30–37 clues · typical solve 10–20 minutes
Printable medium sudoku puzzles: free PDF with answer key
The everyday sudoku, at the level a newspaper prints midweek.
Set a medium run
difficulty is already set to medium; adjust the rest
1–60 · the solver checks each puzzle for a single solution before adding it
This sample switches to your own puzzles when the run finishes.
What a medium sudoku asks of you
At medium you need more than scanning. With 30 to 37 clues on the board, you clear the obvious cells in a minute or two and then hit a wall that scanning cannot get through. To get past it, write candidates into the empty cells and look for pairs: two cells in a box that can hold only a 4 or a 7 lock that 4 and 7 out of the other cells in the box.
That technique separates a medium solver from an easy one, which is why this level rewards practice. Hard and expert puzzles add more techniques, but they lean on this one at every turn. After twenty medium grids, you will pencil in candidates without thinking about it.
Medium is also the safest level to print in bulk. A grid takes ten to twenty minutes, about the length of a coffee break or a train ride. Six of them on two sheets will fill a long afternoon without leaving you stuck enough to put the pencil down.
Printable medium sudoku: questions
How many clues does a medium sudoku have?
Between 30 and 37, about six to eight fewer than an easy puzzle. With that many fewer clues, you have to track candidates instead of filling one cell at a time.
What is the difference between easy and medium sudoku?
You can solve an easy puzzle by scanning alone: pick a digit, find the one cell in a box where it fits, write it in. On a medium puzzle that approach stalls partway through, and you need to note the possible digits for each empty cell and reason about them.
Do I need to write candidate numbers in the cells?
Most solvers do, at least for the second half of the grid. Print one or two puzzles per page and the larger cells leave room for small pencil marks in the corners without the grid turning into a mess.
Is medium a good level for a beginner?
Move up to medium once you can finish an easy puzzle without getting stuck. If you still hunt for the first move on an easy grid, stay there another week, because medium will frustrate you more than it teaches you.
Try another level
Each level uses the same generator and the same uniqueness check, and only the clue count changes. Try the next level up or down if this one is too easy or too hard.
- Easy printable sudoku38–45 cluesPlenty of clues, and a solving path you can find by scanning alone.typical solve: 5–10 minutes
- Hard printable sudoku25–29 cluesSparse grids that open up once you reason about where each digit cannot go.typical solve: 20–40 minutes
- Expert printable sudoku20–24 cluesAbout a quarter of the grid filled in, and one solution to reach.typical solve: 40 minutes to over an hour
Or head back to the free printable sudoku generator for a mixed run, or take a set of printable sudoku with answers.