Solve a 9x9 Sudoku puzzle
Company: Pinterest
Role: Machine Learning Engineer
Category: Coding & Algorithms
Difficulty: hard
Interview Round: Technical Screen
Given a partially filled **9×9 Sudoku** board, fill the empty cells so that the completed board is valid.
A valid Sudoku satisfies:
- Each row contains digits **1–9** with no repetition.
- Each column contains digits **1–9** with no repetition.
- Each of the nine **3×3 sub-boxes** contains digits **1–9** with no repetition.
### Input
- A 9×9 grid of characters where each cell is either `'1'..'9'` or `'.'` (empty).
### Output
- Modify the board in-place (or return the completed board) so it becomes a valid solved Sudoku.
### Assumptions / Constraints
- The input is guaranteed to have **at least one solution**.
- You may assume the puzzle has a **unique solution** unless stated otherwise.
### Example
Input:
- Row 1: `5 3 . . 7 . . . .`
- Row 2: `6 . . 1 9 5 . . .`
- ...
Output: a completed valid Sudoku grid.
Quick Answer: This question evaluates algorithmic problem-solving skills focused on constraint satisfaction, state-space search, and implementation correctness for combinatorial puzzles.