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About this level

Expert puzzles need at least one advanced move, an X-wing or a naked triple, on top of everything from hard. Every one has a single solution you can reach by logic alone.

We check every expert puzzle with a solver that only uses moves a person can make. If a puzzle can only be finished by trial and error, we throw it out. Expert should be hard, not a coin toss.

An X-wing is the move to learn first. When a number can only go in the same two columns in two different rows, those four squares form a rectangle, and that number can be crossed off everywhere else in those two columns. The strategies page shows it step by step.

In our bank of 120 checked expert puzzles, starts ranged from 24 to 32 givens (average 27.3); 89 needed an X-wing and 39 a naked triple.

New to the game? Start with how to play sudoku. Want the same puzzle as everyone else today? Try the daily sudoku.

More sudoku

• Daily sudokuA new easy, medium and hard puzzle every day, the same for everyone.
• Easy sudokuPlenty of clues. Every move can be found by looking for single options.
• Medium sudokuFewer clues, same simple logic. A good daily level.
• Hard sudokuNeeds pairs and pointing pairs, not just singles.
• Printable sudokuLarge-print sheets for pencil and paper, with answers.
• How to play sudokuThe rules, a first walk-through and the controls on this site.
• Sudoku strategiesFrom hidden singles to X-wings, with examples.