Puzzles / Sudoku

Set it by hand. Know it solves.

Place your givens and the builder answers what every setter asks, on every keystroke: is there one solution, how does a person solve it, and how hard is it?

Sunday Sudoku #12DraftAuto savedPlayFinish

Type a number to give it. Light numbers are settled; a green pencil mark would leave one solution.

2467673591478147893247147655471846746923231262697189346585193461675461892171249238566581234723417932794624651278

Clear numbersAll candidatesHide the help

295 solutions · give R4C9 a number: 3 → 342 → 549 → 64

Solve path 14This square

Click a number to give it. Green ones leave the fewest solutions.

Set by hand: givens checked as you place them
One solution: Finish refuses anything else
Graded by logic: from the hardest step a solver needs
6×6 and 9×9: mini and classic

A real setter's tool

Place a given and the builder answers at once: how many solutions are left, what each square can still take, and where to look next. The status line reads the way a setter thinks, from “295 solutions · give R4C9 a number” to “One solution · Medium”. Clashing givens are named the way a solver would find them.

Sunday Sudoku #12Draft

295 solutions · give R4C9 a number:1

3 → 342 → 549 → 642

Solutions, counted on every keystroke
The numbers that cut the count furthest
The most open square, ringed
Pencil marks where a square is nearly settled

Graded the way people solve

The builder solves your puzzle as a person would, easiest step first, and grades it by the hardest step needed. Easy and medium need only singles; hard needs pointing and claiming, pairs, triples, or an X-wing. Step through the solve path one move at a time.

Hardest step needed

SinglesEasy and medium
Pointing and claimingHard
PairsHard
TriplesHard
X-wingHard
GuessingNever

Get guided towards exactly one solution

As you set, the status line names the square to fill next and the numbers that cut the count furthest, and green pencil marks show the numbers that would leave one solution. Finish refuses anything with more than one, and a broken grid says why, like “There's nowhere for a 1 in row 2.”

15 solutions · give a green pencil mark and it has one solution.

Play it, then put it on your site

Play opens your draft in the real player before you finish. Once it's done, embed that player on your site, with a link to share with solvers.

puzzletimes.com/sudoku

The Puzzle Times

Sunday Sudoku Hints

Notes off Erase

123456789

Print and picture files

Images of the puzzle and its solution, plain text, and a print-ready page, one puzzle or a whole project at once.

.svgPuzzle and solution

.pngPuzzle and solution, titled

.txtPuzzle and solution, line by line

PrintA page to print, or save as PDF

Features

Everything a setter reaches for.

Setting

6×6 and 9×9 mini with 2×3 boxes, classic with 3×3
Start blank or solved remove givens from a full solution
Live solution count exact up to 1,000, on every keystroke
Candidates for squares down to three, or the full grid
True candidates green where a digit leaves one solution
The most open square ringed, with the best numbers for it
Keyboard first digits set givens, Delete clears, Enter keeps a light number

Solving and grading

Solve path the first step, the hardest, and where it ends
Take a step one logical step at a time
Difficulty grade easy, medium, or hard, by the hardest step needed
Past an X-Wing hand-set puzzles still finish, graded Hard
Singles only check an easy or medium puzzle

Checking

Unique solution Finish refuses anything else
Broken, explained the way a solver finds it, blockers in red
Needed givens whether each given can come out
This square what each number does to the square you're on

Publishing

Test solve your draft in the real player before you finish
Embed the player on your site, with a link to share
Print to PDF a print-ready page, via the print dialog
Images the puzzle and its solution, SVG or PNG
Plain text the puzzle and its solution, line by line
Bulk export a whole project as one zip or print run, in order
Release calendar days, time, and time zone for a series

In bulk

Draft a set 7, 14, 30, or 50 at once
Graded the same way each with a unique solution and its level

Puzzles

The other puzzles.

Crosswords5×5 mini to 15×15, by hand or from a draftPicdokuSoonSudoku with pictures in place of numbersWord wheelSoonNine letters, every word uses the middle oneSliding pictureSoonA picture cut into tiles, with one gapWord ladderSoonOne letter changes on every rung