish it, and on a row this wide nothing cheaper would have narrowed anything at all.
1 2 1 2 1 2 3 4 2 3 4 5 1 4 5
  • Candidates this technique rules out
  • Cells read together — The connecting line shows which cells combine to make the deduction.
  • Conclusion — The coloured candidate, or the final arrow when it lands outside the pattern, shows the result.
Next in the ladder Naked Triple →

Three cells in a row or column whose candidates combine to exactly three values — eliminate those values elsewhere in the line.