GridWits
Expert tier Technique 8 of 9 Used by Smart Hint

Linked Sources

A numbered clue and a dark cell's possible light sources can constrain one another just like a pair of clues.

How it works

  1. 1The crossed dark cell at row 3 column 2 has only two possible light sources left: row 1 column 2 or row 3 column 1.
  2. 2The corner 1 likewise needs exactly one of row 1 column 2 and row 2 column 1.
  3. 3Row 2 column 1 sees row 3 column 1, so those two cannot both be bulbs. If row 1 column 2 were empty, both obligations would force that forbidden pair.
  4. 4Therefore row 1 column 2 is a bulb. This is neither two clues nor coverage alone: the conclusion appears only after linking one constraint of each kind.
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  • Cells that establish the pattern
  • Bulb this technique places
Next in the ladder Trial and Refutation →

Try a cell both ways: reject a branch that fails, or keep any other mark both surviving branches agree on.