Today's NYT Sudoku Hints, Answers & Solutions for Sat, November 15, 2025
Use our interactive NYT Sudoku solver to check candidates, reveal specific cells, or view today's answers and the full solution for Easy, Medium, and Hard puzzles.
Select NYT Sudoku Difficulty
Easy Puzzle — Hints & Full Solution
Tap an empty cell to see all possible numbers.
Medium Puzzle — Hints & Full Solution
Tap an empty cell to see all possible numbers.
Hard Puzzle — Hints & Full Solution
Tap an empty cell to see all possible numbers.
How to Use Our Sudoku Solver
The solver is designed to offer different levels of help, depending on how stuck you are. You can start with light assistance, like candidate numbers, and move toward full solutions only if you need them.
Puzzle Difficulty
Open the section that matches the puzzle you’re working on today—Easy, Medium, or Hard.
Interaction Modes
The buttons above the board control how much help is shown:
Show Candidates— Displays all logically possible numbers for a selected empty cell based on the current state of the board.
Reveal Cell Answer— Fills in the correct number for a single empty cell when you tap it.
Reveal Box— Reveals all correct numbers within a selected 3×3 box.
The Full Solution
The Reveal Full Solution button in the bottom right shows the fully solved board. You can toggle it off to hide the answers again.
NYT Sudoku Difficulty Levels
The New York Times Sudoku puzzle appears each day in three difficulty levels: Easy, Medium, and Hard. The rules stay the same, but the logical complexity increases with each level.
Easy Sudoku
Easy puzzles are intended for beginners or players who want a quick daily challenge. Most placements can be found by scanning rows, columns, and 3×3 boxes to see which numbers are missing.
Often a number can be placed immediately once you check the surrounding row and column. If a square has more than one possible value, Show Candidates can help display the remaining options and confirm the correct choice.
Medium Sudoku
Medium puzzles require a bit more analysis. Instead of filling numbers immediately, you may need to compare several rows, columns, and boxes before determining where a number belongs.
Candidate numbers become more useful at this level. Turning on Show Candidates helps reveal limited possibilities for certain cells, making it easier to narrow down the correct placement.
Hard Sudoku
Hard puzzles usually contain fewer obvious moves and rely more on logical deduction. Instead of simple scanning, players often need to identify patterns and eliminate possibilities step by step.
Techniques such as Naked Pairs or Hidden Triples often appear in harder grids. Viewing candidate numbers can make these patterns easier to recognize. If progress stalls, tools like Reveal Cell Answer or Reveal Box can help uncover new placements and keep the puzzle moving.
Sudoku Solving Strategies
Most Sudoku puzzles can be solved using a small set of logical techniques. Learning these approaches makes it easier to work through the grid and helps you use the solver tools more effectively.
Scanning Rows and Columns
The simplest strategy is scanning. Look at a row, column, or 3×3 box and determine which numbers from 1–9 are missing.
Once you identify the missing numbers, check where each one can legally appear without repeating within the same row, column, or box. Many Easy puzzles can be completed almost entirely with this approach.
Using Candidate Numbers
When a cell could contain more than one number, identifying candidate numbers helps narrow the possibilities.
The Show Candidates feature automatically lists all valid numbers for each empty square based on the current board. Seeing these possibilities makes it easier to compare nearby cells and remove options that cannot work.
Recognizing Small Patterns
Harder puzzles often depend on patterns such as Naked Pairs or Hidden Triples. These occur when a small group of cells shares the same limited set of candidate numbers.
When this happens, those numbers cannot appear elsewhere in the same row, column, or box. Spotting these patterns helps reduce the number of possible placements across the grid.
Getting Unstuck
If a puzzle reaches a point where several cells still have multiple possibilities, revealing a small part of the solution can help restart progress.
Reveal Cell Answerfills in one square so you can continue solving the rest of the puzzle logically.
Reveal Boxreveals the correct numbers inside a 3×3 section, which can unlock additional placements across the board.
FAQ
How do I use the NYT Sudoku Solver?
Choose a puzzle difficulty (Easy, Medium, or Hard) from the top menu. On the board, switch between tools like "Show Candidates" to display possible numbers, "Reveal Cell Answer" to fill a single square, or "Reveal Box" to uncover an entire 3×3 section. You can also tap "Reveal Full Solution" to view the completed grid.
When is today's NYT Sudoku solution updated?
We update solutions daily to match the official New York Times Sudoku. New puzzles (and our hints/solutions) typically appear after 10 PM ET on weekdays and around 6 PM ET on weekends, though timing can vary.
What does "Show Candidates" do?
"Show Candidates" works like built-in pencil marks. It displays all logically possible numbers (1–9) for empty cells based on the current board state, which can help you spot pairs, triples, and other eliminations—especially in harder puzzles.
What strategies help with Hard NYT Sudoku puzzles?
Hard puzzles often rely on techniques such as "Naked Pairs" or "Hidden Triples" rather than straightforward fills. Using Show Candidates makes these patterns easier to see without adding manual notes to the board.
Can I view solutions for past Sudoku puzzles?
Yes. The "Archive" section lets you browse and solve puzzles from the past 12 months, whether you’re catching up or looking for extra practice.
Is this tool affiliated with The New York Times?
No. This solver and hint guide is an independent, unofficial resource and isn’t affiliated with The New York Times. It’s intended as a way to practice, learn strategies, or get unstuck while playing the official puzzle.