Sudoku solution - New York Times 22 June 2024 Hard level

[@georgesthibaudeau1533]

Fun puzzle - note how in the middle horizontal range of blocks, the 2s need to be either up or down in blocks 4 and 5 and hence in the middle irow of block 6; the 3s must be either up or down in blocks 5 and 6 (and hence r6c6 is a 23 bi-value cell) - and the 9s are either up ordown in blocks 4 and 6. Whatever you do with this, the 6 will end up in the central cell of block 4 and hence, in r6c9 in block 6 (disambiguating the 16 pair of block 9. Note that the 6 was in column 9 because the two cells on the left of it was either a 35 or a 59 pair. With this, the puzzle becomes particularly easy: 6m59s notation free.

[@mikehackett3749]

Regarding yesterday’s NYT difficulty, I would say it was because the triple in block 9, which was key, was quite difficult to spot without pencil-marking the entire block.

[@Ramakrishnagm]

PPPE, 16 min. Thanks.