Sudoku and Easy as ABC are both grid-based logic puzzles you solve by pure deduction, so solvers naturally wonder how alike they really are. The short answer: Easy as ABC is moderate to Sudoku. Below we lay out what the two share, where they part ways, and whether the skills you have built on Sudoku will carry over.
- Grid: Square, outside clues
- Closeness to Sudoku: Moderate
- Also called: ABC End View, Last Man Standing
What is Easy as ABC?
Place a few letters and blanks so each letter appears once per row and column, with outside clues naming the first letter seen from each edge. Here are the rules in full:
- A small set of letters (say A–C) is placed so each appears once per row and column, the rest left blank.
- A clue outside a row or column names the first letter met when looking inward from that side.
- The blanks are what make the "first letter seen" clues work.
See an Easy as ABC grid
Easy as ABC places a few letters and blanks so each letter appears once per row and column, with edge clues naming the first letter seen from each side. Below, a solved 3×3 using A, B, C and one blank per line.
Each letter once per row and column (a fuller grid leaves blanks for the edge clues to work).
The "each symbol once per row and column" rule is Sudoku's, with letters instead of digits, and the edge clues work just like Outside Sudoku. It is essentially a sparse Latin square, so Sudoku's singles and elimination solve it once you account for the blanks.
What Easy as ABC shares with Sudoku
- The "each symbol once per row and column" rule is Sudoku's, with letters instead of digits.
- The edge clues work just like Outside Sudoku's.
- It is solved by singles and elimination, no guessing.
How Easy as ABC differs from Sudoku
- Most cells stay blank — only a few letters are placed per line.
- There are no boxes, and the grid is small.
Do Sudoku skills transfer?
It is essentially a sparse Latin square, so Sudoku's singles and elimination solve it once you account for the blanks and the edge sightlines.
Brush up on the technique that carries over: Naked Single.
The verdict
Easy as ABC is a letters-and-blanks Latin square steered by edge clues — Sudoku logic on a sparser board.
Prefer to stay with Sudoku?
If Easy as ABC appeals, these Sudoku variants scratch the same itch and you can read up on each here: