Medium technique · Technique Academy

Claiming

Claiming is the mirror image of pointing: a digit's places in a row or column all sit inside one box. The line has, in effect, claimed that box for the digit.

Professor Cryptic, the owl who teaches in the app
Professor Cryptic is thinking

The reasoning

Why does the Claiming work?

The digit must be on the line, and every place on the line is inside the box, so no other cell of the box can hold it. Strike it from the rest of the box.

A worked example

What does the Claiming look like on a real board?

Claiming worked exampleA sudoku board with pencil marks. The Claiming uses R1C4, R3C4 and digit 7 (column 4). The move strikes candidates 7 in R1C5, 7 in R2C5, 7 in R3C6.91731471457826574275327681961278179257345783195757624542683791769141242453815723948639684747152284561973
The move strikes candidates 7 in R1C5, 7 in R2C5, 7 in R3C6. Digit 7, column 4.
  • Cells that form the pattern
  • Cells that lose a candidate
  • Struck digit: ruled out

Make it stick

How can you practise the Claiming?

The Technique Academy in Cryptic gives every technique its own lesson and 5 practice boards that need exactly this move.

Get it onGoogle PlayPlay Cryptic on the web

Further reading: HoDoKu's page on this family of techniques.

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