Как играть в XV Судоку

XV Sudoku is a variant where X and V symbols appear between adjacent cells. An X marks two cells that sum to 10. A V marks two cells that sum to 5. Standard Sudoku rules apply, and — critically — all X and V relationships are fully marked: if there is no symbol between two adjacent cells, those cells are guaranteed not to sum to either 10 or 5.

The valid X pairs are: 1&9, 2&8, 3&7, 4&6. Note that 5&5 sums to 10 but standard Sudoku uniqueness rules prevent two 5s from being adjacent in most cases. The X constraint immediately limits each marked cell to a small set of candidates.

The valid V pairs are: 1&4, 2&3. Only four digits can ever appear in a V cell: 1, 2, 3, or 4. This makes V markers particularly powerful for restricting candidates in the lower half of the digit range.

All X and V relationships are shown — if two adjacent cells have no symbol, their sum is guaranteed to be neither 5 nor 10. This negative constraint eliminates candidate pairs from unmarked cell boundaries and is often as useful as the explicit symbols.

The rules are simple to memorise. The challenge is applying both the positive (X, V) and negative (no symbol) constraints simultaneously across the entire grid. Easy puzzles are very accessible; expert puzzles require exhaustive tracking of all adjacent-cell relationships.

Easy puzzles take 8–15 minutes. Medium puzzles run 15–30 minutes. Hard puzzles average 30–60 minutes and expert puzzles often exceed 90 minutes. The no-symbol negative constraint is the most time-consuming to apply systematically across a densely marked grid.