In [2] it is shown that an n × n partial latin square with n — 1 cells occupied on the main diagonal can be completed to a latin square. We can use the technique in [2] to prove the following result.
An n × n partial latin square with n — 1 cells occupied with n — 1 distinct symbols can be completed to a latin square if the occupied cells are in different rows or different columns.
Let P be an n × n partial latin square based on 0,1, 2, …, n — 1 satisfying the above conditions, and let (x 0, y 0), (x 1, y 1), …, (x n-2, y n-2) De the occupied cells where y 0, y 1, … y n-2 are distinct.