Medium Sudoku Online
Medium sudoku gives you a balanced challenge: demanding enough that you have to think, but still solvable with a few basic techniques. The puzzles have fewer cells filled in than at the easy level, and you will more often need notes to keep track. You can play an unlimited number of puzzles, free and without logging in.
All the puzzles are analyzed by our solving engine, so a medium puzzle can always be solved with logic alone. You never have to guess, but you have to search a little more thoroughly for the next move than on an easy puzzle.
How to solve medium sudoku
Start as you would on easy puzzles by placing all the naked and hidden singles. Once the obvious moves are used up, it is time to write notes: mark which digits are possible in each empty cell. Good notes are the real key at this level.
Then you look for pairs. A naked pair is two cells in the same unit with exactly the same two candidates, and it removes those digits from the rest of the unit. A pointing pair locks a digit to one row or column within a box, so the digit can be eliminated outside the box. These patterns open up the puzzle when the singles run out.
Tips for getting faster
Update your notes continuously every time you place a digit. Outdated notes are the most common source of mistakes at the medium level. Many players scan the puzzle digit by digit, from 1 to 9, to make sure no easy moves have been overlooked.
Keep an eye on your statistics to see your progress. With a free account, your times are saved, and you can compete against your own records or against others on the leaderboard.
Techniques you need at this level
With these techniques in your toolbox, you can solve medium puzzles with confidence. Each technique has its own page with interactive examples that show you the pattern step by step.