Practise: Nice Loop
This puzzle is picked so that the easy moves run out and exactly the Nice Loop gets you going again. Solve as far as you can — when nothing obvious is left, the pattern is waiting for you.
Skip the obvious cells and start right where the technique is needed.
How to spot it
Trace a sequence of candidates with alternating strong and weak links until it closes. Do not repeat a candidate before the loop closes. For a weak discontinuity, the start candidate is joined by weak links on both sides and can be crossed out. For a continuous loop, look outside the loop only at cells that see both ends of a weak same-digit link.
Put it to use
Where you will meet it
Expert grids are the only place this pattern regularly decides the solve. Bring your notes.
Play ExpertStuck on a grid of your own?
Type the position into the solver and it walks the whole solution, naming the technique behind every step — including this one.
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