Reference
Sudoku Formats and Paper Sizes: Exact Figures
Clue counts, grid sizes, solve times and required techniques for all eight formats, plus paper dimensions in four units and how many puzzles fit on each sheet.
Formats
All Eight Sudoku Formats Compared
| Format | Grid | Clues | Solve time | Best for | Techniques |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Easy Sudoku | 9×9 | 36–45 | 10–15 min | Beginners | basic scanning, single-candidate elimination, cross-hatching |
| Medium Sudoku | 9×9 | 30–35 | 15–25 min | Casual players | hidden singles, naked pairs, pointing pairs, box-line reduction |
| Hard Sudoku | 9×9 | 25–29 | 25–40 min | Experienced players | X-Wing, swordfish, Y-Wing, naked triples, hidden pairs |
| Expert Sudoku | 9×9 | 20–24 | 40–60 min | Sudoku masters | colouring, X-Chain, AIC, forcing chains, almost-locked sets |
| Classic Sudoku | 9×9 | 30–35 | 15–25 min | Traditionalists | scanning, hidden singles, naked pairs, X-Wing (varies by difficulty within the classic format) |
| Mini Sudoku | 4×4 | varies | 3–5 min | Quick-play fans | basic scanning, single-candidate elimination (simplified 4×4 logic) |
| Kids Sudoku | 9×9 | 36–45 | 5–10 min | Children (ages 6+) | simple scanning, single-digit elimination, pattern recognition |
| Large Print Sudoku | 9×9 | 30–35 | 15–25 min | Visually impaired & seniors | scanning, hidden singles, naked pairs (same as standard difficulty equivalent) |
Paper
Paper Sizes in Four Units
| Size | Millimetres | Centimetres | Inches | Points | Standard |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A4 | 210 × 297 mm | 21.0 × 29.7 cm | 8.27 × 11.69 in | 595 × 842 pt | ISO 216 |
| Letter | 216 × 279 mm | 21.6 × 27.9 cm | 8.50 × 11.00 in | 612 × 792 pt | ANSI A |
| Legal | 216 × 356 mm | 21.6 × 35.6 cm | 8.50 × 14.00 in | 612 × 1008 pt | US Legal |
Layout
Maximum Cell Size by Sheet and Layout
Largest 9×9 cell size that fits at a 10 mm margin, printed at 100% scale.
| Paper | 1 per page | 2 per page | 6 per page |
|---|---|---|---|
| A4 | 21.1 mm | 13.5 mm | 9.0 mm |
| Letter | 21.8 mm | 12.7 mm | 8.5 mm |
| Legal | 21.8 mm | 16.4 mm | 10.9 mm |
Machine-readable
The Same Figures as JSON
Every table on this page is also published as structured data: sudoku-formats.json, paper-sizes.json, and sudoku-techniques.json.