PUZZLE TECHNIQUES

KAKURO SOLVING TECHNIQUES

Only solve kakuro puzzles using logical decisions.

THE 'LAST CELL' TECHNIQUE

With the last cell technique you look for a row or a column where only digit that is missing. How are you going to solve this now? You add together the values in the row or column and subtract this from the number clue that is above or below the diagonal.

An example to make everything clearer to understand. Below you can only enter 2 at the place of A because 20 - (1 + 8 + 9) = 2. At the place of B you can only enter 7 because 15-8 = 7.

THE 'CROSS REFERENCE' METHOD

Investigate the combinations of a cell that belongs to a row and a column. Some cluse such as eg. 6 (in 3 boxes) and 20 (in 3 boxes) have only 1 common number in their combinations.

Clue 6 only has (1 + 2 + 3) and 20 has (3 + 8 + 9, 4 + 7 + 9, 5 + 6 + 9 and 5 + 7 + 8). Number 3 is the only common digit for clues 6 and 20.

Another example for more clarity. Number 16 in two cells only knows the combination (7 + 9). Digit 9 in 2 cells has 4 combinations (1 + 8, 2 + 7, 3 + 6 and 4 + 5). No combination contains the number 9, so you have to enter 7 in the common cell of the clues 16 and 9.