Constraint Satisfaction
📋 What it is
A constraint-satisfaction puzzle (like Sudoku) is solved by filling cells so that EVERY rule holds at once.
🗣️ Coach says
Sudoku is the famous example: fill the grid so no row, column, or box repeats a digit. The winning strategy isn’t guessing — it’s finding the cell where only ONE value is allowed by the constraints, filling it, and repeating.
🧠 Memory hook
Find the cell with only ONE legal value, fill it, repeat. Deduce, don’t guess.
😂 Giggle
Why did the pattern feel exposed?
Because a sharp eye spotted its secret rule!
😲 Whoa!
A proper Sudoku has exactly ONE solution reachable by pure logic — if you ever HAVE to guess, the puzzle was made wrong.
✅ Quick check: In Sudoku, what should you do BEFORE guessing?
Say your answer out loud first — then reveal.
Find a cell where the constraints allow only one possible digit and fill that — logic first, guessing never (in a proper puzzle).
Constraint satisfaction is solved by deduction: use the rules to force each value.
🧪 Try it! (2 minutes)
In a Sudoku, find one cell where only a single digit fits by the rules. Fill it and watch new cells open up.