Teach Yourself A New Sudoku Trick!

** IF YOU HAVE EVER ENJOYED ONE OF OUR VIDEOS... **
Then give yourself 17 minutes of joy by watching this video... which features neither Mark nor Simon!
• Oh No! What Has Happen...
** TODAY'S PUZZLE **
A classic sudoku today - a rarity on the channel nowadays because of the sheer number of incredible variant sudokus we see. But this one's by jovi_al, which means it's special... is it true you Can't Teach An Old Dog...
Play the puzzle at the link below:
app.crackingthecryptic.com/su...
Rules:
Normal sudoku rules apply. ie Place the digits 1 to 9 in the grid such that each row, column and 3x3 box contains all the digits 1 through 9 once each.
** NEW PATREON SOLVE **
Simon has recorded his solve of Mr Menace's EXCEPTIONAL puzzle Masyudoku. This is so good that Simon is a tiny bit concerned that it might be enjoyed by a wider audience, despite its ruleset (which is much easier to get to grips with if the solver has a working knowledge of the Japanese logic puzzle Masyu).
You can find the puzzle here and watch Simon's solve on Patreon:
logic-masters.de/Raetselporta...
And there's also The 12 Labours Of Hercules - a fantastic sudoku hunt by Peter Veenis, Aspartagcus and Panthera - with original art by Peter! We'll be releasing the solution videos for this one soon.
/ crackingthecryptic
** NEW GAS PACK IS OUT **
The new GAS pack is out on Steam for PC here:
store.steampowered.com/app/21...
It's already out on Android and App Store. 60 original puzzles by Sam Cappleman-Lynes, Clover and Philip Newman!! Earn party hats and dinosaurs with these brand new puzzles!
We've also released a FREE app full of handmade puzzles to celebrate reaching 500k subscribers - simply download the Cracking The Cryptic app on Android, Steam or App Store and then select the 500k pack. We're streaming a playthrough of this app and you can watch all seven episodes
▶ Contact Us ◀
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(Please note to use our real names rather than 'Cracking The Cryptic'.)
▶ SUDOKU PAD - Our New App ◀
You can input classic sudoku puzzles into our software and help support Sven, the programmer responsible for the wonderful user interface we all use to play these puzzles everyday. The app also comes with 12 handmade puzzles from us:
iOS:
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Steam: store.steampowered.com/app/17...
Android:
play.google.com/store/apps/de...
ALSO on Amazon: Search for “SudokuPad”
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[@jovi_al]

Hi Simon! Very very thrilled to see this puzzle featured! I was not meaning to insinuate that you were an old dog, hehe! The title is due to this puzzle containing some of the oldest and most well-known tricks in all of Sudoku (those tricks being the "old dog"), but showcased in a novel and easy-to-spot way. Thank you so much as always for your kindness and joy while solving! I hope more people get excited about the beauty within classic Sudoku!

[@anaphysik]

In that case, perhaps a better name would've been "Can Teach a New Dog Old Tricks."

[@sxmchn]

Great puzzle to introduce x-wings to newcomers!

[@longwaytotipperary]

❤ this one!

[@darreljones8645]

I thought it was because the givens in the middle, along with those in the upper-left and lower-right corners, resemble a bone.

[@grahamrskelly6042]

My vote for one of the puzzles to include in the best sudoku book vol 2. really fun that.

[@SourceOfBeing]

A rare occasion where Simon enjoys it when a sudoku makes him do sudoku.

[@Moolers]

It's nice to see a classic sudoku every now and then.

[@jon_flop_boat]

Shye is something special. In one of my books, there’s a distinction between academics that do spell research, and casters that leverage discovered magics to perform great feats. Pilots are not the same as engineers. Every time I watch a Shye puzzle, I get to glimpse into the mind of someone who discovers new pieces of magic. 👌🏽

[@gregorysantos7624]

Really proud of myself for spotting the double x-wings AND the y-wing all on my own. 2 years of watching Cracking The Cryptic has paid off!

[@MedusaMrigesh]

same for me haha. also this was the first classic sudoku I really enjoyed solving, usually I find them either quite boring or too hard

[@jovi_al]

thank you for solving!!

[@guanyin19]

Well done!

[@luketurner314]

Me too

[@ry-guy_]

I just started actually doing the puzzles a week ago and got the x-wing but not the y-wing. I ended up with everything colored different ways and pencil marked to hell then watched the video up to the y-wing and could finish it for there. The classic ones are harder for me sometimes because I always feel like I can pencil mark my way through when you really shouldn't do it that way. Variant sudoku it is clear you should think more deeply.

[@_mnejing]

I felt so smart when I found the first X-wing. Then I found the second one right away, and I realized what was happening. Seeing the Y-wing form as a result, I was like "this Sudoku made me feel smart. I like that." I like that, even though I know those tricks, I still struggle to find them. It's fun to see the video unwind the same way, and to have the same reactions as Simon. The way this puzzle unfolded felt so natural and, honestly, legitimately rewarding. Thanks :)

[@jovi_al]

thanks for solving!! glad you had fun, that's always the ultimate goal!

[@krblumen]

One thing that I spotted right away was that the given 1 and 3 in box 2 meant a 13 pair in row 1. Same for box 8 giving a 15 pair in row 9, box 4 giving a 26 pair in column 1 and box 6 giving a 24 pair in column 9. From there the 2 x-wings were evident!

[@haniapopowska8966]

I spotted that also and it was a bit sad that Simon didn't.

[@johnbridger5629]

Simon pointed out this kind of pattern a couple of years ago referring (I think) to the NY Times puzzles. It's what helped me to spot it.

[@scarrow]

I totally failed to pick this up and resorted to much more manual labor than necessary, but I was also sad when Simon didn't immediately pick this up.

[@alantaylor846]

More classics like this would surely be welcome!

[@Coyotek4]

When I first came to this channel a few years ago, I would have found a puzzle like this to be quite challenging. Now? Finished in under 10 minutes (9:05) with no guesswork and a lot of wings (X- and Y-). Thank you, CTC, and I look forward to getting Volume 2 next year! Nice classic!

[@AlexanderDaniel]

heyy same with me ! i only cheated a little bit cause i didnt recognized the 1 & 2 xwings cancelling out those 4 squares, but this is the first puzzle featured on this channel i 90% completed myself 👏🏻👏🏻 lets goooo

[@tremkl]

It’s not always an option with complex variants, but one thing I really appreciate in good puzzle setting is when the puzzle helps guide to the solution. The X-wings being 1 and 2 helps suggest they might be a paired idea, and I love that the 1/2 x-wings leads to a 789 bent triple.

[@jon_flop_boat]

I don’t know if I’ve seen a puzzle that does this, yet, but I’d *love* to see a puzzle that hammers element X, then element Y, and culminates in a discovered technique that requires knowledge of both X and Y. Like, if this puzzle had required (I swear I didn’t do this on purpose, even though I’m sure that’s difficult to believe given what I’ve said immediately before this) solving given Y-wings to get the digits for the X-wings before culminating in the (showcased) XY-wing. “Recursion is the only thing shaped like itself; everything else is shaped like recursion.”

[@jovi_al]

Thank you! People often say "the digits don't matter in classic" but I'm of the opinion they absolutely do! having [123] look suspicious for example makes the solver think "hey, this is probably on purpose..."

[@jovi_al]

@@jon_flop_boat I'd be happy to give it a try in classic!

[@jon_flop_boat]

@@jovi_al :D

[@TheAntibozo]

I solved this by marking the Phistomefel corners and ring and eliminating from both. This eventually yielded the result that 1 and 2 could not appear in the ring.

[@alessandrobuzzin7982]

My 1st CTC puzzle solved ever :) :) :) :) i'm feeling pretty strong right now! :D

[@longwaytotipperary]

Congratulations!👏🏻

[@Anne_Mahoney]

Welcome to the family!

[@user-cf2ki3mw3b]

I actually used the phistomefel ring to delete the 12 center marks and spot the Y wing in the corners of the ring

[@cruxofthecookie]

Me too! I was so proud of myself. From the setup it seemed like that would be important (only 4 digits missing), but Simon ignored it?

[@angeleia]

I did too!!! Glad I am not the only one :-)

[@ElliottP2009]

Had to look though a lot of the comments to see this. With how complex the puzzles we usually see on this channel are I'm surprised more people didn't catch this 😒

[@tangrybird04]

At first I was thinking “no way I could probably solve this but I’ll give it a try” and turns out I solved it 😊 I was very surprised I spotted the trick myself

[@brenthooton3412]

This is maybe the best tutorial I've seen on the bent triple because of how clearly the puzzle guides you toward it... both from the interaction of the X-wings and from the symmetry.

[@CineMiamParis]

Tried this puzzle when it first came out. 50 min, and I was happy, as it was one of my first non-GAS successes. Did it again 2 months later. 17 min. This channel is doing wonders for my brain. Thank you all.

[@angeleia]

Loved this - I thought that Phistomophels ring would be the “new trick” especially with so many of the given digits being in the corners and it got me to the point of realising that 1s and 2s couldn’t be on the corners of the ring - but probably more elegantly (and simply) solved through X and Y wing logic! Am I the only person who when solving the puzzle before watching Simon, who tries to guess which colours he will use and get very happy when we end up picking the same ones? 😅

[@Mitrasmit]

Interesting to see how Simon didn't spot you can instantly fill in all 8 x-wing cells with pairs. Not sure it sped something up, but it was the first thing I noticed.

[@mikegrandgenet8531]

Exactly, the given digits in boxes 2, 4, 6 and 8 can immediately be placed as pairs on their respective 'base line', and in return give the missing triples on the boxes.

[@pinkladykay05]

This drove me crazy! I wanted him to see this magic!

[@jasonsmith1950]

After a lot of pencil-marking, I noticed the triples on the edges. Which led me to the pairs. The pairs then led to the x-wing which in turn led to the y-wing.

[@jovi_al]

hehe, those pairs and spotting the x-wing via those was the intention!

[@Anne_Mahoney]

@@mikegrandgenet8531 Yes, that was the first thing I noticed (even before the 4 in box 4, in fact).

[@mistersaurus_]

It's very nice to watch you solve regular sudokus! it feels more relaxed :)

[@sxmchn]

What a nice classic puzzle to introduce X-wings and how to scan for cells affected by them for newcomers. 2 years ago I didn't even know about them and today I actually spotted everything, 12:54 for me.

[@memyself8340]

Was this puzzle featuring just to show us commenters that Simon can actually do soduko in a soduko puzzle? Well done, and very enjoyable to watch!

[@SmartHobbies]

Great puzzle. I love it when they feature Classic Sudokus and hope to see more on this channel soon.

[@arthurcharest9061]

Love this video, I’ve been really trying to understand Y-Wings and your explanation really helped strengthen my understanding. These “easier” puzzles are a nice change of pace. Great job by Jovi_al!

[@3MRU]

Loved the pussle and I would love to see more classic sudokus. They are still my favourite type of sudoku when I find great ones.

[@tank2045]

Simon has taught me everything I know about solving Sudoku problems, but I'm still just a novice. While I did see the X-Wings right away, I still missed the "1-2" negative constraints in (R3C3, R3C7, R7C3, R7C7)...Meaning I never came close to solving this one...

[@rotatingmind]

I enjoy classic sudoku the most, and I would love it to see more of these on this channel.

[@leojs5673]

innovative classic sudokus are always a treat!

[@murphy9453]

Love Classic Sudokus! this one was especially challenging. Would like to see more like this.

[@brendonmurley8276]

Wow - finally got one of these without having to watch Simon at all. Thank you Xwings and Phistofomel!

[@GioPanStudios]

That bent triple felt like finding a $10 bill in between the couch cushions.

[@scotthogfoss3975]

I love seeing classic sudoku, more please!

[@shye229]

yay a jovi puzzle!! loved this one, so beautifully crafted

[@amoswittenbergsmusings]

I clocked 11:46. How much we owe to CtC! In those early days I would not have spotted an X-wing if you would have hit me on the head with it. Now those 1s and 2s were just screaming. Then I watched Simon leading evensong. I can go to sleep now. I don't fear the terrors of the night after receiving CtC's blessing 🙏

[@VeritasUnae]

It’s lovely to see in the end that the given digit diagonals are actually pointing to the squares revealed by the X-Wings. This was a lovely solve to watch this morning! Wonderful setting jovial c:

[@Ardalambdion]

We should have more classical sudokus revealing 'new' tricks and strategies, because I am often stuck when having to switch into my 'classical' mind in puzzles that also use other clues.

[@llsilvertail561]

Definitely coming back to this one.

[@ronjohnson6916]

This showcases the true strength of the channel. Nice guys having fun. Helps that the logic is explained so well. I can't tell you how many times an explanation of an X wing or a Y wing made no impression on me. Thanks to the explanation on the channel I can not only spot them, but I understand their impact. Nice bit of constructing by jovi_al to link the two.

[@varshaaruchamy9004]

What I love about Simon's video is he explained the trick very clearly for new viewers even if he explained the same in the previous videos

[@MomDoc99]

I would like to see more classic Sudokus on CTC, please.

[@jaredgudnason4400]

22 minutes on that one, nice solve path.. spotted the outside edge constraints right away, took a few minutes to clue into the inside 1/3 constraints, and after that just normal smooth sailing. Thanks!

[@stephenvale2624]

Finally a puzzle where I can almost keep up with Simon's solution.

[@francoisduez601]

12:42 It has been a while since I haven't solved and enjoyed a classic so much! Thanks jovi_al 🙃

[@KinkyTurtle]

That was easy! Although, Simon, I figure you'd be horrified by the method I used: I Goodliffed the ENTIRE GRID. Hey, it worked for me!

[@tomgalli1188]

I spotted the bent triple, but didn't realize its power. I had the X-wings in place, and had pencil-marked everything, and still couldn't see how to move forward. I watched a step of the video, compared it to my work, nodded sagely, watched a little more of the video, etc. Once the magic of the bent triple was revealed, the puzzle absolutely surrendered. Lovely!

[@de8o]

Very happy with my 15:54 time. Being able to solve anything other then a GAS video is a bonus for me.

[@CalQdeX]

This seems like a perfect puzzle to introduce a beginner to added logic beyond simple sodoku.

[@MartsGarage]

That was great. I can do classics as long as they are straight forward (NYT type stuff) I couldn't have done this one but did understand the principles of the X wing and bent triple. Thanks very much Simon and jovi_al for a very enjoyable classic. Mart in Solihull.

[@penningmeestercgkdelft9159]

8:28 for me. After spotting the central Y-wing in rows/columns 3 and 7, the whole puzzle just collapsed and gave up its resistance. :-) Very satisfying!

[@Anne_Mahoney]

I believe the term you want is "rolled over and let you tickle its tummy"!

[@dilbert719]

Super happy to have completed this in 14:30. Granted, I pencil marked the grid to a point that Mark would have klunked me upside the head for, let alone Simon, but watching all the various digit combinations fall away as I spied first the triples in c1 and c9, then the x wings, then the y wing, and from there the remainder of the puzzle falling into place, was rather beautiful. I was very, very afraid that this would indeed involve new tricks, which would likely stop me in my tracks, but an elegant application of tricks I already know? That's just good fun.

[@paulakeay4317]

I appreciate the classic sudokus and enjoy trying them before you show how to do them, it’s helping me to learn how to identify and apply the logic and improve. This was a great one!

[@paulakeay4317]

After a year of this hobby and having vastly improved at sudoku due to playing a lot of puzzles, this is still my very favourite sudoku. Such excellent telegraphing leads to a beautiful and fun solve path, which really showcases the impressive setting skills required to set it too.

[@KalikiDoom]

I would like to see more classic Sudoku, and diagonal ones. I very much enjoy these.

[@wanderlustwarrior]

16:21 for me, and wow, that was a very clever puzzle! I definitely could've made some improvements on my time, but I'm happy with it! This takes me back to that one puzzle where all the possibilities were given, and we had to spot all the bent triangles.

[@wanderlustwarrior]

Yup, tried it again and got it in 7:12 by focusing on a different starting point, but of course it's too soon after my initial solve to say I went in blind.

[@nakymatonlapsiN]

this is a really nice puzzle to see your own progress with spotting and using solving patterns

[@georgeaman1938]

A really nice puzzle! Thank you Simon and jovi_al.

[@zincfive]

Pleased with myself that I found the break-in. I guess watching thousands of solves and solving hundreds of gas puzzles is paying off... 12 1/2 minutes for me!

[@tymeryder7264]

love the classics.

[@Rose-ou2xj]

First time I've ever attempted a puzzle on the channel. 15 minutes smack on! I'm so proud of myself

[@rebellucyanne]

just came from doing this and succeeded. Takes me a while but i'm here to see the shortcuts and learn the names of things i might be doing

[@tompendleton4555]

8:40 So that's the new trick, the Feinman wing. And that exhausts most of my knowledge of physics...

[@piarittersporn]

Beautiful puzzle.

[@quothacreations3465]

great instructional sudoku, jovi_al--made me think I'm a master at spotting x-wings and bent triples--brilliant! thanks jovi_al and Simon

[@danielwcrompton]

Loved it, did it in 28:42. I didn't spot the x-wings until I filled in the obvious pairs in r1, r9, c1 and c9

[@th.nd.r]

Oh my goodness!!! What a puzzle!!!! jovi_al as usual being the absolute beast of a setter she is!!! Wow. X-wings into a bent-triple into a digit into the x-wings being solved into the rest of it falling apart so pleasantly, what a beauty of a solve path. Well set and well solved!

[@oldguydoesstuff120]

I also enjoyed this one. Found the X wings pretty quickly, then after a bit of faffing about, found the Y-wing after fixing a pencil mark. I did notice one other thing that I'm sure others have already mentioned. In addition to the 1 and 2, there was another digit in each of boxes 2468 that had to join the 1 or 2. That gives a pair in rows 1 9 and columns 1 9. I spotted these pairs before noticing the X wing. Just another nice touch jovi_al inserted in to this fun puzzle.

[@DanielVita]

Super fun classic puzzle!

[@lichterin143]

needed the starting help with the 2-X-Wing, but solved it quickly after that - fun puzzle!

[@Saykiata]

Fantastic puzzle!

[@Adrian_Grey]

This is a really neat puzzle. I usually struggle to find X-wings and Y-wings, but this was so beautifully telegraphed, I spotted the trick pretty quickly. Solved it in just over 11 minutes.

[@missy1806]

Just found your channel recently so trying the easier ones with-out the lines and filling in colours atm. This was a very interesting puzzle, I had to pencil in a lot since you could do that from the numbers inside the middle outer cells to fill in all the variables in the outer grid, then pencilled the other numbers till I found the number I needed to exterminate and find the other values. Never knew about x wing and y wing tricks you showed which was interesting. It took me 14 minutes to complete but enjoyed it.

[@dicebar_]

Given how complicated some of the recent sudokus have been, I haven't even been trying them. I regret not trying this one, though. It looked really cool!

[@SkylersRants]

The ones and twos each had a second x-wing that I found really useful.

[@timcotton1782]

Simon, the pattern around the perimeter, accompanied by the two given digits in each of Boxes 2, 4, 6, and 8, permit a quicker entry. Using Row1 and Boxes 123 as example, the five digits missing in the Row are 12378. The given 1 & 3 push those digits outside of Box2 for a pair in R1C3/R1C7, leaving a 278 triple in Row1 of Box2. Repeating this in each perimeter Row/Col exposes the x-wings of 1s and 2s, and since there 'seems' to be nothing else to work from, a brief scan for cells with only two candidates reveals the Y-wing. As soon as the 3 is placed in R7C3, everything drops like dominoes.

[@shahinulkhan7879]

Please do more “simple” sudoku’s. It really helps my learning. My software doesn’t have colours. Did not see that 3 in R7C3. Once you found me that the rest was a doddle. Thanks a lot Simon.

[@tomsommerville]

I liked that all of the 1s & 2s in boxes 1, 3, 7, and 9 were involved in X-wings :)

[@1988Valley]

Hi, really enjoyed and felt good after solving it.

[@Kinada]

The outside of the grid was the first thing that I noticed. The way the central boxes force their given digits into pairs in the outer rows highlights the x-wings pretty well.

[@srwapo]

16:51, found some neat tricks, kept from over pencil marking, would never have solved this, much less this quickly, before watching so much of this channel. I think I've seen these tricks before, I didn't remember them straight away, but was able to figure out the logic on my own.

[@finbarrhayes5878]

Love classic and killer sudoku.

[@grenvillephillips6998]

Nothing less than Art!

[@feldegast]

Great puzzle, would love to see more standard soduku of this quality 😉

[@ersatz_ben]

16:41 solve! Lovely puzzle. Years of watching c2c paid off nicely!

[@chrisleverne]

going through the backlog of my CTC videos, I finally tried one for myself again as this seemed "straight-forward" enough given the classic sudoku ruleset. Sadly still needed some help from watching Simon solve it but I do give myself a small pat on the back for not only spotting both the x-wings but also trying to apply the Phistomefel Ring to the puzzle as well and using the latter to try and limit some of the given digits. Made quite a mistake in box 9, though, so had to see Simon solve parts of to at least confirm for myself how much I got right and then saw my error :) Great puzzle, wonderful setting and as always an amazing solve!

[@rogerjones8809]

I like the x wings, I was aware of them, but never really used them to solve a puzzle. I never use pencil marks which makes it take longer. Nice trick which helps crack it open!

[@pardox28]

After I solve this puzzle, I noticed a quicker way I could have noticed what the two given pairs of digits in boxes 2, 4, 6, & 8 were helping to filling row 1, column 1, column 9, and row 9 respectively. That would then help show the X wings on 1s and 2s quicker, which would have allowed the bent triple to have been found sooner as well. Perhaps had I noticed all that I would have solved this puzzle faster than the 35:00 it took me to solve. A fun puzzle & I do enjoy when Classics are showcased.

[@alienrenders]

9:36 for me. Nice little puzzle. Telegraphed x wings that cross each other, then look at where those intersections are for a nice y wing.

[@ServantOfSatania]

19:45 What a neat trick, not too complex either As a sidenote and slight spoiler for people who haven't solved it, you can actually go a step further with the ones and twos after discovering the pattern and reduce them into either-or positions in the corner boxes

[@jbarrer2196]

I thoroughly enjoy your videos. I'm relatively new to Sudoku. I found another X-wing. Go to time 16:53 in your video. Notice that in row 3, cols 2 and 8 must contain the 1. Same for row 7, cols 2 and 8 contain the 1 so you have an X-wing. Notice that in rows 2 and 8, the 2 must be in either col 3 or 7. another x-wing. it is relatively easy to finish the puzzle from there.

[@jasonmontgomery6122]

This was a milestone for me. I've been able to learn some of the variants to work within, and I've been able to even do some big bears that are featured on the channel. But just simple, normal Sudoku has been intimidating me lately. I miss out on simple things and fail to make natural deductions. I was very pleased to solve this one, and then even more ecstatic to see that Simon did it in the EXACT SAME WAY. I RECOGNIZED a Y-WING! I DID IT!!! Look out, Phistomefel. I'll be messing up your puzzles in no time...

[@jovi_al]

thanks for solving!! so glad you enjoyed!!

[@cathybryant5119]

Congrats!!

[@Alteram]

Somehow I instantly saw the pairs you could mark down in rows 1 and 9, columns 1 and 9. ie: the 13, 15, 26, 24 pairs, which let you mark the triples on each side as well.

[@hoodwatcher8665]

love the video, greetings from cologne

[@zynzane9680]

once you said "I have a feeling it has to do with these cells" (where the two Boxes intersect) I saw the triple and the cell they affected and solved the rest like knocking over dominos! I hope to someday be able to spot that on my own. X-wing is a confusing term and to myself I call that pattern a "box". Any shape of box where all four corners have the same number pinned (pencil marked). I love the classics and wish you featured a lot more classic puzzles with no additional rules. Thanks to your channel I can solve a lot of the classics now. When I say "I saw the triple" it's because I still do it the novice way by filling in all the possibilities. That way I can more easily see the patterns and that triple was obvious. Without doing that I can't solve them, but that's fine as I do it for my own enjoyment and I can't see the patterns without it the way the experts can. It takes about six minutes to mass fill all the cells and then just delete "what I see" rather than having to figure out for each cell what the possibilities are. This is after I do the sweeps and pinning and fill in any given solves there. Eventually I hope to be able to find all the patterns without filling everything in but I am sure enjoying it. Thank you Simon and Mark!

[@grahamrskelly6042]

This puzzle gets my vote for one of the best Sudoku for the coming book. It is a joy and amazing that I can solve that. This puzzle made me feel smart ;-}

[@psiphiorg]

Got it in 9:08! Very clever tricks here, quite nice.

[@Kirbyfan87827]

Finished in 11:46 with help from the video- I noticed the two X-wings on my own well enough, but it didn't hit me that they interacted until I started to watch the video, and once I did, I was able to discover the bent triple.

[@michaelhoffman2011]

Very fun puzzle. About 15 mins for me. Clever little logic trick.

[@pelahnar4]

I found the x-wings _and_ the y-wing on my own. I'm so proud of myself. (especially the y-wing. I'm very bad at recognizing y-wings)

[@harrykeogh3994]

Given how many different variants there are I'm not normally a fan of Classic Sudoku but this one was excellent, really enjoyed it even though I did go down a rabbit hole of having the 1/2 X-Wings coupled with 3/5s & 4/6s which lead to a much slower way of eliminating cell options before spotting the Y-Wing. Got there in the end

[@georgewhyte7096]

19:19 Very nice classic. Well done Jovi_al made Simon sweat a bit.

[@JohnRandomness105]

Surprise! I actually did it without any help from the video! A couple of X-wings (2 and 1), a little help from the P-ring (also 2 and 1). Corner-penciling *three* digits in a block, center-penciling a lot of pairs, and a final Y-wing on the corners of the P-ring. (That *had* to be intentional.) Yes, I would like more classics.

[@KestrelQ]

Ahh classic sudoku, my old nemesis. Thank you for teaching us! Edit: It's kinda crazy actually, everything you showed us looks so clear when you see it, but seeing it at all is the problem. Once I saw you point out the double X wing, I could finish everything from there. I'll be taking this into every sudoku from now on! By the way, is there a possibility to add functionality to the CTC app to double click a number and it highlights all the numbers? It'd be a handy QOL feature :)

[@leppyr64]

Which platform are you using the CTC app on? This feature exists on Android by long pressing on the digit.

[@zincfive]

@@leppyr64 Also on the web. Maybe Kestrel means on the keypad on the side, some software does this, it's handy...

[@KestrelQ]

@@leppyr64 I use it on Steam. There is an option to highlight matching numbers, but it's either on or off; sometimes I want it and sometimes I don't so it'd be nice to have a specific method to do it in real time :)

[@leppyr64]

@@KestrelQ Oh you don't mean SudokuPad, you mean the other new app that has the 500k puzzles etc. Yeah, its either on or off. I've found the developer to be quite open to feedback when asked with other issues. I suggest you reach out to them.

[@damadclown]

I didn't know about the X and Y wing but I found an opening with the Phistomefel ring