It's 2:00am...... I have no idea how I got here, I don't even play Sudoku, loved the video though.

Me: Why is this in my recommended? I haven’t played sudoku since middle school. Also me: watches entire video.

Shit, I didn't even realise the whole "pair" thing was something that you could work out. Should've been obvious but I just never knew. Thank you, random youtube recommendations, and thank you, CtC.

This was in my recommendations. I don't even play Sudoku. And yet, I was taken on an adventure by this lovely man. He showed me the solution to a hard sudoku puzzle and I was interested and even laughed a few times along the way. I never thought the soothing voice of a grown man paired with a puzzle game I don't even play could bring me any form of joy. What a strangely wholesome video, thank you!

I like the sound his keyboard makes. Clickity clack.

I actually managed to complete the puzzle. It took me much longer than you did though. It took me over an hour, but I am still proud that I finished it on my own.

So I was taught how to solve sudokus with my Nan when I was very little, I’d only do the easy ones obviously and I never really seem to finish anything harder than a medium even now. But watching you do that and learning about that little trick (I never even used to utilise the pencil thing) really made me think about my Nan and smile. She passed away four years ago now and was a huge part of my life. I don’t quite know how this got on my recommended but I really really needed this. It’s odd how these things work. Thank you for making my day in the most unexpected way!

this dude will be super popular in the retirement home when everyone gets stuck on the sunday paper sudoku

A year ago I stumbled upon this video by pure chance. I've never even played sudoku before. Somehow I ended up watching the whole thing, got hooked on sudoku, subscribed to Cracking The Cryptic, started solving sudokus every day, even got into Sandwich, Thermo, Star Battles, Kakuru, Akari, you name it.. And almost a year later, I'm still subscribed. It's crazy how the world works.

That was very good, i liked the way you explained your thoughts because some don't and expect me to know. Thanks mate.

It was great to see how you uncover hidden pairs. I put way too many numbers as possibles in the boxes and confuse myself. Your way lessens the confusion so I’m going to try it.

Oh, that was FUN. I shouted some numbers at you, and then you tapped them into place.Thanks.

Just downloaded a sudoku app 4 months ago. I’ve been having a ball with that (it’s especially easy because it color codes each digit to help better identify) but I’ve been having trouble with books. I came here to find some inspiration since one particular book’s FIRST PUZZLE has me stumped! I wanted to see an experienced strategy, so I copied this puzzle onto a scrap of paper in pencil and pen and tried it before watching. When I got stumped, I’d push play. When you had a run of numbers, I’d write them in a different color and pause so I could understand why you found it and I didn’t. I would also take the numbers you gave and try to solve again, and once I came to a stop, I pushed play again. All in all, you gave me 12 numbers (which I don’t know if that’s good or bad) and I was able to solve the rest! It’s given me a few new strategies to apply to my game and was a fun way to learn. Thanks!

I was going to say the ASMR application of this video is highly underrated, but then I saw it had 1.3M views...

I've been playing sudoku when I can't sleep, it ends up keeping me up even later if I can't solve it. I like the big brain solutions you guys come up with!

Mark at 6:27: "Well done if you're picking up the next stage ahead of me, that's quite possible, we're not superhuman." Me: Indeed not, but I am sleepy human.

its 20 past midnight and i havent played sudoku in about 5 years... glad youtube recomended me this, had a great time

Procrastinating uni for several hours. Now I'm here, watching the whole video...

Sudoku is so great. Thanks to this channel I got into sudoku a couple weeks ago and all my free time has gone into it since then. The moment when you see a logical connection between the numbers is just so exhilarating, it’s very addictive. It’s like you find the one domino that can be knocked down and everything follows from that discovery. I always have loved puzzles and getting into sudoku has been such a treasure because it truly is the best puzzle game ever, in my opinion.

I love how you go about solving this in a completely different order than I did, it was really exciting watching your process

Scaling matched pairs to 4 numbers/pairs/cells in the left center block. My head exploded. I almost used a thumb-up emoji, but interpretations vary. ⚡

This is the same method I use when starting a puzzle, but I'm happy to hear it articulated so well

Amazing!!! I never use this pairing method before. Thanks for the guidance.

It took me an hour to finish it and this dude finished it in 15 MINUTES. I have so much respect for him

Enjoyed this. I learned how to properly use pairs to eliminate possibilities.

Very interesting! Thanks for your insights, which go a long way to helping me improve my game!

I am an occasional Soduko fan. Suddenly decided to look it up on KZfaq. Watched a couple, then found this. The hard ones take me a long time. The pairs in your solution are a BIG help. Thank you!

I love it when the algorithm throws up one of these retro puzzles! It’s amazing to see how far the channel has come in four years

I do appreciate the pairs technique that you use. I usually solve comparatively quickly, but I have not ever made the decision to only note pairs. Instead, I note everything and then start visualizing pairs and eliminating notes based on the pairs. It will most likely be a time saver to instead only note pairs. Thank you.

Im in love Thanks for teaching me this method..I feel so young not knowing these tricks :/

Your thought process is very reasonable and approachable. This inspires confidence to go ahead and try a difficult Sudoku puzzle!

This was so impressive! I always neglected this pencil option but obviously I simply wasn't advanced enough to understand it's full meaning. I need to go find my sudoku puzzle magazine immediately!

This is the first time I've watched an older CtC video, and I'm amazed at how much _younger_ Mark looks today. I don't know if it's the camera, the kids getting older, or if he's just going back in time before our very eyes and that's why he's so good at solving puzzles. Anyway, it's a lot of fun to see how much the channel and the techniques have evolved. Well done!

I’ve finished this puzzle in just under 9 minutes. Wonderful puzzle, and wonderful job solving it good sir. 👍

This was very helpful because I never could figure out what the smaller number option was for. Thanks. 👍

Watching you solve this puzzle was VERY informative and AMAZING My sister had bought a sudoku puzzle book for my mother. She and I were able to solve the level one and level two puzzles with little difficulty, however when we got into level three, it felt like the challenge got up to a TOTALLY DIFFERENT LEVEL. I looked up only, typing “how to solve hard puzzles” and read that writing down the possibilities was the key to solving hard puzzles, and never really understood what that meant. Seeing you solve this puzzle really showed me the power of writing down the possibility in each box Thank you VERY much for uploading this video

Is it only me? But I was so distracted by his failure to eliminate that 5 in the lowest right corner box.

This was a fascinating video to watch (I did twice). I tried the puzzle before viewing and got stuck. Re-doing it now that I've seen the gentleman expound on finding and making use of "pairs' should make it a little easier -- spotting these patterns is the kicker. Rather than trial numbers in cells, my method with a pencil is to place tick marks in cells according to the number; across top of cell for '1' - '2' - '3' then across center of cell for '4' - '5' - '6' and bottom '7' - '8' - '9' I don't have a program like the one used in the video. Thanks so much for the recording.

For some reason a two year old video of yours came up in my recommendations. I started watching the channel not long after this, a few months before the plague began, and it's interesting to see what we called kind of hard, back then. Pairs being the key to a puzzle is such a quaint concept to me, now, living in the age of the Phistomefel Ring.

Well, I'm greatly reassured. I never thought to look at KZfaq videos to do Sudoku (I mean not something you'd guess would be there), but go this lot on my feed and had a look. I have worked out exactly the same pattern of doing it. The things I am learning here are now the stasis-breakers, like the X-Wing and Y-Wings, and that's what I needed to go forward. Thanks guys...

I always thought adding in the small numbers was cheating I was trying to memorise it all 😂

Thanks for the video. The question is, how could you be sure there was a 6 (10:31) there?

Just posting to say that I started watching this video to try and help me a little more in playing Sudoku on higher difficulties. About half way through I said to myself "this isn't showing me anything at all" stopped watching and went to play a harder game. I actually ended up using the method you showed and solved the puzzle in about 14 minutes with no errors. So sorry for dismissing your video, and thank you very much, it was actually really helpful 👍

I have played sudoku so much in my childhood, but this was so instructional. Thank you.

Now, I'm more of a "solve sudokus on the toilet" person, but wow, that's the kind of puzzle I'd plug at for days before solving it, and you solved it in minutes! Though I do take comfort in the fact, that at least I seem to know all the techniques; I'm just way too slow :D

Sudoku is my favourite puzzle.

This was brilliant. I do play sudoku sometimes but I suck at it most of the time and give up. This was enlightening and very entertaining. Thank you!!!!

By golly gosh, you work these out fast. I was completing the sudoku with you. I worked out as much as I could then unpaused the video to get some hints then paused again to see how much more I could do. Needed your help twice. Great video. Learnt a new technique to sudoku.

You can also use addition, each box should be equal to 45 and each line horizontally or vertically is the same then it just leaves you a process of elimination where you should put the numbers without overlapping the same number.

You should work for television , talking in documentaries, the voice fits! :D Thanks for the method, I think it'll come in handy soon, even if I came here by coincidence :D

very helpful! i've always avoided the harder ones because i wasn't sure how to solve them, but keeping notes of the possibilities would help any puzzle get done faster it seems

This was really...interesting. I always get super excited when I find pairs! I feel like I'm winning at life!

7:43 I was stuck until that moment where you added the four, probably because I had covered the sudoku with potential marks that leaded nowhere like the potential nines in the bottom line (left corner) with the eights and fives, then the hidden pairs gave me the ultimate key to solve it. Very nice puzzle!

Never thought to find a Sudoku Play Through/Let's Play. Subbing because I play the game in my phone, but just recently getting on to Medium. May have to challenge myself more in that level in record time before moving on to Hard.

I honestly haven’t played sudoku in years but I love watching these videos, very interesting to me for some reason

Im very new to sudoku but I love it, learning very quickly and it's very rewarding to spend 30 minutes up to an hour on a hard puzzle to finish it. The pairs technique will help a lot because I find that eventually I'll be stuck on the harder level puzzles but have a lot of pairs that now i know I could've easily figured a lot of placements out had I have known. Thanks for the video with the explanations as to why things must go where they do and your whole thought process.

I solved it with you. Got stuck a couple times and watched the video until you explained a concept I was missing. Thanks!

nice one. which software do you use? it seems to automatically remove the ones as you update the grid.

This was the best explanation of "Hidden Pairs" thank you.

I have started with sudoku 40 days ago and l've looked for some tips first time today. This video came out and l'm so happy to discover it and this channel too. Thanks 😃

Weird recommendation but .. your voice made me watch through the whole video 😂😂

Like a lot of other people this video was in my recommendations even though I don't play sodoku or watch videos of it. Good job solving it though 👍

I just want to say thank you for helping me for my math hw! It was a different sudoku but the strategies help me a lot!

14:26 I don't know why, but I love when he said, "disambiguates." Good word, sir!

I predict he owns at least 1 cat

This is so helpful, I always struggle with deciding which pair to eliminate, so I think I over-complicate things for myself sometimes.

Didn't follow the same path but same reasoning & got it solved pretty quickly. Didn't learn new techniques as I hoped though, because some are harder to solve. Thank you.

this took me 50 minutes! to see someone doing it much faster is amazing and good exp to improve

Looks like I'll have to order that Origin pc, so I can play this.

You could've set the 5 in the bottom right 3x3 immediately. That horizontal row needed a 5 and that was the only possible position.

I've played Sudoku for years, never did the "Dewey Decimal" idea...☺️. THANKS!!

That what i was missing. I'm a self taught sudoku amateur, so this is super interesting. Thanks for the great tip.

KZfaq for the win ... matching out-of-the-blue recommendations and people. Thanks CtC for uploading this elegant solution. Subscribed (for the moment when I thought 'what happens if he puts in the wrong number?' and yes, it turned into a red 6)

Can you fix my kitchen window? It doesn't close properly and there's a terrible draft.

I like the fact that you explain your reasoning, the other chap doesn’t always take his time and explain which leaves me trying to catch up all the time, much appreciated thank you 😊

Never forget the power of the pairs!!! Im trying to get better at soduko puzzles ive been doing them ever since i was 8 years old. Ive never thought about this way so thank you!

Welcome to another episode of "Why is this in my recommendation?" . . . I know this isn't original but.. Good video :)

Never quite understood Sudoku, watching this video made it much simpler yo start to understand, Keep broadcasting!!

I’ve played sudoku for a little while had no clue about pairs thanks for that it’ll make my life easier

I very recently found this method of solving a hard Sudoku. It works well and I could solve the problem very quickly. Thanks.

I’ve never completed a sudoku in my life... how did I get here? 😂

Cant stand watching him not finding the 5 in the right bottom square :D

Thank you. This helped me out soooo much after a year of trying to solve.

I've been following this channel for a while but didn't get back to this one until now. I copied it and I'm very proud that I managed to solve this almost as quickly, by using slightly different techniques but also relying a lot on CTC tips.

I'm interested in what program you are using to fill in the sudoku puzzle !

What sudoku program is being used in this video?

Thank you for your intelligence. I enjoyed learning from this.

Ive been struggling with my sudoku book for ages this will certainly help 😱

7:14 because of the 1-9 pair on row nine, the number on c9-r8 must be 4.

@Cracking The Cryptic - What software are you using?

I haven't done Sudoku in several years but when I did I always made it harder for myself by refusing to use the pencil notes for possibles. Not that I was so good I needed more of a challenge, just a silly self-imposed limitation that made it that much more satisfying when I completed the puzzle.

I was watching mountain biking videos and ended up here somehow. This was awesome, thanks for the video. I'm gonna have to go try one of these puzzles myself, I think I got the rules just by watching you play

Hi, what app you use for solving sudoku?

After watching this, I think I'm making too many potential pencil marks instead of just focusing on making those hidden pairs.

Brilliant! Thank you for showing us how you think this through. and.... I could listen to your accent all night long. Thank you for posting.

It was fun seeing the thought process of another sudoku solver, but also really frustrating seing stuff before you found them just waiting to see when you'll notice

Wait. You can mark it like that? Ive been holding it in memory all this time.

Dear sir, can you further explain on how do you get 6 at 10:20. Seems illogical for me as newbie

Oh I loved this video! I wasn't going to write it down and try it myself until he missed a five that I found which bothered me lol. It was so cool that I could just solve along until I got stuck and then I watch some more of the video and it all starts making sense! I had done a few things in a different order but completely missed the 6 at 12:36 in the video and as soon as he pointed that out everything else fell into place so easily! I feel like I have learned a million new ways to solve sudoku from this video which is great because I have another puzzle that I am stuck on so I can't wait to apply some of these methods on it and see if it works. Incredible to see how fast this guy makes some connections I could never find, and also an ego boost when I find something before he does!

First time I’ve watched a sudoku video. I was surprised that I had figured out the same way to solve puzzles as the person doing the video! We must think alike!