Blue bordered cages are non-consecutive, fully ordered (NCFO)
Red bordered cages are consecutive, fully ordered (CFO)
The Old Lace is in the usual position.
There are two I-beam cages I-1 at R37C456 + R456C5 and I-2 at R456C37 + R5C456.
1. The only way to fit two CFO cages at R1C1 and R7C7 and the NCFO cage at R4C4 onto D\ R1C1 is for CFO cages = [234/678] -> NCFO cage at R4C4 = [159], placed for Old Lace, 1 placed for D/ R1C7, 5 placed for D/ R1C9 and both I-beam cages, 9 placed for D/ R3C9
1a. R5C5 = 5 -> R4C6 = {23}, R6C4 = {78} (cannot have 4,6 in NCFO cage at R4C6)
1b. Naked pair {37} in R2C2 + R8C8, CPE no 3,7 in R2C8 + R8C2
[I’ll omit routine CPEs, mainly those affecting “zero” cells, until they become useful.]
2. There are two other NCFO cages on D/ at R1C9 and R7C3 -> 1 in R1C9 or R7C3, no other 1 on D/ R1C9
2a. 9 in R3C7 or R9C1, no other 9 on D/ R1C9
2b. NCFO cage at R1C9, R2C8 = {46}, R1C9 = {1234}, R3C7 = {6789}
2c. NCFO cage at R7C3, R8C2 = {46}, R7C3 = {1234}, R9C1 = {6789}
2d. Naked pair {46} in R2C8 + R8C2, locked for D/ R1C9
3. CFO cage at R5C9 = [234/345/456/678/789] (cannot be [123] which clashes with R1C9) -> R6C9 = {23467}, R7C9 = {34578}, R8C9 = {45689}
3a. Killer pair 4,8 in CFO cage and R9C9, locked for C9
4. CFO cage at R7C8 = [12/23/45/56/67/89], no 3,7,9 in R7C8, no 1 in R8C9
5. 4,6 in N5 only in R46C5 + R5C46, R5C46 = R37C5 (Old Lace property) -> 4,6 must be in R3467C5, locked for C5
[Now the first key step …]
5a. 4,6 in N5 only in R46C5 + R5C46, R46C5 = R5C37 (Old Lace property) -> 4,6 must be in R5C3467, locked for R5, clean-up: no 5,7 in R6C9, no 6,8 in R7C9
6. 4 in C9 only in CFO cage at R5C9 = [234/345] or in R9C9 -> CFO cage at R7C8 = [12/23/56/67/89], no 4 in R7C8, no 5 in R8C9
6a. 8 in C9 only in CFO cage at R5C9 = [789] or in R9C9 -> CFO cage at R7C8 = [12/23/56/67], no 8 in R7C8, no 9 in R8C9
6b. Killer pair 2,6 in R7C7 and CFO cage at R7C8, locked for N9
7. CFO cage at R7C7 = [234] => CFO cage at R5C9 = [789] or CFO cage at R7C7 = [678], CPE no 7 in R456C8 + R8C9, clean-up: no 6 in R7C8
8. CFO cage at R7C7 = [234] or CFO cage at R7C7 = [678] => CFO cage at R5C9 = [234/345], CPE no 3 in R456C8 + R8C9, clean-up: no 2 in R7C8
9. CFO cage at R7C7 = [234] => CFO cage at R5C9 = [789] or CFO cage at R7C7 = [678] => CFO cage at R7C8 = [12] => CFO cage at R5C9 = [345]
-> CFO cage at R5C9 = [345/789], no 2 in R5C9, no 3 in R6C9, no 4 in R7C9
10. 1 in I-1 only in R37C6, locked for C6
10a. 9 in I-1 only in R37C4, locked for C4
11. 1 in I-2 only in R6C37, locked for R6
11a. 9 in I-2 only in R4C37, locked for R4
12. CFO cage at R7C7 = [234] => CFO cage at R7C8 = [56] or CFO cage at R7C7 = [678] => CFO cage at R5C9 = [345]
-> 5 must be in R7C89, locked for R7 and N9
13. 7,8,9 on D/ R1C9 only in R3C7 + R6C4 + R9C1, CPE no 7,8,9 in R3C1 + R9C7 using D\ R3C9
[Now the forcing chains seem to get a bit longer and were harder to find.]
14. CFO cage at R7C7 = [234] => R9C7 = 1 => R5C8 = 1 (hidden single in N6) => R6C3= 1 (hidden single in R6) => R1C1 = 1 (hidden single on D/ R1C9) or CFO cage at R7C7 = [678] => CFO cage at R5C9 = [345], CFO cage at R7C8 = [12] => R1C1 = 1
-> R1C1 = 1, placed for D/ R1C9
also 1 in R7C8 + R9C7, locked for N9
15. 1 in N9 only in R7C8 => R3C6 = 1 (hidden single in C6) or in R9C7, placed for D\ R3C1 -> no 1 in R3C1
16. CFO cage at R2C1, no 9 in R2C1, no 1 in R3C2
16a. 1 in N1 only in R2C13, locked for R2
16b. R3C6 = 1 (hidden single in N2)
[And the final breakthrough, which has been available for some time but I’ve only just found it.]
17. 8 on D/ R1C9 only in R3C7 + R6C4 + R9C1
R3C7 = 8 => R3C3 = 4, placed for D\ => R9C9 = 8 or R6C4 = 8 => R6C9 = 4 or R9C1 = 8 => R3C7 = 9 (hidden single on D/ R1C9) => R7C4 = 9 (hidden single in C4) => R7C9 = 5
-> CFO cage at R5C9 = [345], 5 placed for D\ R1C3, CFO cage at R7C8 = [12], CFO cage at R7C9 = [678], CFO cage at R1C1 = [234]
[Cracked. The rest is fairly straightforward.]
18. CFO cage at R2C1 = [67/78/89] (cannot be [56] which clashes with R3C1), no 1,5 in R2C1, no 5,6 in R3C2
18a. R2C3 = 1 (hidden single in N1), R2C9 = 9 (hidden single in C9)
18b. R9C1 = 9 (hidden single on D/ R1C9)
18c. Naked pair {34} in R9C78, locked for R9 and N9 -> R8C7 = 9
18d. R5C8 = 9 (hidden single in N6), R4C3 = 9 (hidden single in N4)
19. 4 in R5 only in R5C46, locked for N5
19a. R7C5 = 4 (hidden single in C5), placed for D\ R3C1 and D/ R3C9 -> R9C7 = 3, placed for D\ R3C1, R9C8 = 4
20. R2C8 = 6, placed for D/ R1C9, R3C9 = 7, placed for D/ R3C9, R3C7 = 8, placed for D/ R1C9, R5C7 = 2, placed for D\ R1C3 and D/ R3C9, R6C8 = 8, placed for D\ R1C3, R4C6 = 3, placed for D\ R1C3 and D/ R1C9, R3C5 = 6, placed for D\ R1C3 and D/ R1C7, R1C3 = 7, placed for D\ R1C3, R5C3 = 8, placed for D/ R1C7 and D\ R3C1, R4C8 = 5, placed for D/ R3C9
and the rest is naked singles, without needing to use the diagonals.