GridWits
Extreme tier Technique 27 of 31 Used by Smart Hint

Bent Clue Trio

Three clues arranged around a bend can force edges only when their shared dots are checked together.

How it works

  1. 1Same idea as the Quad Window, stretched to a 2x3 rectangle — six cells checked as one, so it holds two fully-enclosed middle dots instead of one.
  2. 2That width is the point here: these three clues bend around a corner, so no 2x2 square and no straight run of three covers them together, and every cheaper rung on the ladder is stuck on this board.
  3. 3Try every way of drawing the rectangle's edges that gives the 2 two lines, the 1 one and the 3 three, with legal counts at both enclosed dots.
  4. 4The 3's top and bottom are lines in every combination that survives, so draw them. Cover the 2 up and nothing follows at all — the bend really is carrying the deduction.
2 1 3
  • Edge the technique adds
  • Cells that establish the pattern
Next in the ladder Extra Long Dead End →

Follow a candidate through more than fifteen forced continuations. If that extended chain eventually leaves the line with no exit, the original candidate is ruled out.