Large print 6 by 6 sudoku

The rules

• Fill every empty cell with a digit from 1 to 6.
• Each row and each column must contain the digits 1 to 6 once each.
• Each box must also contain 1 to 6 once each. A box is two rows tall and three columns wide, marked by the thicker lines.
• The shaded digits are given. Every puzzle has exactly one solution.

How the two-row boxes help you

The boxes in this grid are wide and shallow: three cells across, two cells down. That shape is the key to the puzzle. Take a box and a digit it does not have yet, say 4. If there is a 4 anywhere else in the upper row of that box, the 4 in the box must be in its lower row, and three cells are ruled out in one glance. Then look up and down the three columns of the box. Any column that already holds a 4 is out as well, and very often a single cell remains.

The same idea works sideways between two boxes that sit next to each other. They share the same two rows. If the left box has its 2 in the upper row, the right box must have its 2 in the lower row. On a grid this small, that one observation settles a surprising number of cells.

When the boxes have given what they can, count along the rows. A row has only six cells, so it fills up fast. With one gap, the missing digit goes in. With two gaps, say the two missing digits aloud and look down each gap's column; one of the two digits is usually there already, which decides both cells.

Gentle starts with about half of the grid filled. Easy starts with fewer digits, so the first few placements take more looking, and after that the grid opens up in the same way.

Tips for printing and playing

• This is the size to try if the 9 by 9 grid is readable but tiring: fewer cells, larger digits, the same kind of thinking.
• For a group, print Gentle for newcomers and Easy for people who have done sudoku before; the sheets look alike, so nobody is singled out.
• The level and the puzzle number are printed under the grid. Keep a note of the number if you want the solution later.
• On screen, tap a cell and then one of the six digit buttons below the grid. Check marks any wrong cells.
• Reveal one fills a single cell when you are stuck. Reset clears your entries and keeps the given digits.

How these puzzles are made and checked

A second solver, written separately from the generator, starts from the given digits only. The puzzle is kept only if that solver finds exactly one solution and it is the stored one. The same checker confirms what the level promises about singles.

The puzzle of the day is chosen by the date on your device: puzzle 1 was the puzzle for 1 January 2026, and the number goes up by one each day. Gentle: 366 puzzles, so the same puzzle comes round again after 366 days. Easy: 366 puzzles, so the same puzzle comes round again after 366 days. Every number stays open in the archive control above the grid. More detail is on the page how the puzzles are made, checked and printed.