Sudoku King
Lesson 7 of 15Intermediate Strategy

"Obvious triples" technique.

This Sudoku solving technique is built upon the previous one - "Obvious pairs". But "Obvious triples" is not based on two numbers from the Notes, it's based on three. This is the only difference. To understand better, let's take a look at the example.

Strategy Breakdown & Step-by-Step Guide

This Sudoku solving technique is built upon the previous one - "Obvious pairs". But "Obvious triples" is not based on two numbers from the Notes, it's based on three. This is the only difference. To understand better, let's take a look at the example.

Look at the top left block. Its three bottom cells contain notes of 1, 5; 1, 8 & 5, 8. This means that these cells have number 1, 5 & 8 in them but we don't know yet where each number is exactly. What we know though, is that 1, 5 & 8 can't be in other cells of this block.

So, we can remove them from the notes.

That is how "Obvious Triples" technique works while solving Sudoku.

Board Illustrations (3 examples)

Obvious triples step 1
Step 1 of 3
Obvious triples step 2
Step 2 of 3
Obvious triples step 3
Step 3 of 3
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Pro Strategy Tip

When you encounter a difficult board, scan rows and columns first before looking at 3×3 blocks. Using notes (pencil marks) systematically is the cornerstone of spotting both obvious and hidden patterns!