Franken X-Wing

Level 10 · Brown Belt

Strategy:

Franken Fish

Requires:

X-Wing

Learn after:

Franken Swordfish

Overview

Franken X-Wing extends the basic X-Wing by allowing boxes as base or cover sets alongside rows and columns. This mixed use of houses creates fish patterns impossible with standard rows/columns alone.

How It Works

  1. Find a digit confined to 2 houses in the base set (mix of rows, columns, and boxes).
  2. The cover set uses 2 houses from the remaining types.
  3. Base and cover must use at least one box to be 'Franken' (otherwise it's a basic fish).
  4. Eliminate the digit from cover set cells not in the base set.

Example

Look for Franken X-Wing.

1

Franken X-Wing

Found a Franken X-Wing on digit 3. The base set is: Row 6, Box 2.

2

Franken X-Wing

The cover set is: Column 2, Column 6. Digit 3 in the base set is confined to these 2 cover houses.

3

Franken X-Wing

Any occurrence of 3 in the cover houses that is NOT in the base set can be eliminated.

4

Franken X-Wing

These highlighted cover-set candidates are outside the base set and must go: .

5

Franken X-Wing

Eliminate 3 from .

6

Result after applying the technique.

Tips & Patterns

  • Franken fish mix boxes with lines in the base/cover sets.
  • A basic fish uses only rows vs columns; Franken adds boxes to the mix.
  • These are harder to spot but follow the same covering logic.