[olliej]

Ok, what do you mean by “guess and check”?

Because general rule for a sudoku to not be considered is that at no point should you be in a position where you are needing to simply try different solution paths to find one that works.

I’d recommend watch a video by cracking the cryptic on YouTube to see how the solve works at the higher levels, as it’s possible I’m misunderstanding what you’re meaning by guess and check, and you’re meaning similar logic to what is used. In that case the problem is calling it “guess and check” leading us sudoku folk to think you’re meaning bifurcation.