Thermo · Hard

Naked Pair in Thermo 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 a Thermo board this works exactly as in Classic. The examples are from Thermo puzzles on this site. The thermometers often make the pair, by cutting a cell down to two candidates.

Worked examples

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

A pair in a row

Hard puzzle · Naked Pair

In row 2, 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 Thermo puzzles are the first to need it.

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

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

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

The worked examples, every step

A pair in a row

Hard Thermo puzzle · Naked Pair

  1. In row 2, look for two cells that hold the same two candidates between them.
  2. R2C4, R2C8 hold only {5, 9}. Those two digits must fill those two cells, so no other cell in row 2 can use them. The arrows point to the cells that lose them.
  3. Eliminate {5, 9} from R2C2.
  4. Done: 5 is eliminated from R2C2.

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