GridWits
Expert tier Technique 17 of 20 Used by Smart Hint

Swordfish

A value's candidate cells across three rows (or columns) line up in the same three columns (or rows) — eliminate it everywhere else in those columns or rows.

How it works

  1. 1Across rows 1, 3 and 5, every remaining candidate for digit 5 lies in columns 1, 3 or 5.
  2. 2Those three rows each need a 5, so together they occupy all three cover columns — this is the three-line extension of X-Wing.
  3. 3Remove 5 from those columns in every other row. The three candidates shown in row 2 are all outside the pattern rows and can be struck.
1 5 2 5 3 5 4 5 2 5 3 5 4 5 2 5 1 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 Cross-Line Consistency →

This row or column has only a few orderings left — any one that would leave some other row or column with no way to finish is out, and a value used by none of the survivors can be struck.