Tough Sudoku for 17/March/2007

Hi Everyone,

I've taken the plunge and joined Steve as a blogger. More of a 'how to make a living on the net' and 'what I'm up to' blog, hopefully you'll find it interesting.

http://gathadams.com

Link is also in the main nav bar at the top of the page, under 'Blog'.


Gath

This is a friend's farm that I was visiting recently.

Hi!
I decided to blog this relatively easy puzzle.

The techniques demonstrated today are very valuable.

Red Gum tree, well Hi LG

Good Night all!

Maen! (I think I've got that right!) For me, it is only 10:30 A.M. of March 16th; my question is: since many of you are a day ahead of me, do you view chat posted on what is -- for you-- the day before?

Yes, I'm finally getting it!
Thanks for your blog, but I only used the 'almost naked triple'.
You didn't noticed the locked 2s on i23, that deleted the 2s from i789 and created a triple 147 in those cells.
Then it was even easier :)

Finally had to guess on this one. Oh well. Have a wonderful weekend and St. Patrick's Day, everyone!

20:32 Maen. Easy 'tough' one today, but I still took a long time. Gotta hit those Steve-blogs for some tips!

Fairly straightforward today. Happy St. Pat's Day!

13:52

and Happy St. Patricks Day

Nice picture ANNE .

10:03

Easy tough today...really enjoyed the shamrocks floating across the page! Thanks Gath!

Good afternoon to all, and luck of the Irish to you! So that's where chewing gum comes from!

Finally got there. Took me an hour.

1) UP b6=3
2) A blind pair ac6=79 forces a5=5, i4=5 & e6=5.
these imply UPs g4=7, h6=4, d6=8 & f5=4
3) If h1=3, then we have another blind pair h89=26 forcing i5=e4=d3=3, g5=i2=9, and also i3=2.
This is a contradiction as now a2 must simultaneously by a two AND a three. Therefore h1=6. This unravels the puzzle.

I had to try many a thing and the chain of step 3 was the shortest I spotted that lead to a decisive contradiction.

Now on to Steve's blog ...

Oops! Forgot b2=8 from step 1 (the only cell on column b that may contain an 8). This is essential, as otherwise row 2 has extra space in the bottom left region, and we won't get the contradiction ending my solution.

Just one tiny guess for me today - and it was a correct guess. So not too bad, as toughs go.

Hi to all that took me ages to do. Couldn't see anything, funny when you are not concentrating it all goes to pot!! Lovely shot Anne x

I think I will start reading Steve's blogs as well. Taking to much time to find the key.

Hi Bea!
Thank-you!
Sometimes, I do not list easy steps in the blog, such as the locked 2s that you mentioned. This is not because I did not see them, but rather because the proof of the puzzle did not require the step. Mainly, I choose not to illustrate such steps to keep the blog page shorter.
For example, I did not use the following easy steps in today's blog proof:
Locked 2's at i23 forbids i789=2
Triple 147 at i789 forbids g7h8i235=1, g7i3=4
Locked 1's at g23 forbids g5=1

Hi Jyrki!
Thanks so much for posting your manner of attack.
It seems that we peddled similar paths on this one!

9:41...lucky today and saw it quickly...good start to the weekend

Quite simple but took me more time than expected, due to silly mistakes I made.

SE=7.2

11:45.