Solving Suduko - when all else fails!

You have been working on that fiendishly difficult Suduko puzzle now for days and are no closer to solving it.  So what do you do?

Well, there is an advanced strategy that you can use to solve your puzzle.  It’s complex, tricky, and doesn’t always work.  It’s called guessing.  And any good Suduko guesser must arm themselves with a pencil and eraser.

Most Suduko puzzles won’t require you to make any guesses, but sometimes it may appear to be the easiest way forwards.  Often your guesses won’t really be guesses but logical leaps of faith.  You may well be guessing because you are getting frustrated, you are keen to solve it or because you are just plain stuck.

If it comes down to guessing, then try to make a guess in a cell where your options are limited.  This gives you more of a chance of making sure the guess is right and then it will open up a whole set of new cells.

Of course, guessing isn’t an instant panacea for solving your Suduko problems.  When you have guessed the contents of one cell there are plenty more still to complete.  The guess may be correct, it may not, but I doesn’t instantly mean your work is over.

And the worst part? 

One guess may not be enough.  If you are stuck and out of ideas then you may find that you have to make a number of guesses in order to complete the puzzle.  Each guess you make can lead you down a different path where you make difference choices.  It’s probably best to keep that eraser handy so you can back track if required.

If you want to impress your friends, then tell them you are practicing bifurcation.

They will be very impressed and nod sagely not wishing to give away the fact that they have no idea what bifurcation means.  You can, of course, feel smug in the knowledge that you know it means guessing or trial and error.

If all else fails and you can’t take it any more, then there is always one more last resort – computers.  If you are truly stuck then there are Suduko solvers online that you can download and run to solve that particularly tricky puzzle.  However, remember that this will take away much of your sense of fun and you will always feel that sense of satisfaction lacking.

A pencil, eraser, and your brain is by far the most satisfying that using a computer.  When you’ve used brainpower to solve a Suduko puzzle you have that satisfaction of knowing you did it.  Whilst your friends are still struggling, you can lean back, feel smug and know you’re smarter than them.