Puzzle Weekly is a multi-format magazine, incorporating a section that is specifically designed to be printed. This section fits the all the week’s puzzles (including kids puzzles) into just 7 pages optimised to minimise ink-use.
Every issue includes the page range to print in a call-out box on the Tips & Tutorials page.
The instructions on this page will guide you through how to print just the printable pages from whatever computer or device you are using.
Jump to:
When you open Puzzle Weekly it will most likely open in the default PDF reader for Windows called Microsoft Edge. We’ve also included instructions for printing from the popular Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Using Microsoft Edge:
Using Adobe Acrobat Reader:
Tips:
Most of the time Puzzle Weekly will open in the default application called Preview. Adobe Acrobat Reader DC is also available for macOS, so we’ve included instructions here for both.
Using Preview:
Using Adobe Acrobat Reader:
Tips:
Printing from a PDF on Android requires using a capable PDF viewer app. For these instructions we’ll use Adobe Acrobat Reader for Android, as it's one of the most widely-used PDF readers available. The steps might vary slightly depending on the version of Android and the app you're using.
Using Adobe Acrobat Reader for Android:
Tips:
Using the built-in PDF viewer or Books app:
Tips:
Puzzle Weekly has been designed to look great on a wide variety of devices. As well as the printable section, the magazine includes all the puzzles in large format ready to be completed directly on your device.
The instructions on this page will help you load the magazine onto a variety of popular devices.
Jump to:
The easiest way to get the magazine on your iPad is simply to open it from within your email. From whatever email app you are using (the built-in one, or any third party app like Gmail), tap on the Puzzle Weekly PDF attachment. The magazine will open right up for you.
We highly recommend saving the attachment to the Books app before starting to fill out the puzzles. This way everything you do will be saved in the file.
To save the attachment, with the magazine open, tap the share icon - it looks like this: 
If you can’t see the share icon, you might need to tap the screen to show the controls in your app.
From the pop-up menu, tap the Books app icon. If you can’t see it in the list, scroll horizontally to the end of the list, click the “…More” icon, and then select Books from the list.
If you are using a more recent version of iPadOS, you may see a “Open in Books” option right at the top of the screen, which you can use instead.
When reading the magazine in the Books app, you can tap the pen icon at the top of the screen to start solving the puzzles on your iPad.
As an alternative to the Books app, you may prefer to save the magazine to the built-in Notes app. The steps are the same, just choose Notes from the list of icons.
Further help for the iPad can be found here.
There are a couple of ways to get your copy of Puzzle Weekly onto your Kindle Scribe, depending on whether you are using a computer or a phone.
From a Computer, Using the Send to Kindle Tool:
From a Phone or Tablet, Using The Mobile App:
Further help for Kindle Scribe can be found here.
There are a couple of ways of sending the magazine to your Kobo Elipsa.
From a computer, via a USB cable:
From a phone, tablet, or computer via Google Drive or Dropbox:
Further help for Kobo Elipsa can be found here.
To get your copy of Puzzle Weekly onto your reMarkable tablet, you can use the reMarkable app, or Google Drive or Dropbox.
From a phone, tablet, or computer via the web:
From a phone, tablet, or computer using the reMarkable App:
Further help for reMarkable can be found here.
Number Cross uses a grid of numbers that at first glance might look a bit like a completed Sudoku puzzle. But contrary to Sudoku, Number Cross is a mathematical puzzle.
The goal is to cross out numbers inside the grid so that the remaining numbers in each row and column add up to the numbers outside it. Here's a a small example Number Cross puzzle:
Here’s what that puzzle looks like once it’s been solved:
Start with unique numbers. If a row or column total can only be made by a unique combination of numbers present in the grid, start there.
Look for the smallest and largest totals. Small totals mean more potential numbers that can be immediately crossed out. For example, if the total for a row is ‘2’, then anything larger than ‘2’ can be crossed out in that row. Similarly, very large totals usually require keeping the larger numbers in the grid, thus narrowing down your choices.
Track remaining options. In harder puzzles, for rows or columns where you're unsure of which numbers to cross out, it can help to make a list of possible combinations that add up to the required total. As other parts of the grid get filled in, some of these options will become invalid, leaving you with the answer.
As with all logic puzzles, practicing improves performance. The more puzzles you do, the better you well become at spotting common patterns and at recognising possible combinations.
Want to try your hand at Number Cross? We sometimes include them in our free Puzzle Weekly magazine – you should totally sign up for that if you haven’t already, as it puts 28 brand new puzzles in your inbox every week.
You can also find four levels of Number Cross in our Jumbo Adult Puzzle Book – which happens to include more than 500 puzzles of 20 different varieties.
Shirokuro is played on a square grid that contains black and white circles. Here’s what a small Shirokuro puzzle looks like:
The goal of Shirokuro is to connect all the black and white circles into pairs by drawing a line between them either horizontally or vertically, according to some rules:
This is what the example puzzle looks like once it’s been solved:
Start with the corners. If a circle is near the corner, or even an edge, it may have limited directions it can connect in.
Limit options. If connecting a circle in one particular direction would make it impossible to connect another circle, then reconsider that choice.
Work incrementally. Don't try to map out long connections immediately. Work step by step, ensuring that each connection you make doesn't block future connections.
Avoid loops and crossings. Lines cannot cross over each other. If you see a setup that's leading to this scenario, you'll need to adjust.
As always, the more Shirokuro puzzles you solve, the better you'll get at spotting patterns and strategies.
Want to try out some Shirokuro? We have options. We sometimes include them in our free Puzzle Weekly magazine – you should totally sign up for that if you haven’t already, as it puts 28 brand new puzzles in your inbox every week.
You can also find four levels of Shirokuro puzzles in our Jumbo Adult Puzzle Book – which happens to include more than 500 puzzles of 20 different varieties.
Calcudoku is a mathematical and logic puzzle similar to Sudoku. It’s played on various grid sizes, usually from 4x4 to 9x9, though it can go even larger.
The size of the grid dictates the numbers you’ll use to fill out the puzzle. For instance, in a 4x4 Calcudoku, you'll use the numbers 1 to 4, and in a 6x6, you'll use the numbers 1 to 6.
Here’s an example of a small Calcudoku puzzle:
The objective of Calcudoku is to fill the grid with numbers so that:
Here’s what the earlier example puzzle looks like when completed:
Because Calcudoku shares similar rules to Sudoku, we highly recommend becoming familiar with solving Sudoku before moving on to this puzzle. As you begin to solve cells in a Calcudoku grid, you can use many regular Sudoku techniques to help you solve the rest of the puzzle. Indeed, in anything beyond the most basic puzzles, you’ll need to use Sudoku techniques. You can find our complete three-part Sudoku tutorial here.
The Calcudoku grid is divided into several outlined blocks, and each block contains a mathematical clue in the top-left corner. This clue might be a number on it’s own (ie the contents of the cell) or it could be a number followed by an operation sign (e.g., ‘12x’ or ‘3-’), in which case the calculation must be performed on the numbers that are entered in the block.
The puzzles we publish use a variety of mathematical operators. Our kids puzzles usually only include additions, but as the difficulty level increases, so do the possible operators.
A well-designed Calcudoku puzzle (such as those we publish) has only one unique solution, and it can be reached through logical deduction. There is never any need to guess.
Start with the obvious. If you see a block in a 5x5 puzzle with the clue ‘5x’ and it contains only two cells, then those cells must be filled with 5 and 1 (in some order), because that's the only way two distinct numbers between 1 to 5 can multiply to give 5.
Use a process of elimination. If you've determined certain numbers for some cells, use that information to deduce the numbers for neighbouring cells, especially within the same row or column.
Consider block position. For instance, in a 6x6 Calcudoku, a block with the clue ‘1-’ must contain a 2 and a 1 (because 2 - 1 = 1). If that block spans two rows or columns, and one of them already has a 2, then the 2 in the block must go in the other row or column.
Use Sudoku strategies. Because the two puzzles share common rules, you can use all valid Sudoku strategies to help solve Calcudoku. The more cells you fill in, the more these strategies will be helpful.
Practice. As with all logic puzzles, the more you practice, the more patterns and strategies you'll recognise, making it easier to solve more challenging puzzles.
Want to try out some Calcudoku? We have you covered. We sometimes include them in our free Puzzle Weekly magazine – you should totally sign up for that if you haven’t already, as it puts 28 brand new puzzles in your inbox every week.
You can also find four levels of Calcudoku puzzles in our Jumbo Adult Puzzle Book – which happens to include more than 500 puzzles of 20 different varieties.
Hashiwokakero, often abbreviated to Hashi, and also sometimes called Bridges, is a logic puzzle originating from Japan.
The puzzle is played on a square grid. The size of the grid determines the level of difficulty. Here is an example of a small Hashi grid:
As you can see, the puzzle comprises a number of circles with numbers inside. These are called islands. The objective is to connect all the islands by drawing a series of bridges between them. Here’s what that puzzle looks like once it’s been solved:
Small Hashiwokakero puzzles like this are easy to solve. But as the grids get bigger, the puzzles can get a lot tougher!
To solve a Hashiwokakero puzzle, you'll use a combination of logic and the numerical clues given. It's about gradually deducing where bridges can and cannot be, based on the constraints provided by the puzzle.
As with many logic puzzles, practice helps you recognise patterns and strategies more quickly.
Here are some tips to help you get going.
Start with islands with only one possible connection. Look for islands that have only one way to satisfy their number requirement. For example, if there's an island with a '1' and only one neighbouring island, you know where that bridge must go. Islands in the corners of the puzzle can often provide a good starting place as they are restricted to bridges in only two possible directions.
Consider islands with maximum bridges. If an island has a '4' and it's on an edge, then you know two bridges must go out from both available sides. If an island has an '8', it means it's surrounded on all four sides by two bridges each.
Avoid over-connecting. Keep track of the number of bridges each island has. If an island needs only one more bridge, you can't connect it to an island in a direction that would necessitate two bridges.
Use other islands to deduce bridge locations. Sometimes, the positioning of other islands can prevent possible bridge connections. If two islands could be connected by two bridges but there's another island in the way, you know they can only be connected by one bridge.
Ensure island interconnectivity. Avoid creating isolated clusters of islands. Every island must be connected in a network. If you see a potential cluster forming, think about how it will connect to the other islands.
Make safe assumptions and test them out. In more complex Hashi puzzles, you might reach a point where it's not immediately clear what the next step is. In these cases, it can be helpful to make an assumption and see how it affects the rest of the grid. If you reach a contradiction or an impossible situation, you'll know your assumption was wrong. If you try this, ensure you remember your steps so you can backtrack easily.
Use a process of elimination. If you're unsure about where bridges should go, consider where they can't go. Often, by eliminating impossible bridge placements, the correct placements become clear.
Continuously check for completion. As you're drawing bridges, keep checking islands to make sure their bridge requirements are being met. If you've met the bridge requirement for an island, move on to focus on the others.
Review your solution. Once you believe you've solved the puzzle, take a moment to review it. Make sure all the islands meet their number requirement. Check there are no bridges crossing each other. Verify all the islands are interconnected and there are no orphans.
Like all logic puzzles, the more you practice Hashiwokakero, the better you'll become at solving them. Over time, you'll develop an intuition for bridge placements and will recognise patterns more quickly.
Remember that patience is key. Some puzzles can be tricky, and it might take time before you see the solution. But with each puzzle you solve, the process becomes a bit more intuitive.
Want to try your hand at Hashi? We have options! We sometimes include them in our free Puzzle Weekly magazine – you should totally sign up for that if you haven’t already, as it puts 28 brand new puzzles in your inbox every week.
You can also find four levels of Hashi puzzles in our Jumbo Adult Puzzle Book – which happens to include more than 500 puzzles of 20 different varieties.
Sudoku is great fun whatever your age. But when it comes to younger people, this classic logic puzzle can be a fantastic educational tool. Like all the best learning tools, sudoku works well precisely because it is so much fun to play. Kids learn best when they are enjoying themselves, and sudoku has a lot to teach — and not just about numbers. Indeed sudoku, whilst traditionally using numbers, is not a math game. But it has a whole lot to teach.
At the bottom of this page you will find some free sudoku puzzles designed specifically for kids, that you can download and print out. But first, here are seven incredible benefits of using Sudoku as a learning tool.
Right from an early age, very simple kids sudoku puzzles are an excellent way to promote and reinforce the recognition of number forms. Even the simplest 4x4 puzzles are great at this.
By turning recognition into a game, the child is not only gently encouraged to differentiate between figures, but because they must find missing numbers, they will naturally create figures in their mind’s eye. This mental creation of numbers strongly reinforces the forms.
Of course, sudoku doesn’t just have to be played with numbers. Letters can be used instead, adding more learning opportunities. We’ve included both number and letter variants in our free downloadable kids sudoku puzzles at the bottom of the page.
The aim of sudoku is to work out the missing numbers in a grid. The whole game is a puzzle that is crying out to be solved, so naturally playing it encourages and develops problem solving skills.
This can be done as gradually as necessary. A simple grid with a single missing number might seem to be so easy as to be pointless, but it’s like a gateway drug. When a child works out the missing figure, they experience a rush of excitement at having solved the problem; they are primed to solve more.
Building up the difficulty slowly and steadily maintains the challenge. The child is obliged to add a little more effort every time, and think up new ways of finding the answer — and being rewarded with the dopamine hit that comes with success.
As puzzles grow in size, complexity, or both, the child will have to find new ways to solve them. Thus what started as an easy game can soon become a fun and rewarding exercise in lateral thinking.
Larger sudoku puzzles (typically full-size 9x9 and above) are a fantastic tool for encouraging working within a group. Puzzles can be split into racks and stacks, or columns, rows, and blocks, and each piece assigned to one or more children.
With a simple grid, the kids may initially solve the puzzle by working individually on their own portion. But ramp up the difficulty even just a little, and before long they will be obliged to co-operate and communicate to ensure their solutions do not ‘collide’ with those of the others in the group.
Take the difficulty up another notch, and the team will be encouraged to work together to come to a solution for the puzzle, pooling their techniques and knowledge.
For larger groups or older kids, try using 16x16 grids, or even better, Samurai Sudoku. The latter is a ‘multi-sudoku’ game with interlocking grids — perfect for splitting up and working on as a team.
In a sudoku grid, a single mistake inevitably leads to disaster. Just one number out of place renders the entire puzzle unsolvable — not that it’s always immediately obvious!
It only takes a few failed solutions for most children to learn that they must check and double-check their answers before writing them in the grid, thus promoting careful attention to detail.
Logic is essential in solving sudoku, but so is memory. As they work through a grid, a child will be constantly putting numbers into very short-term memory, sometimes for just a few seconds at a time.
Sudoku is a great workout for the brain. Just as concentrated exercise can improve overall fitness, so working short-term memory improves overall memorisation and recall skills. Speaking of working out the brain…
Sudoku demands a level of concentration that just isn’t necessary for most other kinds of puzzles. Simple math games, crosswords, word searches and so on, can all be done piecemeal by dipping in and out as and when. But to solve a sudoku grid effectively, it’s necessary to hold a lot of information in short term memory at once.
Losing focus, or lacking concentration, leads to mistakes or quite simply not being able to find a solution. Therefore the child is obliged to put all their attention into the job in hand. Studies show that concentration is like a muscle, and that repeated training leads to long-term improvement.
If you’ve completed a sudoku puzzle then you know the rush of satisfaction that comes with putting that final number in the grid. One of the amazing things about sudoku is the range of difficulty that can be applied to a single concept. A child can learn the basics on a really easy 4x4 grid in a matter of minutes, yet be constantly challenged and stretched by the exact same set of rules right up to mind-bending super difficult 16x16 grids. Every win is an opportunity to boost their confidence and self-esteem, all whilst having lots of fun.
Now you know why sudoku is such a great learning aid, as well as being a fun game, here are some grids that we have prepared especially for children.
We’ve included three grid sizes: 4x4, 6x6, and regular 9x9. There are eight 4x4 puzzles, and twelve of each of the larger sizes (which also include letter-based variants). Full solutions are of course also included.
Right click or long-tap and Download Linked File or click or tap to open in a new window then choose Print from your browser.
The pages have been formatted so they will print on both American letter paper, as well as standard A4.
We’ve got you covered! We publish a brand new free puzzle every day. And of course, we have a large range of sudoku puzzle books of varying difficulty and size.
For kids sudoku, we highly recommend Amelia Baker’s range of books, which we collaborated on. You can find out more about those here. Amelia’s books include excellent tutorials written specifically for younger players, and lots of puzzles from 4x4 to 9x9.
Looking for a handy sudoku reference that you can print out and keep? Look no further! Our printable sudoku rules are just the ticket. Download the PDF below and print at home (or at work — we won’t tell your boss if you don’t!)
The PDF has been formatted to print nicely both on international A4 and US Letter paper.
Don’t forget that Puzzle Genius offers sudoku books for players of all levels. Be sure to check out the whole range here.
Mazes are a fascinating kind of puzzle. Completely unlike symbol-based teasers such as sudoku or suguru, they present a different kind of challenge to the brain. According to at least one neuropsychobiology study, solving mazes activates a network within the brain from the visual to parietal regions. Working these puzzles even activates subcortical and cortical motor areas — areas normally associated with movement and coordination. To the brain, solving a maze on paper is like walking through a real, physical labyrinth.
Looking for some good mazes that will challenge even the smartest brain? Look no further! Mazes for Smart People is our collection of 100 huge mazes. With five levels of difficulty and four maze types, it will keep you busy for hours.
How can we go about solving mazes? Are there tricks and techniques that make the process easier? Or must we resign ourselves to trying every path, every twist and turn, until we eventually emerge at the exit? The brute force approach will work, and for some people that’s enough. Smarter minds seek efficiency though.
Fortunately there are techniques we can employ to help us find the solution more quickly. However, these methods are only ever an aid to brute force. There is no single magical method that will always lead you to the correct solution first time. Mazes are not sudoku and cannot be solved first time with logic alone. A well-designed maze always requires a little bit of trial and error. It’s all part of the fun.
With that said, let’s dive in and look at five different methods you can use to solve almost any maze.
Let’s begin by saying right now that this method won’t work with all mazes. At Puzzle Genius we design our mazes in such a way to completely negate this method. Are we evil? No, we just want to make good mazes that present a real challenge! Not all maze-setters are so conscientious.
Here’s a simple maze, typical of the kind you might find in a kids activity book.
If we begin at the start of the maze, we are immediately faced with a choice — left or right? If we go right, we have another choice — down or straight on? And on it goes. The maze has been front-loaded with branches, designed to confuse you from the off.
But what happens if we start at the end? There’s only one possible path, and we can follow it for more than half the puzzle before we get to a branch — in the blue circle below:
After that there are only three more choices to make before we reach the goal. In each of those decisions it’s easy to see the correct path and where there is a dead end, because we are so close to the end of the maze.
Lots of mazes are designed this way — front-loaded with branches designed to confuse you at the start. This example is a very simple maze, but even more complex mazes can suffer from this ‘problem’ (in quotes because not everyone will see it as a problem — some may say it’s an opportunity).
Starting at the end then, is a technique that’s always worth a try.
This is probably the most well-known method for maze-solving. It’s usually suggested for physical labyrinths like the corn mazes favoured by farmers around the world, or the box hedge mazes found in the gardens of stately homes.
The technique is simple: when you enter the maze, place your right hand on the wall to your right (or left hand on the wall to the left), and keep it there as you move through the maze. Eventually you should come to the exit.
We say should because this theory, while sound, does not work in all mazes. It will only get you through a maze that can be deconstructed into a single line. By which we mean a maze that you could draw in one go without taking your pen off the page.
The maze in the example above, for instance, is a single-line maze. Another way of thinking of this type of maze is to imagine that it is made from a giant piece of spaghetti — or a long rope if you prefer. You could lay down your pasta, shaping it and twisting it around the corners until you had created the maze.
Here’s a super-simple maze that you can try this technique on:
The first thing to note is that this is a single-line maze. You can put your finger on the top right corner and trace around every line of the maze without lifting it off. You could, given a long enough piece of spaghetti, recreate this exact maze without breaking it (though you would need do make some tight folds as you doubled it back on itself).
The reason the hand on the wall technique works with a maze like this is because it is made from one path, you can effectively trace your way around the whole maze in one go.
Here’s how that looks on our example. If we pictured ourselves walking into this maze from the top and placing our right hand on the right-hand wall and tracing a line with it as we went, this is the line we would draw:
Is it efficient? Well, it’s clearly not the quickest route through the maze. But did it work? Hell yeah! Maze solved.
Had we started with the left-hand, we would have gone the quicker way — but hindsight is a wonderful thing and is of no help when starting our journey through a real, complex maze.
Remember, this technique only works on mazes that can be constructed from a single line. It won’t work on any that include islands, like this for example:
Depending which side you started on, you could potentially find yourself going round and round the blue island forever! Islands like that are common in physical labyrinths, placed there purposely to defeat this simple but effective maze-solving technique.
This can be a time-consuming method, but it will always produce a clear path through the maze by the end of the process. The technique is simple enough — starting at the end of the maze, block off every dead end you find. Eventually only the one-true path will remain.
A visual example will make this clearer. Let’s begin with this simple maze:
Starting from the bottom we can block off dead ends. We could do this two ways - either by simply barring them with a line, or by filling them in. We’ve done both ways here for demonstration purposes.
The method you use is a personal preference. Filling in dead ends makes it easier to see the remaining path, but it’s obviously more time-consuming and uses more ink or graphite!
As you get more practice with this technique you’ll find you can trace dead-ends back quite some way and block off several with a single stroke, rather than blocking every one individually. For example, these pink blocks are unnecessary - the green block takes care of all those little dead ends in one go.
As you can see, dead-end pruning is still a rather brute-force technique for finding your way through a maze. It’s fool-proof, but time consuming.
This is essentially a variant of dead-end pruning. Consider the following maze:
Notice anything in particular?
If you look carefully, you’ll find that almost half of the maze is a complete dead-end! We can trace a wall from one side of the maze to the other, effectively creating a sub-maze in which the correct path cannot possibly pass.
This is an exaggerated example to make a point — it’s rare to find such obvious sub-mazes. However, it is not uncommon to find large chunks of a maze that are one huge dead-end that can be cut out.
Here’s another thing to look out for:
This time we don’t have a clean break between two parts of the maze, but we almost do, and that in itself is very helpful.
We can draw a line from the left to the right with just a single break in it. That means the path through the maze must go through that break. We can therefore split this maze into two sub-mazes.
If you ever read the story of Hansel and Gretel, this final method will make perfect sense to you. In the fairytale, our two heroes set out into the woods to escape the house of the evil witch armed only with some stale bread to help them find their way. By dropping a trail of crumbs as they went, they were able to see the paths they had already tried, and thus discount them every time they had to make a new choice about which direction to take.
We can use the same method to solve any maze. Instead of breadcrumbs we draw a line as we make our way through the maze, showing the path we have already taken.
At first glance this may sound like the hand on the wall method, but whereas that technique prescribes a very strict path through the maze (and can be confounded by islands, bridges and tunnels), the Hansel and Gretel method is more freeform and will always work, provided we follow one simple rule: never take a path we have already been down twice. The reason is simple: if we’ve been there and back, it must be a dead end.
This method leaves the choice of direction at every junction up to us. We can try to head in the general direction of the exit, rather than follow every twist and turn. And if we see that a particular path is a certain dead end, we aren’t obliged to trace our way around it anyway, the way we would with the hand on the wall approach.
Here’s an example of drawing a Hansel and Gretel path through a simple maze:
Were we to use the hand on the wall method, we would have had to trace our way around the obvious dead-end number 1, and we would also have had to trace our line right to the end of the dead end number 2. With this approach we could just turn right around and retrace our steps. Similarly we could avoid dead ends 3, 4, and so on, continually working towards the exit.
If we come to a junction where we have to choose between a route that already has a breadcrumb line and one that doesn’t, we should choose the one that doesn’t.
Again, provided we never take a path with two breadcrumb lines, we will always find the exit, even in mazes with islands.
So there you have it — five different ways to find your way across a maze. Which is best? Which one should you use? Ultimately it’s down to you. If you want a guaranteed solution with maximum efficiency, then Hansel and Gretel is the way to go.
If, on the other hand, you enjoy the unknown and like working your way around blindly, but want to simplify the puzzle to make your life a little bit easier, then dead-ending or sub-mazing is your friend.
All the example mazes used in this tutorial were, by necessity, very, very simple! If you’d like to try some techniques on a proper maze, then you can download and print a Puzzle Genius maze below. This is a level one maze, similar to those you’ll find in Mazes For Smart People. If you get stuck, we’ve also provided the solution to download in a separate PDF. Good luck!
Level 1 Practice Maze — Solution
Right click or long-tap and Download Linked File or click or tap to open in a new window then choose Print from your browser.
Knowing the combination of digits that can fit into a killer sudoku cage isn’t just a useful technique, sometimes it is absolutely necessary in order to solve or start a puzzle. Remembering common unique combinations is essential if you want to improve your time for solving killer sudoku puzzles. Unless you have a photographic memory though, you probably won’t memorise all of them, which is why this cheat sheet can be handy.
As well as cell cage combinations, we've included required digits further down. Some cells always require particular digits, regardless of the number combination that goes into them. Knowing these is a great way to eliminate candidate numbers from blocks, rows, and columns.
Is it cheating? We call it a cheat sheet, but is it really cheating? Only you can decide! Our view is that a reference like this is no more cheating than using a dictionary to check your spelling. For us, puzzles like killer sudoku are all about the logic and not an exercise in memory or recall.
New to killer sudoku? Be sure to check out our Killer Sudoku From Scratch tutorial.
Love logic puzzles? Be sure to check out Puzzle Weekly – our free weekly collection, delivered to your inbox every Monday.
Click here to find out more, and to get your free subscription.
These are all possible combinations of digits for a given cage size and sum. Bolded sums have only one combination.
3 — 12
4 — 13
5 — 14 23
6 — 15 24
7 — 16 25 34
8 — 17 26 35
9 — 18 27 36 45
10 — 19 28 37 46
11 — 29 38 47 56
12 — 39 48 57
13 — 49 58 67
14 — 59 68
15 — 69 78
16 — 79
17 — 89
6 — 123
7 — 124
8 — 125 134
9 — 126 135 234
10 — 127 136 145 235
11 — 128 137 146 236 245
12 — 129 138 147 156 237 246 345
13 — 139 148 157 238 247 256 346
14 — 149 158 167 239 248 257 347 356
15 — 159 168 249 258 267 348 357 456
16 — 169 178 259 268 349 358 367 457
17 — 179 269 278 359 368 458 467
18 — 189 279 369 378 459 468 567
19 — 289 379 469 478 568
20 — 389 479 569 578
21 — 489 579 678
22 — 589 679
23 — 689
24 — 789
10 — 1234
11 — 1235
12 — 1236 1245
13 — 1237 1246 1345
14 — 1238 1247 1256 1346 2345
15 — 1239 1248 1257 1347 1356 2346
16 — 1249 1258 1267 1348 1357 1456 2347 2356
17 — 1259 1268 1349 1358 1367 1457 2348 2357 2456
18 — 1269 1278 1359 1368 1458 1467 2349 2358 2367 2457 3456
19 — 1279 1369 1378 1459 1468 1567 2359 2368 2458 2467 3457
20 — 1289 1379 1469 1478 1568 2369 2378 2459 2468 2567 3458 3467
21 — 1389 1479 1569 1578 2379 2469 2478 2568 3459 3468 3567
22 — 1489 1579 1678 2389 2479 2569 2578 3469 3478 3568 4567
23 — 1589 1679 2489 2579 2678 3479 3569 3578 4568
24 — 1689 2589 2679 3489 3579 3678 4569 4578
25 — 1789 2689 3589 3679 4579 4678
26 — 2789 3689 4589 4679 5678
27 — 3789 4689 5679
28 — 4789 5689
29 — 5789
30 — 6789
15 — 12345
16 — 12346
17 — 12347 12356
18 — 12348 12357 12456
19 — 12349 12358 12367 12457 13456
20 — 12359 12368 12458 12467 13457 23456
21 — 12369 12378 12459 12468 12567 13458 13467 23457
22 — 12379 12469 12478 12568 13459 13468 13567 23458 23467
23 — 12389 12479 12569 12578 13469 13478 13568 14567 23459 23468 23567
24 — 12489 12579 12678 13479 13569 13578 14568 23469 23478 23568 24567
25 — 12589 12679 13489 13579 13678 14569 14578 23479 23569 23578 24568 34567
26 — 12689 13589 13679 14579 14678 23489 23579 23678 24569 24578 34568
27 — 12789 13689 14589 14679 15678 23589 23679 24579 24678 34569 34578
28 — 13789 14689 15679 23689 24589 24679 25678 34579 34678
29 — 14789 15689 23789 24689 25679 34589 34679 35678
30 — 15789 24789 25689 34689 35679 45678
31 — 16789 25789 34789 35689 45679
32 — 26789 35789 45689
33 — 36789 45789
34 — 46789
35 — 56789
21 — 123456
22 — 123457
23 — 123458 123467
24 — 123459 123468 123567
25 — 123469 123478 123568 124567
26 — 123479 123569 123578 124568 134567
27 — 123489 123579 123678 124569 124578 134568 234567
28 — 123589 123679 124579 124678 134569 134578 234568
29 — 123689 124589 124679 125678 134579 134678 234569 234578
30 — 123789 124689 125679 134589 134679 135678 234579 234678
31 — 124789 125689 134689 135679 145678 234589 234679 235678
32 — 125789 134789 135689 145679 234689 235679 245678
33 — 126789 135789 145689 234789 235689 245679 345678
34 — 136789 145789 235789 245689 345679
35 — 146789 236789 245789 345689
36 — 156789 246789 345789
37 — 256789 346789
38 — 356789
39 — 456789
28 — 1234567
29 — 1234568
30 — 1234569 1234578
31 — 1234579 1234678
32 — 1234589 1234679 1235678
33 — 1234689 1235679 1245678
34 — 1234789 1235689 1245679 1345678
35 — 1235789 1245689 1345679 2345678
36 — 1236789 1245789 1345689 2345679
37 — 1246789 1345789 2345689
38 — 1256789 1346789 2345789
39 — 1356789 2346789
40 — 1456789 2356789
41 — 2456789
42 — 3456789
36 — 12345678
37 — 12345679
38 — 12345689
39 — 12345789
40 — 12346789
41 — 12356789
42 — 12456789
43 — 13456789
44 — 23456789
45 — 123456789
These are digits that must be present somewhere within a cage for a given sum.
8 — 1
22 - 9
12 — 1,2
13 — 1
27 — 9
28 — 8,9
17 — 1,2,3
18 — 1,2
18 — 1,2
19 — 1,2
20 — 1,2
21 — 1
31 — 9
32 — 8,9
33 — 7,8,9
23 — 1,2,3,4
24 — 1,2,3
25 — 1,2
26 — 1
34 — 9
35 — 8,9
36 — 7,8,9
37 — 6,7,8,9
30 — 1,2,3,4,5
31 — 1,2,3,4
32 — 1,2,3
33 — 1,2,6
34 — 1
36 — 9
37 — 8,9
38 — 7,8,9
39 — 3,6,7,8,9
40 — 5,6,7,8,9