I’ve been asked a few times to post some Samurai sudoku solving tips. Well – there aren’t any special tips that apply exclusively to Samurai. Standard Sudoku rules apply, but to make things clear for newcomers, I’d like to give a brief set of instructions.
Rules of Samurai Sudoku
1. Each Samurai Sudoku puzzle consists of 5 overlapping classic 9×9 Sudoku sub-puzzles.
2. Each 9×9 sub-puzzle must be solved according to the rules of Sudoku: each row, column and 3×3 box must contain all digits from 1 to 9; therefore, digits cannot be repeated.
3. Each Samurai Sudoku puzzle has one solution only.
Warnings:
1. DO NOT ATTEMPT to completely solve each sub-puzzle as an individual puzzle!
2. Each 9×9 sub-puzzle when solved individually could have more than one solution.
3. Never resort to guessing my puzzles can be solved using deduction logic.
Solving suggestions
1. Work on the puzzle as a whole.
2. Start with one sub-puzzle and solve as many cells as you can, until you can’t go further (
do not guess!)
3. Move on to the next sub-puzzle. Use clues from the previous sub-puzzle.
4. Repeat step 2 for that sub-puzzle.
5. Keep repeating steps 2-3-4 until you solve the whole puzzle!
6. Do not start with the center sub-puzzle. They usually have fewer clues than other sub-puzzles.
Usual
classic Sudoku techniques are required to solve these puzzles: naked and hidden singles, naked and hidden subsets (pairs, triplets etc) and “row/column and box interactions”. For the hardest of puzzles X-Wing and Swordfish techniques might be needed.
