Help me solve this advanced sudoku puzzle? (Pic included)?

Question

Please help! I'm having the hardest time finding the next number. If you find it, please tell me the way in which you found it! Thnx
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t88/liliananas/jks.jpg

Answer 1

The first two columns on the left of the bottom row can only be 1 or 2.

Therefore
Row 8, Col 1 is 4

and
Row 6, Col 2 is 4

and
Row 7, Col 4 is 2
(only cell in column that can be 2)

From here, keep going. You should find that you don't need to guess anywhere at all.

Answer 2

This is a difficult puzzle. You have gotten as far as you can get without using trial-and-error. (I know that's not what you want to hear.) When doing trial-and-error with Sudoku, it is best to find a cell that you know can only be one of two values. Stick in one of the two values and proceed to "solve" the puzzle. If you reach an impossibility (for example: a row that can not have a particular number due to the intersecting columns and 3x3 blocks not allowing that particular number), you know that your guess is wrong. If your guess allows you to "solve" the puzzle completely, you are still not done. Go back and check every row, column and 3x3 block to make sure you have really solved the puzzle correctly. If you have, great!! If not, again you know your guess was wrong.

In this puzzle, you know that the first 3x3 block:
3 9 7
6 ? ?
5 8 4
Is missing a 1 and a 2. If you stick the 1 in the middle cell as a guess:
3 9 7
6 1 ?
5 8 4
You will eventually get to the following point in the puzzle:
3 9 7 8 1 2 5 6 4
6 1 2 ? 4 5 9 8 7
5 8 4 6 9 7 3 1 2
2 3 9 4 6 0 8 7 5
8 5 6 7 2 9 4 3 1
7 4 1 3 5 8 2 9 6
9 6 8 2 7 4 1 5 3
4 7 5 9 3 1 6 2 8
1 2 3 5 8 6 7 4 9
The last remaining number is an impossibility, since no number can fit. Therefore you know your guess of 1 is wrong and that 2 is the correct value for the middle cell of the first 3x3 block:
3 9 7
6 2 ?
5 8 4
After putting the 2 in the first 3x3 block, the puzzle can be solved in a very straight-forward manner to become:
3 9 7 8 1 2 5 6 4
6 2 1 3 4 5 9 8 7
5 8 4 6 9 7 3 1 2
1 3 9 4 6 8 2 7 5
8 5 6 7 2 9 4 3 1
7 4 2 1 5 3 8 9 6
9 6 8 2 7 4 1 5 3
4 7 5 9 3 1 6 2 8
2 1 3 5 8 6 7 4 9
And there is your correct solution!!!

Note Added Later:
Although my "trial-and-error" technique works, it is not the most efficient technique. Here is a web site that shows how to solve a Sudoku puzzle step-by-step: http://www.scanraid.com/sudoku.htm
You (and I) can learn a lot from this site.

Answer 3

Very easy. The two leftmost squares on the bottom-most row can only fit either 1 or 2. No other numbers can go in either box, so now eliminate those numbers from the rest, and you see that the box immediately above (row 8, column 1) must therefore be a 4.

Answer 4

Note that Lola Bunny's solver does include step by step explanations of the solution. Interesting.

Answer 5

http://www.sudokusolver.co.uk


Just use this,plug in your starting numbers

press solve and BAM

hope i helped. : )