Su Doku Assist
It is a premium assistant for Sudoku fans. Create your own or solve from database, magazine, or newspaper generated by the computer. Solve in three power steps. The program provides the reason for updating the next cell. Learn while you solve. It makes 9×9 and 15×15 grids. Limitations include 1 hour creation, 10 checknext, and 1 power solve in 24 hours.
Full Specifications
WHAT’S NEW IN VERSION 1.0.2
GENERAL
Release
November 7, 2008
Date Added
October 11, 2005
Version
1.0.2
OPERATING SYSTEMS
Operating Systems
Windows 2000, Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows, Windows XP, Windows NT
Additional Requirements
Windows 98/Me/NT/2000/XP/2003 Server
Su Doku Assistant
Screen Shot
The Su Doku Assistant (SDA) is an easy-to-use Windows based program for solving and creating 9×9 Su Doku puzzles.
Features of SDA include:
Extensive support for the manual solution of both symmetric and asymmetric Su Doku puzzles including:
Entry of pre-filled values via keyboard or mouse, or a combination of both.
Automatic checking of manually entered cell values to ensure conformance with the fundamental rule of Su Doku.
Identification of singletons – unfilled cells which can only take one value.
Identification of all the unfilled cells which can take a specific value.
Simultaneous display of potential candidate values for all unfilled cells.
Tool-tips on unfilled cells, each tool-tip listing the candidate values for that cell. Tool-tips are also provided for many SDA screen components.
Cell colouring, useful when utilising more advanced strategies such as Colouring, X-Wings, XY-Wings and Swordfish.
Backing up the state of a partially completed grid for subsequent restoration, if required.
An unlimited undo facility for removing manually entered values.
A “give me a hint” facility.
Powerful automatic solution of both symmetric and asymmetric Su Doku puzzles. SDA can solve any 9×9 Su Doku puzzle with a unique solution. Such puzzles range in complexity from level 1 (relatively easy) to level 6 (fiendishly difficult). By way of comparison, the puzzles published in most newspapers seldom exceed level 2 in difficulty.
Flexible new puzzle creation facilities. Both symmetric and asymmetric puzzles with a specified number of cells may be created, as may those with a specified level of difficulty in the range 1 (relatively easy) to 6 (fiendishly difficult).
Significant additional capabilities including:
Saving and reloading Su Doku puzzles in SDA .grd file format, whether partially or fully completed. Puzzles may also be saved in two popular plain text formats.
Loading Su Doku puzzles held in text files using various popular formats for facilitating puzzle entry and interchange.
Saving the history of the steps taken by SDA when solving a puzzle automatically and replaying these steps one by one.
The timing of the manual solution of puzzles. When an incompletely solved puzzle is saved, the time taken so far is also saved, in order that the correct time can be re-established if the puzzle is loaded again.
A facility to improve puzzles by removing redundant pre-fills.
Conversion of any asymmetric puzzle into a symmetric puzzle, or vice-versa.
Printing paper copies of puzzles for off-line solution.
This solver offers a number of features to help you improve your solving skills and practice solving strategies.
Solve Features
Enter the numbers of the puzzle you want to solve in the grid. You can solve the puzzle completely, partially or solve a single cell using the buttons in the Solving section of the Features block.
Button: Solve Cell
Solves the cell of your choice. Click in the cell you want to solve first, then click this button
Button: Solve
Solves the puzzle completely
Button: Solve Partially
Solves the puzzle partially according to the preference settings. To set the preferences, click on the icon in the main menu at the top of the page.
Helper Features
The solver provides several analysis features which allow you to check if a puzzle is valid, rate the difficulty of a puzzle or get hints on how to solve a puzzle step by step.
Button: Check
Checks if the puzzle is valid, can be solved and has a single solution
Button: Rate Difficulty
Display a difficulty rating for the remaining unsolved cells of the puzzle. Ratings are based on the techniques needed to solve the puzzle logically. Below is the list of ratings and associated solving techniques:
RatingSolution Techniques
SimpleNaked Single, Hidden Single
EasyNaked Pair, Hidden Pair, Pointing Pairs
MediumNaked Triple, Naked Quad, Pointing Triples, Hidden Triple, Hidden Quad
HardXWing, Swordfish, Jellyfish, XYWing, XYZWing
Button: Hint
Request a hint to find the next cell to solve. A hint will either identify a cell which can be solved or a cell or cells where candidates can be removed. If candidates are entered on the grid, those candidates will be used to help provide a hint, otherwise the solver will generate the candidates in the background.Sudoku designers the world over will weep and gnash their teeth at the revelations in this comprehensive guide to cracking the addictive puzzles–but solvers will find it absolutely invaluable as they seek to improve their skills. Even experts dont know all these tricks: hidden pairs, naked pairs, X-wings, jellyfish, squirmbag, bivalue and bilocation graphs, and chains, plus the exclusive Gordonian logic methods that turn the toughest puzzles into a breeze. There are hundreds of sudoku to practice on. A special addition is a reprint of the very first sudoku ever published!