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Hard technique

Obvious Pairs (Naked Pairs), Explained

Most sudoku guides call these naked pairs. In Bubble Sudoku they are Obvious Pairs.

When two cells in the same row, column, or block show exactly the same two colors, those two colors belong to those two cells, even though you cannot tell which is which. Rule them out of every other cell there.
1

Read the block

BEFORE

Six cells in this block are still open, and their notes are already written in. None of them shows a single color, so there is nothing to place yet. Look at how many dots each cell shows, because the shortest notes are where a pair hides.

2

Find the matching pair

The first two cells of the top row show exactly the same two colors: Yellow and Dark Green. Nothing else fits in either one, so one of these cells must be Yellow and the other must be Dark Green. Which is which is still unknown, and you will not need to find out.

3

Take those two colors off the rest

That pair locks Yellow and Dark Green into those two cells. No other cell in this block can be either color, so Yellow comes off the other four cells, and Dark Green comes off the one other cell that shows it.

4

Read what that leaves

AFTER

The cell beside the pair was showing Yellow and Dark Blue. With Yellow gone, only Dark Blue is left, so place it. The Dark Blue note below comes off as it lands. The pair itself is still undecided, and that is the point. An obvious pair does not fill its own cells. It frees the cells around it.

Cells being readKey cellColor tints match the color being followed

Key Insight

You never have to work out which cell of the pair gets which color. Finding the pair is the whole job. Once you rule its two colors out of the other cells, a new answer usually appears right beside it. When a row, column, or block stalls, read its shortest notes first: two cells with the same two colors is the quickest pattern on the board to spot. The same thinking with three cells and three colors gives you Obvious Triples.

If you’re stuck on a puzzle, see what to try next, in order.

Bubble Sudoku’s hints walk you through Obvious Pairs on a real board, one step at a time.

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