Check if we find the same num in the particular 3 * 3 matrix , we return false
int startRow = row - row % 3 , startCol = col - col % 3 ; for ( int i = 0 ; i < 3 ; i ++ ) for ( int j = 0 ; j < 3 ; j ++ ) if ( grid [ i + startRow ] [ j + startCol ] == num ) return false ; return true ; }