Sudoku
Learn more about the New York Times game Sudoku including access, how to play, and answers to common questions.
About Sudoku
Sudoku is a daily numbers puzzle that challenges players to fill out a grid of nine 3x3 squares with number sequences of 1-9 not repeating in the columns, rows, or 3x3 section.
- Fill in the grid so that every row, column and 3×3 box contains digits 1 to 9, without repeating.
- Fill in cells until the board is complete. Numbers in sets, rows or columns cannot repeat (each number can only appear on the board nine times).
- If a square is incorrect, it will be marked with a red dot in the bottom right corner.
There are three levels of difficulty that can be selected for Sudoku:
- Easy: nytimes.com/puzzles/sudoku/easy
- Medium: nytimes.com/puzzles/sudoku/medium
- Hard: nytimes.com/puzzles/sudoku/hard
Sudoku can be played with or without a subscription.
Where to Play
You can play Sudoku in the Games app, in the Play tab of the New York Times News app, or at nytimes.com/puzzles/sudoku.
When to Play
Sudoku puzzles are released Tuesday - Saturday at 10 p.m. EST; Sunday-Monday at 6 p.m. EST.
Sudoku Settings
- Use Normal Mode to enter numbers you are confident or sure about.
- Use Candidate Mode to add or remove multiple possibilities for a square.
- You can also toggle between Candidate and Normal mode by selecting these options at the bottom of the puzzle in the Games app or pressing spacebar.
- Dark Theme - Dark Mode allows you to change the display of The New York Times app to a light-on-dark color scheme. You can read more about Dark Mode and other settings in the Help Center section, The New York Times News App.