Intermediate

Naked Pairs & Triples

Lock candidates into two cells to eliminate them from the rest of the unit.

Interactive Practice

Find the number for the highlighted cell

Apply Technique

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Find the number for the highlighted cell:

Naked Pairs & Triples

When two cells in the same row, column, or block contain the exact same two candidates (and only those two), those numbers are locked into those two cells.

Rules:

Identify two cells in the same unit that both contain only the candidates {3, 7}.
Because one must be 3 and the other must be 7, no other cell in that unit can contain 3 or 7.
Eliminate 3 and 7 as candidates from all other cells in that unit.

Hint

Requires keeping active pencil notes in empty cells.
Look for boxes where multiple cells share identical candidate pairs.