

A rectangular Sudoku uses rectangular regions of row-column dimension R× C. Unless noted, discussion in this article assumes classic Sudoku, i.e. There are many Sudoku variants, partially characterized by size ( N), and the shape of their regions. same arrangement where all instances of one digit is switched with another digit). 2.55 × 10 25 minimal puzzles that are not pseudo-equivalent (i.e.
#Method of solving sudoku puzzles generator
However, statistical techniques combined with a generator ( 'Unbiased Statistics of a CSP – A Controlled-Bias Generator'), show that there are approximately (with 0.065% relative error): The number of minimal Sudokus (Sudokus in which no clue can be deleted without losing uniqueness of the solution) is not precisely known.

Ordinary Sudokus ( proper puzzles) have a unique solution. No exact results are known for Sudokus larger than the classical 9×9 grid, although there are estimates which are believed to be fairly accurate. Similar results are known for variants and smaller grids. The largest minimal puzzle found so far has 40 clues in the 81 cells. There is a solvable puzzle with at most 21 clues for every solved grid.

An ordinary puzzle with a unique solution must have at least 17 clues.

There are 26 possible types of symmetry, but they can only be found in about 0.005% of all filled grids. įor classical Sudoku, the number of filled grids is 6,670,903,752,021,072,936,960 ( 6.671 ×10 21), which reduces to 5,472,730,538 essentially different solutions under the validity preserving transformations. Initial analysis was largely focused on enumerating solutions, with results first appearing in 2004. The analysis of Sudoku is generally divided between analyzing the properties of unsolved puzzles (such as the minimum possible number of given clues) and analyzing the properties of solved puzzles. Mathematics can be used to study Sudoku puzzles to answer questions such as "How many filled Sudoku grids are there?", "What is the minimal number of clues in a valid puzzle?" and "In what ways can Sudoku grids be symmetric?" through the use of combinatorics and group theory. For solving and generating algorithms, see Sudoku solving algorithms.Ī 24-clue automorphic Sudoku with translational symmetry This article is about the mathematical analysis of Sudoku puzzles.
