Naked Pair

Working with Candidates5 / 32

Two cells, the same two candidates — the rest of the unit lets go.

When two cells in a unit hold exactly the same two candidates, those two digits are spoken for: one goes in each cell, in some order. Any other cell of the unit that still lists them is bluffing.

Naked pairs rarely place a digit immediately — their value is the eliminations, which often uncover singles right after.

See it in action

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Step 1 of 4

The setup

Skim each unit for two cells showing an identical pair of pencil marks, then check whether those digits appear anywhere else in the unit. Step through this real position to see it happen.

Practice

Find the naked pair and remove its two digits from the other cells of the unit.

Drill 1 of 29

Tap a cell, then the candidate digit you want to remove.