Most players lose time to the same handful of habits. Fix these five and your solve time drops fast.
1. Scan rows and columns, not cells
Beginners hunt cell by cell. Strong solvers scan a full band of three rows for a single digit and place every certain instance of it before moving on.
2. Use pencil marks, but only when stuck
Filling every candidate into every cell from move one is slow and noisy. Solve the easy placements first, then pencil in only the region that has gone quiet.
3. Look for the last empty cell
Any row, column or box with eight filled cells is a free placement. Sweep for these after every few moves.
4. Never guess on a clean grid
A guess that turns out wrong costs you every move after it. If nothing is placeable, you have missed a scan — go back and re-scan the digit you looked at least.
5. Finish the digit you started
Jumping between digits resets your mental map. Pick a digit, exhaust it across the whole grid, then switch.
Put these into practice on our Sudoku board and watch the timer drop.
