GridWits
Easy tier Technique 6 of 31 Used by Smart Hint

Naked Pair

Two cells in a house sharing the same two candidates lock those digits away from the rest.

How it works

  1. 1Find two cells in one house whose candidates are the same pair, say {3,8}.
  2. 2Between them they use up both 3 and 8 — in some order, but certainly both.
  3. 3No other cell in that house can be 3 or 8, so strike both digits everywhere else in it.
Next in the ladder Hidden Pair →

Two digits confined to the same two cells in a house clear those cells of everything else.