Two-String Kite
A row and a column, each with two candidates, meeting through a shared box. Their far ends cannot both be false.
What it is
A Two-String Kite combines one row and one column in which a digit has exactly two candidates each. One cell of the row and one cell of the column lie in the same box. Since the box can hold the digit only once, at least one of the two remaining cells — the far ends of the strings — must be true. The cell where their row and column cross can therefore drop the digit.
How to spot it
Look for a row and a column where the digit has exactly two candidates, then check whether one cell from each shares a box. If so, follow the other two cells to where their line and column intersect: that is the elimination.
Worked example
One question per step: find the row link, the column link, their shared box, and finally the notes that see both far ends.
Step 1 of 4: Follow the 7
Ignore other notes. This lesson asks only where 7 can remain in one marked row and one marked column.
Why it matters
The Two-String Kite covers positions the Skyscraper misses, because it links a row to a column rather than two rows. Together the two patterns catch most simple single-digit chains without needing full colouring.
Practise now
Solve a puzzle where this technique decides the game
Frequently asked questions
Why is it called a kite?
The two lines look like strings and the shared box is where they are tied together, with the far ends forming the kite's corners.
Where is the elimination?
At the cell where the row of one far end meets the column of the other. That cell sees both, so it cannot hold the digit whichever of the two is true.
Put it to use
Where you will meet it
Hard grids are built around moves like this one. That is where it earns its keep.
Play HardStuck 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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