GridWits
Medium tier Technique 7 of 21 Smart Hint: Skyscrapers

Naked Pair

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

How it works

  1. 1The first two cells of this row are down to the same two heights, {1, 3}.
  2. 2Whichever way round they fall, between them they use up the row's 1 and its 3.
  3. 3So neither height can appear anywhere else in the row. Strike both from the other two cells.
  4. 4That settles nothing — both are left holding {2, 4} — and it doesn't need to. Eliminations first; the placements come out of what the tidier line says next.
1 3 1 3 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
  • Height ruled out
  • Relationship — The arrow shows which cells support the deduction.
  • Conclusion — The final arrow lands beside the proved or ruled-out height.
Next in the ladder Line Consistency Sparse (5+ Blanks) →

The same line-ordering check on a line that is still mostly blank — little to anchor it, so nearly every arrangement the clue allows has to be weighed. Same idea as Line Consistency, a good deal more work.