Sudoku puzzles do use logic in a very elementary form...elimination. Much like a framework puzzle in a crossword puzzle book, Sudoku puzzles are fill-in-the-blanks puzzles. Since there are a total of 81 cells in a puzzle and 25 to 35 of them are already filled in at the outset, there remain, at most, 56 to 66 squares to be filled in. And, just as you cross out...or eliminate...words as you fill them in a framework puzzle, in a Sudoku puzzle each time you fill in a single cell, you eliminate the possibility of putting that number...that symbol...anywhere else in the same row, the same column or the same nine-cell box. That is what we mean by the logic of elimination.

This tutorial will guide you through the beginning process of solving a puzzle using actual puzzles. We will start with easy puzzles...and easy logic...and proceed to more difficult puzzles that require more subtle logic. We will give you hints on how to proceed, how to recover from mistakes, etc. but YOU will do the actual solving. We will also inform you which of the function keys will help you the most.

We will also explain how the methods we introduce here online can be carried into paper-and-pencil solution of Sudoku puzzles you find in your local newspaper or other periodical. Hopefully, when you have used this software for a couple of months, you will be an expert Sudoku puzzle solver, unsatisfied with any but the most difficult puzzles.