Skip to content
EverydayKakuro

Medium Kakuro

Play it here, and turn the pencil marks on. This is the level where the obvious moves run out and progress comes from proving a digit cannot go somewhere.

Steady · 9×9 · 43 squares

Time 0:00

Down 3
Down 11
Down 7
Down 9
Across 10
Down 15
Down 10
Across 3
Down 17
Across 12
Down 14Across 20
Down 5
Down 25Across 19
Down 20Across 10
Across 4
Across 5
Down 16
Across 12
Down 23
Across 11
Down 4
Down 3Across 17
Down 17
Across 14
Across 22
Across 6
Across 18
Across 16

Other ways to play this level

Every puzzle here comes from a library of 60 at this level, each one checked to have a single answer. Generating a brand new one takes a few seconds, because that check is a search rather than a lookup.

Somewhere at least one square is cleared by ruling a digit out rather than pinning one down: the combination fits the run, but not with that digit in that square. Still pure deduction, start to finish.

Ruling out, and why it is the step up

At some point in a medium grid every run has been narrowed as far as its own clue allows and nothing more will place. The move that restarts it is different in kind: instead of asking what must go in a square, you ask what cannot.

Here is the shape of it. A run of three clued twenty can be written as three, eight and nine, or four, seven and nine, or five, six and nine, among others. Suppose one of its squares crosses a run that has already ruled out everything above six. That square cannot take the nine — and since every writing of twenty in three squares contains a nine, the nine has to be in one of the other two.

You have placed nothing. What you have done is remove a possibility somewhere else, and it is that removal that turns some other square into a certainty. This is the first idea in Kakuro that is genuinely about elimination, and being comfortable with it is the difference between finishing medium puzzles and abandoning them.

When to stop looking for the easy moves

Later than you think. A medium puzzle opens with a run of straightforward placements and only needs the new idea once those are exhausted. Reaching for an elimination while simple moves remain is slower, not cleverer.

The signal that you have run out is a full sweep of the grid — every short run, then every nearly-complete run — that places nothing at all. At that point writing candidates into the squares is worth the time it costs, because an elimination is very difficult to see without them.

That is why these print with generous squares. A grid sized for one printed digit has no room for four small ones, and a medium Kakuro you cannot annotate is a medium Kakuro you will not finish.

The rhythm of a medium grid

Simple moves until stuck, one elimination, simple moves again. The grid has changed after a removal and squares that were open a moment ago may now be forced, so going straight back to the easy sweep is almost always right.

That loop is exactly what the grader on this site runs to decide which level a puzzle belongs to. A puzzle lands on this page when the loop needs at least one elimination and never needs a guess.

If the loop stalls with no elimination available anywhere, the puzzle is a level above this one. It is not broken and it does not want guessing — it wants the technique on the hard page.

Common questions

What is elimination in Kakuro?
Proving a digit cannot sit in a particular square, rather than proving one must. It places nothing directly; it removes a candidate elsewhere, and that removal is what forces the next square.
Should I write candidates into the squares?
At this level, yes, once the straightforward moves stop. Eliminations are very hard to spot without pencilled candidates, which is why these grids print with room to write in.
How is medium different from easy here?
An easy puzzle can be finished entirely by pinning digits down. A medium one stalls at least once until you rule a digit out of a square. Both are pure deduction — neither ever needs a guess.

Check this before you rely on it. This tool is provided free and without warranty, and its results are not professional advice.

Medium Kakuro — printable sheet

  • Puzzle 1 — Steady, 9×9, 43 squares
    Down 3
    Down 11
    Down 7
    Down 9
    Across 10
    Down 15
    Down 10
    Across 3
    Down 17
    Across 12
    Down 14Across 20
    Down 5
    Down 25Across 19
    Down 20Across 10
    Across 4
    Across 5
    Down 16
    Across 12
    Down 23
    Across 11
    Down 4
    Down 3Across 17
    Down 17
    Across 14
    Across 22
    Across 6
    Across 18
    Across 16
  • Puzzle 2 — Steady, 9×9, 40 squares
    Down 19
    Down 7
    Down 15
    Down 10
    Down 6Across 9
    Down 15Across 10
    Down 28
    Across 34
    Down 16
    Across 7
    Down 16Across 15
    Across 16
    Across 9
    Down 12
    Across 12
    Across 6
    Down 11
    Across 8
    Down 5
    Down 3Across 21
    Down 3
    Down 9
    Down 15
    Across 6
    Across 25
    Across 3
    Across 9
  • Puzzle 3 — Steady, 9×9, 40 squares
    Down 17
    Down 7
    Down 13
    Down 3
    Across 10
    Down 19
    Down 17
    Down 9Across 9
    Across 23
    Down 8Across 17
    Across 19
    Down 32
    Down 17
    Down 19
    Down 7Across 15
    Down 6Across 17
    Across 12
    Down 8Across 16
    Across 6
    Down 13
    Down 12Across 17
    Down 15
    Across 18
    Across 16
    Across 17
    Across 10
  • Puzzle 4 — Steady, 9×9, 43 squares
    Down 7
    Down 27
    Down 16
    Down 7
    Across 10
    Down 16
    Down 3Across 8
    Across 31
    Down 8
    Down 17
    Down 17Across 16
    Down 6
    Down 25Across 9
    Across 13
    Across 26
    Across 15
    Down 9
    Down 3Across 3
    Down 21
    Down 12
    Down 13Across 7
    Down 7Across 17
    Down 6
    Across 42
    Across 10
    Across 13

Answers

  • Puzzle 1 — Steady, 9×9, 43 squares (answer)
    Down 3
    Down 11
    Down 7
    Down 9
    Across 10
    2
    8
    Down 15
    Down 10
    Across 3
    2
    1
    Down 17
    Across 12
    1
    3
    6
    2
    Down 14Across 20
    5
    6
    9
    Down 5
    Down 25Across 19
    9
    8
    2
    Down 20Across 10
    2
    8
    Across 4
    1
    3
    Across 5
    4
    1
    Down 16
    Across 12
    4
    8
    Down 23
    Across 11
    8
    2
    1
    Down 4
    Down 3Across 17
    9
    8
    Down 17
    Across 14
    5
    6
    3
    Across 22
    1
    4
    9
    8
    Across 6
    3
    2
    1
    Across 18
    2
    1
    6
    9
    Across 16
    9
    7
  • Puzzle 2 — Steady, 9×9, 40 squares (answer)
    Down 19
    Down 7
    Down 15
    Down 10
    Down 6Across 9
    8
    1
    Down 15Across 10
    3
    7
    Down 28
    Across 34
    1
    4
    6
    7
    5
    3
    8
    Down 16
    Across 7
    5
    2
    Down 16Across 15
    8
    7
    Across 16
    9
    7
    Across 9
    5
    4
    Down 12
    Across 12
    4
    8
    Across 6
    2
    4
    Down 11
    Across 8
    7
    1
    Down 5
    Down 3Across 21
    9
    8
    4
    Down 3
    Down 9
    Down 15
    Across 6
    3
    2
    1
    Across 25
    7
    1
    8
    9
    Across 3
    2
    1
    Across 9
    2
    1
    6
  • Puzzle 3 — Steady, 9×9, 40 squares (answer)
    Down 17
    Down 7
    Down 13
    Down 3
    Across 10
    9
    1
    Down 19
    Down 17
    Down 9Across 9
    7
    2
    Across 23
    8
    6
    9
    Down 8Across 17
    8
    2
    6
    1
    Across 19
    2
    1
    9
    7
    Down 32
    Down 17
    Down 19
    Down 7Across 15
    8
    7
    Down 6Across 17
    8
    9
    Across 12
    8
    4
    Down 8Across 16
    2
    6
    8
    Across 6
    4
    2
    Down 13
    Down 12Across 17
    6
    4
    7
    Down 15
    Across 18
    7
    1
    5
    3
    2
    Across 16
    9
    7
    Across 17
    8
    9
    Across 10
    2
    8
  • Puzzle 4 — Steady, 9×9, 43 squares (answer)
    Down 7
    Down 27
    Down 16
    Down 7
    Across 10
    2
    8
    Down 16
    Down 3Across 8
    7
    1
    Across 31
    5
    3
    7
    1
    9
    6
    Down 8
    Down 17
    Down 17Across 16
    5
    9
    2
    Down 6
    Down 25Across 9
    1
    8
    Across 13
    9
    4
    Across 26
    4
    6
    7
    9
    Across 15
    8
    7
    Down 9
    Down 3Across 3
    2
    1
    Down 21
    Down 12
    Down 13Across 7
    5
    2
    Down 7Across 17
    8
    9
    Down 6
    Across 42
    9
    6
    4
    1
    2
    7
    8
    5
    Across 10
    3
    7
    Across 13
    5
    3
    4
    1