Wing tactics
XY-Wing Strategy: Use One Pivot Cell to Trigger Massive Eliminations
XY-Wing uses three bi-value cells. A pivot shares candidates with two wings, and whichever candidate is true removes the shared value from every cell that sees both wings. It’s perfect for crushing late-game stalemates without guessing.
Build the wing
- Find a pivot cell with candidates XY.
- Locate one wing sharing XZ and another sharing YZ (Z is the elimination target).
- Any cell that sees both wings can’t contain Z—erase it immediately.
- Update notes and search for fresh pivots triggered by the cleanup.
Interactive play-by-play
XY-Wing pivot breakdown
The mini board shows how one pivot cell forces eliminations on every square that sees the two wings.
Step 1
Choose the pivot and wings
The center cell (pivot) carries 2 and 3. The highlighted wings share 2 and 3 with an extra digit 4 and 5.
Step 2
Eliminate the shared value
Any cell that can “see” both wings (like the gray square) loses the shared candidate 3 instantly.
Step 3
Capitalize on the clean grid
With the shared digit gone, one wing resolves to 4 and the other to 5, forcing the pivot to become 2.
Step 1 of 3
Why Pure Sudoku helps
- Tap a candidate digit to highlight every matching note across the grid.
- Smart-pencil cleanup removes outdated digits so wings stay clear.
- Undo/redo lets you explore speculative pivots risk-free.
Practice challenge
Solve two hard puzzles back to back. Every time you use XY-Wing, jot down the pivot coordinates and how many Z candidates vanished. After a week, compare notes to see how quickly you spot the pattern. Mix in Swordfish or X-Wing whenever the grid doesn’t offer a clean wing yet.