A naked pair occurs when two cells in the same house contain exactly the same two candidates, allowing those candidates to be eliminated from other cells.
A naked pair occurs when two cells in the same house (row, column, or box) contain exactly the same two candidates and no other candidates. For example, if two cells in a row both contain only the candidates 3 and 7, they form a naked pair. One of those cells must contain 3 and the other must contain 7, so neither digit can appear in any other cell in that row.
The term "naked" refers to the fact that the pair is fully visible - the two cells contain only the paired candidates with nothing else hiding alongside them. This distinguishes it from a hidden pair, where additional candidates are present in the cells. For the full strategy guide, see our naked pairs strategy page.
To find naked pairs, scan each house for cells that contain exactly two candidates. When you find two cells in the same house with identical two-candidate sets, you have found a naked pair. This is easier to spot when you maintain thorough pencil marks throughout the puzzle.
Once you identify a naked pair, the elimination step is straightforward. Remove both of the paired candidates from every other cell in the same house. Since the two digits must go in the two paired cells, they cannot appear anywhere else in that house.
This elimination often triggers a cascade of further deductions. Removing a candidate from a cell might reduce it to a single candidate (a naked single), or it might create new pairs or other patterns. Always re-evaluate the affected cells after making eliminations.
The naked pair concept extends naturally to larger groups. Naked triples involve three cells sharing three candidates, and naked quads extend the pattern to four cells. The same elimination principle applies: the shared candidates are removed from all other cells in the house.
You should also learn hidden pairs, which work on the same principle from the opposite perspective. Instead of looking at cells with limited candidates, hidden pairs look for candidates that appear in only two cells within a house.
Explore more terminology in the Sudoku glossary.
A naked pair is two cells in the same house (row, column, or box) that contain exactly the same two candidates and no others. Since those two digits must occupy those two cells, they can be eliminated as candidates from all other cells in that house.
In a naked pair, the two cells contain only the paired candidates and nothing else. In a hidden pair, the two candidates appear in only two cells within a house, but those cells may contain additional candidates. The effect is similar - both allow eliminations - but they are spotted differently.
Yes, a naked pair can occur in any row, column, or box. The technique works identically regardless of which type of house contains the pair. You should scan all three types of houses when looking for naked pairs.
After mastering naked pairs, the natural progression is to learn naked triples (three cells sharing three candidates), hidden pairs (two candidates limited to two cells), and then more advanced techniques like X-Wing and pointing pairs.
Look at row 1. Cells C1 and C2 each have only two possible digits: 3 and 7.
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