Solving Hard Sudoku - Links Method
Solving hard Sudoku puzzles challenge the skills of Sudoku solvers. Many solvers pencil in candidates and look for common patterns in their puzzles. When they find these patterns such as naked pairs, triples, quads, x-wing, Swordfish, etc., they are able to determine which candidates can be removed safely. I have covered many of these techniques on SudokuEssentials. This can be time consuming at times. Perhaps you have wondered is there a better way?
Recently I was contacted by Gus Coyote in Spain. He offered his free eBook to our audience. Gus claims that using his Links Method will help you save time solving difficult Sudoku puzzles without using standard methodologies. He claims that there are enough clues already “in sight” if you use his technique.
Download the free Links Method eBook by Gus Coyote (50 pages) and discover a new method that doesn’t require pencilling in lots of candidates.
This eBook was first written in Spanish and then translated into English by the author. You will find a few errors in translation, but as a whole, you should be able to glean a few new tricks to solve difficult Sudoku puzzles.
The author takes you step-by-step and shows you his technique. While the two sample puzzles he uses are not all that difficult, I felt his method offered helpful tips that can be used on any puzzle.
I will not explain the links method here except to say he uses a different notation to denote links and the candidates involved. You will not need to pencil in every candidate. Just those that are essential to solving tricky Sudoku puzzles.
Download the free Links Method eBook by Gus Coyote (50 pages) and see if it helps you solve Sudoku puzzles quicker. I think it will.