Printable Medium Sudoku Puzzles

Medium is where scanning stops being enough. These puzzles require Omission — the box-line interaction sometimes called pointing and claiming — or a Naked Pair, and both are eliminations rather than placements. You will reach points where nothing can be written in and the correct move is to rule something out.

On paper that changes how you work. You do not need full pencil marks for this tier, but you will want a light touch: marking two or three candidate digits small in a corner where a unit is nearly resolved is usually enough. Solvers who print this tier and try to hold everything mentally tend to stall not because the logic is hard but because the bookkeeping is.

Printable Medium Sudoku FAQ

Are these printable medium puzzles really medium?

Yes, verifiably. Every puzzle is checked by a solver that records the exact techniques required, and these are rated Medium because of the hardest technique they need — not a guess or a star rating. Each puzzle lists its required techniques.

Do I need to write pencil marks on Medium puzzles?

Not comprehensively. These need an Omission or a Naked Pair at their hardest, and both can usually be spotted by marking candidates in only the one or two units you are actively working on. Full grid-wide notation is not required until the Hard tier.

What is the jump from Easy to Medium?

It is the shift from placing to eliminating. Easy puzzles resolve by finding where a digit goes; Medium puzzles reach positions where the only available move is proving where a digit cannot go, and the placement follows a step later.