How to solve this 6×6 logic puzzle

6×6 · steady · 9 steps

This 6×6 board rates as steady (difficulty score 752). Solving it from scratch takes 16 logical steps, using 5 techniques: Single cell, Row/column exclusion, Adjacency clear, Region confinement, Shape squeeze. Every step below is forced — nothing here is a guess.

1. First, every open cell left in this region sits in column 5, so its marker has to land there — clearing every other open cell in the column.
2. Next, every open cell left in this region sits in column 6, so its marker has to land there — clearing every other open cell in the column.
3. Then, place a marker at row 5, column 4. Region has exactly one open cell left. Placing here clears the rest of row 5, column 4, and its region. Placing here also clears its 2 touching neighbours.
4. After that, place a marker at row 6, column 2. Region has exactly one open cell left. Placing here clears the rest of row 6, column 2, and its region.
5. Now, place a marker at row 4, column 1. Region has exactly one open cell left. Placing here clears the rest of row 4, column 1, and its region.
6. From there, every remaining candidate in this region touches row 1, column 6 and row 2, column 6 — so whichever candidate ends up marked will clear them, and they can be ruled out now regardless of which one wins.
7. Following that, place a marker at row 3, column 6. Region has exactly one open cell left. Placing here clears the rest of row 3, column 6, and its region. Placing here also clears its 1 touching neighbour.
8. First, place a marker at row 1, column 5. Region has exactly one open cell left. Placing here clears the rest of row 1, column 5, and its region.
9. Finally, place a marker at row 2, column 3. Region has exactly one open cell left.

The key move here was Shape squeeze — once you can spot that, this board falls quickly. ∎