Hard technique · Technique Academy

Naked Triple

A naked triple is three cells in one unit whose candidates together draw from just three digits. No cell need hold all three, only some of them.

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

The reasoning

Why does the Naked Triple work?

Those three digits are spoken for, so every other cell in the unit loses them as candidates. It is a naked pair with a larger appetite.

A worked example

What does the Naked Triple look like on a real board?

Naked Triple worked exampleA sudoku board with pencil marks. The Naked Triple uses R8C2, R8C3, R8C6 and digits 3, 5, 1 (row 8). The move strikes candidates 3 in R8C1, 5 in R8C1, 3 in R8C5, 5 in R8C5.825925612937423142535789896639748483925125258164739743928165169375428259716258581689433459351573458136892234826249236517
The move strikes candidates 3 in R8C1, 5 in R8C1, 3 in R8C5, 5 in R8C5. Digits 3, 5, 1, row 8.
  • Cells that form the pattern
  • Cells that lose a candidate
  • Struck digit: ruled out

Make it stick

How can you practise the Naked Triple?

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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