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XYZ-Wing

A natural extension of the XY-Wing. The pivot pencils three candidates {X, Y, Z}, the two wings pencil {X, Z} and {Y, Z}, and both wings see the pivot. Any cell that sees the pivot AND both wings cannot contain Z.

Advanced

How to read the grids

  • Given - clues from the starting puzzle
  • Subject - cells the technique focuses on
  • Eliminated - candidates this technique removes
  • Candidate - pencil marks shown for reference

How to spot it

Look for a tri-value pivot near two bi-value wings that share one of its digits each. The shared third digit Z is eliminated from cells that see all three of pivot and wings.

Z (7) is eliminated only from cells that see the pivot AND both wings.

Worked example

Pivot {1,4,7}, wings {1,7} and {4,7}. Any cell that sees the pivot and both wings loses the candidate 7.

Time to practice

Reading is half the work. Try a puzzle now and look for the techniques you just learned.