Expert technique · Technique Academy

XYZ-Wing

An XYZ-Wing is a pivot cell holding three candidates, X, Y and Z, plus two pincers: one holding X and Z, the other Y and Z, each seeing the pivot. Z is the digit that appears in all three cells.

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

The reasoning

Why does the XYZ-Wing work?

Whatever the pivot becomes, either it or one of the pincers must be Z. So any cell that sees all three cannot be Z.

A worked example

What does the XYZ-Wing look like on a real board?

XYZ-Wing worked exampleA sudoku board with pencil marks. The XYZ-Wing uses R8C9, R3C9, R8C8 and digit 7 (pivot R8C9). The move strikes candidate 7 in R7C9.59358942768169278918613539414659382377876195438259859236174174237181896589431721675167312678547978965718491823
The move strikes candidate 7 in R7C9. Digit 7, pivot R8C9.
  • Cells that form the pattern
  • Cells that lose a candidate
  • Struck digit: ruled out

Make it stick

How can you practise the XYZ-Wing?

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.

EasierEmpty RectangleHarderW-Wing