Minute 17: rather plain in row 2 that 4 can only be in column 4, and therefore 6 in col 3 and 2 in col 8 AND of course column 1 is a 34 in block 1 and a 2 in row 7. Then the last straw for the puzzle was that, in column 7, row 1 was a 349 and row 3 was a 34. A 34 pair was already established in the same rows 1 and 3 in column 1. So, potential UR avoided by placing the 9 in r1c7. Adieu puzzle.

Never an expert ranking. 7 mins. no pencil marks.

With quite a few pairs, not too difficult. 11 mins. no pencil marks.

Tough one .. explanation is good 👌👌

❤

Strange. The most difficult digit to spot was the 9 in r3c2. Which you did. Then the rest is barely above sudoku for advanced beginners. Of course a 9 is now in r9c7, r7c9 etc. 12 minutes notation free.

Leisurly 13 minutes.

Very good one .. 👌👌👍👍

For me, the key at the 13:18 mark was the unique rectangle of 29 pairs in Blocks 7 and 8 which gave me 29 pairs at r7c1 and r9c3 in Block 7. That then made the placement of the 3 at r8c3. Fairly easy after that.

I found it tough, spent 38 minutes on it. The key thing I discovered stemmed from the 3 & 8 pair in C4 and the 8 placement. If R3C4 is 8, R1C9 becomes 8 and R9C9 is 5. If R9C4 is 8, then again R9C9 is 5, so 5 is a write in there regardless of where the 8 is in C4.

Just before you went into adding all the candidates. You can see a Phistomefel Ring on 3, forcing 1:9 to be 3 . The puzzle unwinds from there without the need for all the candidates being filled in.

Around 11th minute re UR of 29s: Zen, it was so obvious if 29 was excluded from cell r9c1, then there was a 29 in r9c3 ! Just look. You know in that block you cannot have a 2 or 9 in the middle row.. For those who like to play with candidates, the first lesson is that the use of candidates is meant to accelerate the findings of actual solutions, not to entering a maze of candidates in cells where they are actually excluded. One example here is that when you find out in block 9 that the 7s are in column 7, the next move is not to contunue entering false candidates, but rather to act on the meaning of the newly found location of those 7s and immediately enter the locked-in 7 in r1c8. From there, you continue movin towards true solutions because your newly acquired knowledge is that you now have a 67 pair in r3c1 and r3c2, and can place actual digits thanks to this newly found restriction, such as the 2 in r3c5, etc. Likewise, entering 2 and 9 as candidates in r9c1, knowing that these candidates are excluded from that cell, seems srange. Fun puzzle, a little bit more difficult for me than the recent editions, but quite enjoyable to do notation free. Finding that naked 4 in block 6 was most productive.

11 mins. no pencil marks.

My slowest ever. 14 mins. no pencil marks, just checking rows and columns and trying to remember what numbers can go in each empty cell.

Interesting. 7 mins.

Another brain teaser. 11 mins. no pencil marks.

The power of the 17 combos... It takes a minute or so to get to the point where we are in the video at minute 8. At that point, we know we have in block 4 a 456 triple in column 3 (with cell r5c3 being a 45. Then we have the greatly positionned 17 in block 6 forcing a 17 pair along row 5 in col 2 and 6 (and also, incidentally, along column 9 in rows 2 and 8) Now in row 5, in columns 7 and 8, we have a 23 (due to 2 and 3 both already intercepting from above in column 9). Therefore there only remains 45 as possibility to complete row 5 in column 9. A 4 is already in column 9, so now, 5 in r5c9 and 4 in r5c3. The rest is very basic sudoku, at best medium level difficulty. 11m25s notation free.

I guess this is a puzzle that particuloarly suits my style of playing. I never hesitated before finding the next restrictions. So playing at a slow pace as usual: 5m47s One example of what I was saying comes up in the situation you have when Zen gets blind sided in the 8th minute. I look at the most congested area of the puzzle, block 3,(the geometry of the area provides a 100% chance of getting at least 1 digit) and 5 seconds later, I have all 5 remaining 2s placed in the puzzle just doing a merry go round dance starting with the 2 in r3c6, then down in block 9, left in block 7, up in blocks 4 and 1.

Not too difficult 7 mins.

Very tizzy puzzle 👍👍

I can't crow too much about my attempts this time as I went wrong on my first one. I got it out the second time though, and found limited rather than full notation worked. Block 9 broke up into 6 & 8 and 3 & 9 pairs, with 7 placed, and that can be seen at the 15 minute mark on the video.

8 mins. no pencil marks.

10 mins. no pencil marks.

11 mins. no pencil marks.

Another super easy, medium level, puzzle with loads of digits clearly restricted as we progress through it. Like at the time you start pencil marks, block 9 with the 19 completing the left side and the 34 squeezed in the remaining cells of row 9, which quickly places a series of 3s and then all the other digits at a sprint pace.

There's a lot in that for a standard LAT puzzle! nice!

Thank you very much for the story. We had Billy the fish,we now have Bully the octopus.Carpe Diem.

Amusing puzzlee, a game of playing with kid's blocks and having the simple geometric sense of placing them where they belonged. The writing was on the map, and of course in block 8, the 9 had to be glued to the 5 right below it. Puzzle done.

Straightforward, about 13 minutes NF, admittedly without doing a running commentary.

Well done.

My slowest ever I think. 13 mins.

An interesting puzzle today. 9 mins.

More than easy. 7 mins.

No pencil marks? Impressive. Finding the 7 without marking seems impossible to me because it involves multiple steps . Is there a name for how you did it? Oh, something I learned this morning, if there is a tie in the US election then it's the House of Representatives that picks the president, not the Senate. The House is the "lower" chamber in our form of government, which is bicameral, like your Parliament.

Well done!

I enjoyed this. 9 mins. no pencil marks.

More interesting puzzle than usual. Of course, just one relatively easy key: the 49 pair in col 6 and 9 of row 4 kills the puzzle.

8 mins. no pencil marks.

Another nice one. 8 mins. no pencil marks.

At 14:00, you had the 47 and 69 pairs in Block 3. That gives you the 8 at r1c9 and the 25 pair. Can't recall what came next, but it was fairly easy.

Right at the start, you establihed you had a full segment 368 in the muddle column and accordingly spotted the 36 pair on the lower right side of block 1. Then you saw the 1 being restricted to either the left or the right in row 1. Sudoku is a very simple piece of construction. The result was 1 in r5c1 and 1 in r1c3, and now 2 in r8c3. You can now proceed to determine the full contents of all the column in the left chute, leaving only for determination how to disambiguate the elevations of some of the digits, eg. 47 pair on the left side of block 1. Nice easy puzzle.

Nice one. 10 mins. no pencil marks.

An interesting puzzle today. 11 mins. no pencil marks.

At 4 minutes, if you start looking at the powerful restrictions that have become apparent rather than away from them, you have a 28 pair in row 7 at col 1 and 6; also in col 5 a triple 689 in rows 2,6 and 9 leaving a 23 pair in rows 4 and 8. Puzzle done.

At 10:05, there is a 5,6,7,9 quad in Row 7 at r7c4, r7c7, r7c8, and r7c9. That leaves a 2,8 pair at r7c1 and r7c6. As a result, the 5s in Block 8 must be at r7c4 and r9c4. All that gives you the 5 in Block 5 at r5,c6. The puzzle falls apart completely after that. It was almost like magic.

Easy for a change. 8 mins. no pencil marks.

Bravo!

Minute 10, having placed a 9 in r1c6, you now have in column 6 a 36 pair in rows 5 and 8, and thus, 7 in r5c4, r2c6 and r1c1, 6 in r2c1 and r1c9, etc. Easy finish. 11m notation free.

no minuto 16, vc tinha 6 e 4, na coluna 9, dando 5 e 3 na coluna 7, matando o jogo

I enjoyed this one. 9 mins. no pencil marks.