Hidden Triple / Quadruple

Difficulty

Simple

Description

Hidden Singles and Hidden Pairs can be generalized even more to Hidden Groups.

  • A Hidden Single is a Hidden 1-Group. (One candidate pinned down to one cell.)
  • A Hidden Pair is a Hidden 2-Group. (Two candidates pinned down to two cells.)
  • A Hidden Triple is a Hidden 3-Group. (Three candidates pinned down to three cells.)
  • etc.

While both, Hidden Groups as well as Naked Groups, are all just groups, the word "Hidden" tells us how the group was found.

A Hidden Group is discovered through other cells being blocked from being the numbers of that group.

In these examples, the fixed numbers (singles) at the bottom prevent the red cells from being those numbers, so they must be in the remaining cells within that column.



More on Groups

Hidden Groups and Naked Groups are both groups. They only differ in how they are discovered.

If you haven't already read the page on groups and how they can be used, you can read about them now: Groups

Do not skip this part. The knowledge of groups is very important, and they can drastically improve your solving skills.
It is best to read about groups before looking at the upcoming examples.


When viewed from cell candidates' perspective

Here are, as before, some example of how Hidden Triples and Hidden Quadruples might look like in a game where the cell candidates are already notated.

Hidden Triples:


Hidden Quadruples: