Sudoku – October 18, 2026
Sunday, October 18, 2026. Pick a level; your progress saves in this browser.
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Puzzle
Easy
| 3 | 8 | 4 | 1 | |||||
| 1 | 7 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 2 | ||
| 6 | 8 | 5 | ||||||
| 2 | 5 | |||||||
| 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | |||||
| 5 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 9 | |||
| 8 | 1 | 3 | ||||||
| 7 | 4 | 9 | ||||||
| 2 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 1 |
Medium
| 1 | 6 | 5 | 9 | 3 | ||||
| 5 | 2 | 7 | ||||||
| 9 | 2 | 5 | ||||||
| 3 | 1 | |||||||
| 6 | 2 | 7 | ||||||
| 7 | 2 | 9 | 1 | 8 | ||||
| 6 | 7 | |||||||
| 7 | 1 | 9 | 3 | |||||
| 2 | 7 | 6 | 4 |
Hard
| 4 | 3 | |||||||
| 3 | 7 | 4 | 5 | |||||
| 6 | 2 | |||||||
| 5 | 9 | 8 | 2 | |||||
| 2 | 3 | 9 | 6 | |||||
| 5 | 8 | |||||||
| 8 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | ||||
| 1 | 2 | 9 |
Expert
| 5 | ||||||||
| 7 | 9 | 6 | 8 | |||||
| 6 | ||||||||
| 2 | 3 | |||||||
| 3 | 9 | 4 | ||||||
| 1 | 8 | 7 | ||||||
| 7 | 1 | 5 | ||||||
| 8 | 3 | 6 | ||||||
| 6 | 8 | 9 | 2 |
Paused
Solved!
Keyboard shortcuts
- Arrow keys move between cells; Home and End jump to the start or end of the row.
- 1–9 enters a number (pressing the same number again clears it); Backspace, Delete or 0 clears the cell.
- N switches notes mode on or off; Shift + a number adds or removes a note.
- Ctrl + Z (Cmd + Z on a Mac) undoes; Ctrl + Y or Ctrl + Shift + Z redoes.
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Puzzle details
| Level | Givens | Techniques needed | First move |
|---|---|---|---|
| Easy | 37 | Hidden single | Look at box 1: the 2 has only one possible cell. |
| Medium | 31 | Hidden single, Naked single, Pointing pair, Hidden pair | Look at box 5: the 7 has only one possible cell. |
| Hard | 26 | Hidden single, Naked single, XY-Wing | Look at box 1: the 2 has only one possible cell. |
| Expert | 24 | Hidden single, Naked single, Pointing pair, Box/line reduction, XY-Wing, XYZ-Wing | Look at box 5: the 1 has only one possible cell. |
Difficulty is set by the hardest technique our solver needs; every puzzle has exactly one solution and never needs guessing.
About this puzzle
The NineByNine sudoku for Sunday, October 18, 2026 comes in four levels. Everyone who opens this page gets the same four puzzles.
- Easy: 37 givens; the hardest step needs hidden single. 1 technique in total: Hidden single.
- Medium: 31 givens; the hardest step needs hidden pair. 4 techniques in total: Hidden single, Naked single, Pointing pair, Hidden pair.
- Hard: 26 givens; the hardest step needs XY-Wing. 3 techniques in total: Hidden single, Naked single, XY-Wing.
- Expert: 24 givens; the hardest step needs XYZ-Wing. 6 techniques in total: Hidden single, Naked single, Pointing pair, Box/line reduction, XY-Wing, XYZ-Wing.