Arrow · Hard

Naked Pair in Arrow Sudoku

Two cells in a house that hold the same two candidates. Those two digits are theirs.

The idea

When two cells in a house hold only the same two candidates, no other cell in the house can use those two digits.

On an Arrow board this works exactly as in Classic. The examples are from Arrow puzzles on this site. The arrows often make the pair, by cutting a cell down to two candidates.

Worked examples

A position from a real Arrow puzzle on this site. Step through it: the board lights what each step talks about, and the red lines show what rules what out.

A pair in a column

Hard puzzle · Naked Pair

In column 3, look for two cells that hold the same two candidates between them.

Step 1 of 4Step 2 of 4Step 3 of 4Step 4 of 4

Where it fits

HardNaked Pair is a Hard technique: Hard Arrow puzzles are the first to need it.

The Classic Naked Pair lesson teaches it on a plain 9×9 board. The Arrow overview explains the rule and the levels.

Naked Pair in the other styles: Sudoku X, Jigsaw, Thermo, Windoku, Kropki.

Try it on a Hard Arrow puzzle. Next Step points it out when it is the move.

The worked examples, every step

A pair in a column

Hard Arrow puzzle · Naked Pair

  1. In column 3, look for two cells that hold the same two candidates between them.
  2. R3C3, R8C3 hold only {3, 5}. Those two digits must fill those two cells, so no other cell in column 3 can use them. The red lines point to the cells that lose them.
  3. Eliminate {3, 5} from R1C3, R6C3, R7C3.
  4. Done: 5 is eliminated from R1C3; 3 is eliminated from R6C3; 3 and 5 are eliminated from R7C3.

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