SudokuSolver Forum

(Y) = Yellow, (R) = Red, (G) = Green, (B) = Blue.

1. HS 1 in (Y) -> r7c4 = 1
-> Cage@r7c4 = [123]

2. 2 in (Y) only in r5c2, r5c3, or r6c2
-> 3 in r6c3, r6c4, or r7c3
Also, 3 in (B) only in r6c5, r6c7, or r8c7
-> At least one of r7c3 and r8c7 is 3
-> 3 not in r8c123
-> 3 locked in n7/r7 in r7c13
-> 4 not in r7c2 (NC)
-> r6c3 cannot be 3

3. -> 3 in r6c4 or r7c3 - both in (Y)
-> 3 in n4 not in (Y)
Regardless of which of r6c4,r7c3 is 3 -> r4c3,r5c4 cannot be [34]
-> 3 in n4 in unshaded cell
Either (a) 3 in r456c1 -> 3 not in r7c1 -> r7c3 = 3
or (b) 3 in r4c2 -> 3 not in in r6c4 -> r7c3 = 3
-> Cage@r5c1 = [123]

4. -> HS 2 in n7 -> r9c1 = 2
-> 2 in n1 in r12c3
-> 1 in n1 in r13c2
-> HS 1 in n7/c3 -> r8c3 = 1

5. Cage@r7c1 either contains a 6 or is [789]
In neither case can r7c2 be 6
-> r4c1 cannot be 3
-> HS 3 in n4 -> r4c2 = 3, Cage@r4c2 = [345]
-> r5c4 cannot be 6 -> r4c3 cannot be 5
-> HS 5 in n4 -> Cage@r4c1 = [5678]
-> Cage@r7c1 can only be [456]
Also NS 9 in (Y) -> r5c4 = 9 -> Cage@r3c4 = [789]
-> NS r6c1 = 9
Also HS r8c1 = 7, r8c3 = 1, r9c2 = 9

6. r123c1 = {368}, r123c2 = {147}, r123c3 = {259}
-> Cage@r1c1 = [345]
-> r12c3 = [29], Cage@r1c3 = [234]
-> r13c2 = [71], r23c1 = [68]

7. HS 2 in (R) -> r4c4 = 2
-> HS 1 in (R) -> r2c5 = 1
-> NS 6 in (R) -> Cage@r4c5 = [6789]
-> NS in n5 -> r5c5 = 3
-> r46c6 = {14}
But trying r4c6 = 1 puts 4 both in r6c6 in (B) and r7c7 in (B)
-> r46c6 = [41], Cage@r3c6 = [4567]

8. Cage@r7c5 can only be [567]
-> r89c4 = [84]
-> r1c45 = [69]
-> r123c6 = [582]
etc.

Easier than the previous one. I didn't find it a lot of work once the first couple of cages were solved. 1.25.

Standard non-consecutive (NC), cages are consecutive increasing down; I’ll refer to the Swirl Windows as W1, W2, W3 and W4, downwards.

Prelims
3-cell cages must be [123/234/345/456/567/678/789], delete 8,9 from upper cells, 1,9 from middle cells and 1,2 from lower cells
4-cell cages must be [1234/2345/3456/4567/5678/6789], delete 7,8,9 from upper cells, 1,8,9 from second cells, 1,2,9 from third cells and 1,2,3 from lower cells.

1. R6C1 = 9 (hidden single in N4) -> no 7 in R4C2, no 8 in R5C3
1a. R6C1 = 9 -> no 8 in R6C2 (NC), no 7 in R5C1, no 9 in R7C3
1b. 8 in N4 only in R46C3, locked for C3 -> no 6 in R1C1, no 7 in R2C2, no 6 in R5C1, no 7 in R6C2, no 6 in R7C1, no 7 in R8C2
1c. 8 in N4 only in R46C3 -> no 7 in R5C3 (NC), no 6 in R4C2, no 8 in R6C4

2. R7C4 = 1 (hidden single in W3) -> R8C5 = 2, placed for W4, R9C6 = 3
2a. R7C5 = {4567} -> R8C6 = {5678}, R9C5 = {6789}
2b. R9C6 = 3 -> no 2,4 in R9C7 (NC)
2c. No 1 in R3C4 -> no 2 in R4C3, no 3 in R5C4
2c. No 2 in R4C5 -> no 4 in R6C5, no 5 in R7C6
2d. No 3 in R4C6 -> no 4 in R5C7, no 5 in R6C8, no 6 in R7C7

3. 2 in W3 only in R5C23 + R6C2, CPE no 2 in R4C2 using cage at R4C2, no 3 in R5C3, no 4 in R6C4
3a. 2 in W3 only in R5C23 + R6C2, CPE no 2 in R5C1 using cage at R5C1, no 3 in R6C2, no 4 in R7C3
3b. 2 in W3 only in R5C23 + R6C2 -> no 3 in R5C2 (NC), no 2 in R4C1, no 4 in R6C3, no 5 in R7C2

4. 9 in N5 only in R4C4 + R5C45 -> no 8 in R5C4 (NC), no 6 in R3C4, no 7 in R4C3
4a. 7 in N4 only in R5C2 + R6C3 -> cage at R4C1 = [5678/6789], 6 locked for N4 -> no 5 in R4C2, no 7 in R6C4, no 5 in R5C1, no 7 in R7C3
4b. No 6 in R4C3 -> no 5 in R3C4, no 7 in R5C4
4c. R4C1 = {56} -> no 5,6 in R3C1 (NC)
4d. R7C2 = {89} -> no 8 in R8C2 (NC), no 7 in R7C1, no 9 in R9C3

5. R4C2 = 1 => R5C3 = 2 => no 3 in R4C3 (NC)
or R4C2 = {34}
-> no 3 in R4C3
5a. R4C2 + R5C1 = {13} (hidden pair in N4) -> R5C3 + R6C2 = {24}, locked for N4, R6C4 + R7C3 = {35}
5b. No 3,4 in R4C3 -> no 2,3 in R3C4, no 4,5 in R5C4
5c. Cage at R3C4 = [456/789] -> no 6,7 in R4C4 (NC)
5d. 5 in N4 only in R4C13, locked for R4 -> no 6 in R5C67, no 7 in R6C58, no 8 in R7C67
5e. 5 in R4C13 -> 6 in R5C24, locked for R5
5f. Cage at R7C1 = [234/456/567] (cannot be [345] which clashes with R7C3)
5g. Killer pair 3,5 in cage at R7C1 and R7C3, locked for N7

6. 7 in R4 only in R4C789, locked for N6
6a. No 7 in R5C7 -> no 6 in R4C6, no 8 in R6C8, no 9 in R7C7
6b. 7 in R4C789 -> no 6,8 in R4C8 (NC)

7. Cage at R4C5 = [1234/4567/6789] (cannot be [3456] which clashes with R6C4)
7a. Cage = [1234] => R6C4 = 5 => no 6 in R5C4 (NC)
or cage = [4567/6789], 6 locked for N5
-> R5C4 = 9, R4C3 = 8, placed for W1, R3C4 = 7, placed for W1, cage at R4C1 = [5678]
7b. NC: no 6 in R2C4, no 4 in R3C1, no 6,9 in R3C3, no 6 in R3C5, no 8 in R5C5
7c. Cage clean-ups: cage at R1C1 = [123/234/345], cage at R1C3 = [123/234/345]
7d. Cage at R1C1 = [123/234/345], 3 locked for N1 -> cage at R1C3 = [123/234], 3 locked for N2
7e. 9 in W1 only in R2C35, locked for R2

8. 9 in W4 only in R7C6 + R8C7 -> no 8 in R8C6 (NC), no 7 in R7C5, no 9 in R9C5
8a. R7C6 = 9 (hidden single in N8) -> cage at R4C5 = [6789], 6 placed for W1, 7 placed for W2, 8,9 placed for W4
8a. R9C5 = 7 -> cage at R7C5 = [567], 5,6 placed for W4
8b. R7C3 = 3 -> cage at R5C1 = [123], cage at R4C2 = [345], cage at R1C1 = [345], cage at R7C1 = [456]
8c. R7C7 = 7 -> cage at R4C6 = [4567], 4 placed for W2
8d. R9C5 = 7 -> no 8 in R9C4 (NC) -> R89C4 = [84]
8e. R5C7 = 5 -> no 4 in R6C7 (NC)

9. R2C4 = 3 (hidden single in C4) -> cage at R1C3 = [234]
9a. R1C3 = 2 -> no 1 in R1C2 + R2C3 (NC)
9b. R2C3 = 9 -> R12C5 = [91]
9c. R1C5 = 9 -> no 8 in R1C6 (NC)
9d. R6C679 = [134], R8C7 = 4 (hidden single in W4)
9e. R4C4 = 2
9f. R3C126 = [812]
9g. R2C7 = 2 (hidden single in C7) -> no 1 in R1C7 (NC)
9h. Naked pair {19} in R4C78, locked for N6 and W2

and the rest is naked singles, without using the cages, swirl windows or NC.

I used a couple of short forcing chains.