Here I checkpoint the bypass on the correct version of Dave Green’s 9/03/16 Saturday 4-Star, and assign my readers to try the bypass on his Sunday puzzle. The series of three demonstrates how the challenge and efficiency of the bypass adds to the enjoyment of these excellent Sudoku puzzles.

What a difference one clue makes! Many of the same moves, but this time a steady collapse starts on the 5’s and drags the other numbers in.  

If your trace doesn’t look like this, it might be worthwhile to read this one and see what you saw that I didn’t and vice versa. I frequently lose concentration to what I see ahead, and have to go back to follow checkpoint tracing rules.  But if you’re not solving to post, don’t look back.

Here’s the grid at almost solved, with the last naked pair unresolved and a couple of “in reserve” causes still in centered pencil marks.

At the risk of over doing it, let’s apply the bypass to one more Dave Green, the 5-Star Sunday Sudoku of the 2016 Labor Day Weekend.

For the checkpoint, I’ll have the trace and a report on the role of unwritten pencil marks, including restricted boxes, 2f: and 3f: lines, slinks and aligned triples.

Just don’t expect to wrap this up in the bypass. I had to try out the Bradley Hand ITC on the bypass, box marking and a tricky line marking.