Shichi Sudoku Help

Rules

Shichi Sudoku follows the same rules as Sudoku in that every row, column and block of each of the seven grids must contain the numbers 1 - 9. Where the grids overlap, the rows and columns do not go beyond their usual length but the interlocking blocks give you more clues. Don't try to solve each of the five grids in turn, you must look at the puzzle as a whole to be able to solve it.

How To Play

• Click the "New" menu item and select a skill level from the dropdown menu.
• Fill in blanks with the Pen (select a cell, then click on the number you want to enter, or enter the number via the keyboard).
• If you're not 100% sure of a number, you can make a note of it in the cell using the Pencil. To do this, click the "Pencil" icon to be placed in "Pencil mode".
• You may enter as many pencil marks as you like in each cell.
• To change back to "Pen" mode, click the "Pen" icon. You can also switch between pen and pencil modes quickly by pressing the "P" key. (See tips below.)

Input Tips

There are a few ways to enter the numbers into each cell.

• Click on a cell to highlight it, then click the number from the number pad on the right.
• In Preferences (under Edit menu) you can select to have a popup number pad. If selected, then when you click/touch a cell, the number pad will pop up in place and you can select a number. (May be quicker as the playing board is large.)
• If you select "Active Number Mode" in Preferences, then selecting a number from the number pad will make it the active number. Then clicking/touching a cell will immediately fill it in with that number.
• If you prefer to use the keyboard only, you can navigate with the arrw keys and then enter the required number via the keyboard.

Keyboard Shortcuts

• Use the arrow keys to navigate around the grid.
• Use the number keys to enter a number in the highlighted cell.
• Press the space or Delete key to remove any numbers from the highlighted cell.
• Press the "P" key to toggle between Pen and Pencil.
• Press the "U" key to undo last input.
• Hold Shift key down to enter in pencil (when in Pen mode).

Other Tips

• Click the Undo icon (yellow arrow) to undo last input. You can undo all the way back to the beginning.
• Holding the Shift key when clicking on a number in the input panel will pencil that number in. You may find this more convenient than toggling between the Pen and Pencil icons.
• To remove just one pencilled number in a cell, enter that number again.
• To remove all pencil numbers in a cell, either click the eraser button or simply "pen" the final choice in.
• To remove all pencil marks from all cells, use the menu option under "Edit".

Description Of Menu Options

Please note that the menu options are arranged a little differently in the Flash version.

New Menu

Here you can generate a puzzle at the required level of difficulty. All these puzzles are solvable by pure logic.

Note: There is one new puzzle per level per day but you can play more from archives.

Edit Menu

Undo

This will undo the last move. You can undo all the way back to the beginning of the puzzle (unless you have loaded a puzzle which was partially completed). This is the same as clicking the Undo icon (yellow arrow).

Clear Possibles

This will clear all possibles displayed in the grids.

Clear All Input

This will clear all input (pen and pencil marks) displayed in the grids.

Save

Saves the current state of the puzzle to temporary user data on this computer. This is useful if you wish to come back another time to continue solving it, or if you are guessing which may necessitate you to backtrack later on.

Load

Loads the last saved puzzle on this computer.

Print

Prints the puzzle at the current state it is in.

Preferences

Here you may set whether you want to enable "Active Number" (discussed in Input Tips above), or "Popup Number Pad" or show Pen/Pencil cursor or automatically display errors if value just entered is incorrect. "Auto Remove Pencil Marks" will remove pencil marks of the number just entered in the same row, column or block.
You can also customize various colors.

Preferences are remembered and will reload from what was last set on that computer.

Solve Menu

Main options to aid in solving puzzles.

Check Input

Checks to see if you have solved the puzzle correctly. Any errors made will be shown in red.

Hint

Suggests which cell may be the next easiest to solve. It will not fill in the value - for that you need to select the "Solve One Cell" option.

Clue

This will suggest you look where a particular number is located in a block, row or column and will highlight that area of the grid. This helps you more than the "Hint" option and is the easiest aid you can ask for, save getting the actual answer.

Solve One Cell

This option will fill in one of the cells and displays the reason why that number is the answer to the cell.

It is recommended you do the Sudoku Tutorials first to understand the terminology used and an explanation of the solving strategies.

Possibles

This option will show you the possible numbers for each unsolved cell using the logic techniques relevant for the difficulty level.

Solve

Solve the puzzle and shows the completed solution.