GridWits
Hard tier Technique 7 of 46 Used by Smart Hint

Hidden Pair

Two digits appear as candidates in only the same two cells of a unit — strip those cells down to just those two digits.

How it works

  1. 1The whole top-right box is drawn. Digits 1 and 5 appear in only two of its cells, G1 and H2 — nowhere else in the box can hold either.
  2. 2Six cells here are still empty, so the four left over don't collapse into a Naked Pair or Triple; nothing before Hidden Pair touches G1 or H2.
  3. 3Those two cells must take 1 and 5 between them, so every other candidate goes — G1 loses its 8, H2 loses its 7.

Play a Sudoku that needs this technique →

A 1 B 2 C 3 D 4 E 5 F 6 G 7 H 8 I 9 1 5 8 3 8 9 7 8 9 2 1 5 7 4 6 3 7 9 3 8 9 1 5 1 5 8 7
  • Cells that establish the pattern
  • Candidate ruled out
Next in the ladder Hidden Triple →

Same idea as Hidden Pair, but three digits are confined to the same three cells.