Sudoku X-Wing Explained

Many people have asked me how to solve Sudoku X-Wing, which is a very hard Sudoku puzzle pattern to identify and solve.

Here is a step-by-step explanation of how you get to the X-Wing pattern shown. See our article titled Sudoku X-Wing Identification And Solution for more details.

How To Solve Sudoku X-Wing

At the left is the puzzle partially solved to the point where an X-wing pattern is the next step to solve before we can complete the puzzle.

Several people have trouble getting to this point, so here are the steps you need to take to reach it. Remember this is only one way to get there, not the only way.

Steps To Get To X-Wing Pattern

CellActionReason or Pattern
R1C6enter a 1Naked Single
R4C6enter a 3Hidden Single
R4C4enter a 8Hidden Single
R4C5enter a 7Hidden Single
R7C5enter a 9Naked Single
R8C6enter a 6Naked Single
R3C6enter a 9Naked Single
R9C4enter a 7Naked Single
R7C4enter a 2Naked Single
R9C9enter a 5Naked Single
R9C2enter a 6Naked Single
R9C7enter a 3Naked Single
R2C2enter a 9Hidden Single
R2C8enter a 3Hidden Single
R2C9enter a 8Hidden Single
R6C4enter a 9Hidden Single
R4C8enter a 6Hidden Single
R8C7enter a 9Hidden Single
R1C3enter a 7Hidden Single
R7C1, R7C3, R7C8remove the 4sNaked pair 4,7 in R7C2 & R7C7
R7C8enter a 8Naked Single
R8C3enter a 8Hidden Single
R2C7 & R3C7Remove the 5’sLocked Candidates (5) in R4C7 & R5C7
R2C1 & R6C1Remove 2, 4 & 5sNaked Triple (2,4,5) in R1C1, R4C1, & R8C1

We have now arrived at the X-Wing pattern shown in the graphic. Here is the next step you need to do to solve the X-Wing pattern.

CellActionReason or Pattern
R3C3, R3C7, & R4C7 & R7C7Remove the 4’sX-Wing in R2C3, R2C7, R5C3, & R5C7

You should be able to solve the remaining empty cells. They all contain naked singles.

I hope this article, How to Solve Sudoku X-Wing, has been a help to you.

All Pages on Solving X-Wing Sudoku Puzzles