Hidden Triple

Medium

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

386
25
14
7
125
45
9
124
35
69
57
357
8
579
23
14
8
126
34
246
28
45
1673
258
9
24
28
456
319
25
2568
458
7
9
56
748
25
31
26
438721965
612954
78
78
3
795836421
Key cells of the techniqueCells where elimination is appliedCandidate to be placedEliminated candidate (crossed out)

Practice with a Real Puzzle

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

Hard28 givens