Expert technique

Swordfish: The X-Wing’s Bigger Sibling

Swordfish is the three-row version of the X-Wing.

Pick one color. Find three rows where it can only go in the same three columns. The color can be removed from the rest of those three columns.

A board with nothing left to place

BEFORE

No cell shows a single color, and no color has only one place left. Nothing can be placed. Look at one color at a time.

Look at one color

This is the same board with only the Turquoise dots showing. Nothing has been erased. Eighteen cells can still take Turquoise.

Three rows that share three columns

Three rows each have only two cells for Turquoise. Together, those six cells sit in just three columns. Trace them and they form a loop.

All three columns are taken

Each of the three rows needs one Turquoise, and they can only use these three columns. So all three columns get their Turquoise from the loop. Remove Turquoise from the rest of those columns.

Place what is left

AFTER

Look at the top row. Turquoise could go in two cells, and one of them just lost it. Only one cell is left, so place Turquoise there. The loop never places a bubble itself. It clears the way.

Cells being readColor tints match the color being followed

Key Insight

A swordfish is hard to see because no single row tells you anything. Find the rows where a color fits only two cells. Write down which columns each row uses. Look for three rows that use only three columns in total. It works the same with rows and columns swapped.

Related Techniques

X WingThe same pattern with two rows and two columns. It is easier to spot, so check for it first.

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