dailysudoku.com

[tlanglet]

For me, this was a puzzle that involved 5 steps after basics, although I suspect one or more of the moves were not required.

Hints:
A kite on <3> in box 7
A kite on <7> in box 1
A Type 4 UR on <57> in r49c89 with a strong link on <5> in row 4
An xy-wing on <126> with pivot at r6c7
An xyz-wing on <347> with pivot at r1c3

It was a very fun puzzle that did not fall apart after a single move ........

Ted

[sdq_pete]

A single XYZ with pivot in Block 1 unlocked the whole thing for me.

Peter

[Marty R.]

I used Ted's last two steps and based on Pete, maybe the XY-Wing wasn't needed.

I think different solutions, not just to this puzzle, are at least partially due to the sequence in which we look for potential moves.

[Wendy W]

Exactly the same for me, Pete. After that one xyz it was just a matter of time. After a long spell of really tough VH puzzles (for me at least!), the past few weeks' VHs have been easy.

[nataraj]

I think I took a route very similar to Ted's: I remember the kite and other coloring, the UR, ...

In the end it was that last xyz-wing that solved the puzzle and now that I look at the puzzle again, that xyz-wing had been there right after basics - it is really a one-step solution if one happens to see it early.

[crunched]

Well...the xyz did it for me too. I did not see it early. I saw it after a long time, which is typical for me. XYZs are not easy to spot for me.
This was a V hard puzzle for me indeed.

[Johan]

I used the strong link on <6> for solving this one.

Some of the strong links in a grid can be very useful for finding a solution, especially when the strong link is surrounded with bi-value cells that contain

the strong linked digit. Now if we take a closer look at the strong link* on <6> in R3, we know that either R3C2=6 or R3C5=6, which eliminates <7> in R8C2.

R3C2=|6| => R4C2=|7| (a)

R3C5={6} => R2C5={4} => R8C5={7} (b)