Hidden Triple

Intermediate

Three digits confined to the same three cells in a unit; all other candidates in those cells are eliminated.

How It Works

When three digits can only appear in the same three cells within a unit, all other candidates in those three cells can be eliminated. It's harder to spot than a Hidden Pair since the three cells may have many other candidates obscuring the pattern.

Example

8361
2357
4925
2947
13689
5386
5179
2457
6843
4638
12679
2597
9712
3458
3654
6824
2457
7139
3456
3578
1762
7293
15679
8418
1585
2348
9271
Key cells of the techniqueCells where elimination is appliedCandidate to be placedEliminated candidate (crossed out)

Column 5: Digits 1, 6, and 9 only appear in R2C5, R4C5, and R8C5 → Remove all other candidates from those three cells.

Practice with a Real Puzzle

This 9×9 puzzle is solver-verified to require this technique on its solution path.

Hard28 givens