Medium Consecutive Sudoku

Ready to sharpen your skills? Medium Consecutive Sudoku puzzles introduce interactions between the variant constraint and classic Sudoku techniques. You'll need to combine both skill sets to progress.

▶ Play Medium Consecutive Sudoku All Consecutive Sudoku Difficulties

What to expect at Medium level

Medium Consecutive Sudoku puzzles require you to combine the variant constraint with standard Sudoku deduction - Naked pairs, hidden singles, and unit scans. The constraint is more tightly woven into the grid, so you'll need to think a few steps ahead.

Best suited for players comfortable with Easy Consecutive Sudoku who want to build their pattern recognition.

Difficulty overview

LevelCluesTechniques neededAvg. time
Easy ManyBasic elimination5–10 min
Medium ModerateSingles, pairs10–20 min
Hard FewAdvanced logic20–40 min
Expert MinimalFull mastery40+ min

About Consecutive Sudoku

Difficulty
★★★☆☆
3/5
Constraint Type
Cell Relationships
Typical Givens
18–24
Avg. Solve (Medium)
16 min

Consecutive Sudoku marks bars between pairs of adjacent cells. A bar means the two digits in those cells differ by exactly 1 — they are consecutive. When used with the negative constraint (no bar = not consecutive), this gives information about every adjacent pair in the entire grid, creating a powerful constraint network.

Solving Techniques for Medium Level

Technique Description Level
Negative Constraint Power Where no bar appears, the two cells are guaranteed non-consecutive. Every unmarked adjacent edge tells you something — treat absent bars as constraints. Beginner
Bar Pair Enumeration A bar means the digits differ by exactly 1. List all valid pairs: (1,2), (2,3), …, (8,9). Use row/column context to narrow which pair fits. Beginner
Consecutive Chain Three cells connected by two bars form a run of three consecutive digits (in some order). Enumerate the 7 possible runs: {1,2,3}, {2,3,4}, …, {7,8,9}. Intermediate

Master these, then take on Hard Killer Sudoku to learn Advanced techniques.

Average Solve Time by Difficulty

Easy
7 min
Medium
16 min
Hard
32 min
Expert
58 min

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 'consecutive' mean?
Two digits are consecutive if they differ by exactly 1, e.g. 3 and 4, or 7 and 8.
Is the negative constraint used?
Yes — an unmarked adjacent pair guarantees the digits are NOT consecutive.