What Is Daily Sudoku and How Do You Play Today's Puzzle?
Daily sudoku is a single new sudoku puzzle published each day, usually tied to that date and often following a set difficulty rhythm across the week. You play it the same way as any standard sudoku — fill a 9×9 grid so every row, column, and 3×3 box contains the digits 1–9 exactly once — but the appeal is that everyone solving that day is working on the same grid. On Sudoku Place (sudokuplace.com), the online game loads a puzzle you can start playing immediately, with controls to restart, check your entries, or request a new puzzle.
How daily sudoku differs from random puzzles
| Dimension | Daily sudoku | Random / practice puzzle |
|---|---|---|
| Puzzle source | One puzzle released per day | Any puzzle generated on demand |
| Difficulty | Often follows a weekly pattern (e.g., easier early week, harder later) | Varies by generator settings |
| Continuity | You can build a habit and compare progress day to day | No shared timeline |
| Progress tracking | Meaningful only if you play the same date consistently | Resets each time |
The key practical difference: with a daily puzzle, "today's puzzle" is a specific, dated grid. If you open a random puzzle instead, you lose the shared reference point and the sense of a daily streak.
How to play today's puzzle on Sudoku Place
- Open the site. Go to sudokuplace.com. The page presents the online sudoku game directly — the heading is "Sudoku Place – Online Sudoku."
- Confirm you're on the current puzzle. A daily puzzle should reflect today's date or be the default puzzle loaded when you arrive. If you've played before and the grid looks identical to yesterday's, use the New Puzzle control to load a fresh one.
- Start filling cells. Click or tap an empty cell, then enter a digit 1–9. The goal: each row, each column, and each of the nine 3×3 boxes must contain 1–9 with no repeats.
- Use the controls as needed.
- Restart — clears your entries and returns the grid to its starting state.
- Check — verifies your entries against the solution (use sparingly if you want to solve unaided).
- New Puzzle — loads a different puzzle.
- Finish and confirm. When all cells are filled with no conflicts, the puzzle is solved. The site's closing message — "Thank you for playing sudokuplace.com's online sudoku!" — appears in the game flow.
Expected result: a completed 9×9 grid where every row, column, and box holds 1–9 exactly once.
Basic techniques when you get stuck
Daily puzzles often include a difficulty step-up mid-week, so these two techniques cover most early sticking points:
- Naked single (unique candidate): Look at one empty cell and check which digits its row, column, and box already contain. If only one digit is missing from that set, that's the answer.
- Elimination / cross-hatching: Pick a digit, say 4. Scan each row and column of a 3×3 box to see where a 4 can legally go. If only one cell in the box can hold a 4, place it.
Work box by box, then row by row. Most easy and medium daily puzzles fall to these two methods alone.
How to tell you're playing the right puzzle
- The puzzle should be the one loaded by default when you visit, or clearly labeled with today's date.
- If you've already solved today's grid, a reload may show the same completed state rather than a new puzzle — use New Puzzle if you want extra practice.
- A random puzzle won't carry a date; a daily puzzle usually does, or is presented as "today's" puzzle.
If you're unsure, solve it, then check back the next day — a genuinely daily puzzle will have changed.
Quick start checklist
- [ ] Open sudokuplace.com
- [ ] Confirm the grid is today's (not a leftover solved state)
- [ ] Fill cells using 1–9, no repeats per row/column/box
- [ ] Use Restart if you want a clean slate, Check only if stuck
- [ ] Use New Puzzle for extra practice beyond the daily one