Sudoku puzzles

[sysyphus]

My latest addiction since the Globe and Mail started running them. Anyone else like doing Sudoku puzzles?

 

[oagersnap]

Yeah, I do, too.

 

[greekguy]

I've done a few of them in my paper, but since it is summer i don't look at the paper as much, thus my Sudokuing has gone down. Did you know that it was invented by a retired judge from New Zealand?

 

[nonconformist]

Isn't Soduko ritual suicide?

 

[ComradeDavo]

I've done a few of the puzzles, not recently though. I know some people who are addicted to them! They are quite good to do if your bored I find (and don't mind some 'mental strain!')

 

[JtheJackal]

I like to Sudoku, maybe my favorite newspaper game. Or it would be if my newspaper had them, come on Sudoku craze come to America.

 

[The Fjonis]

Isn't Soduko ritual suicide?

No, that's harakiri. Although I would guess that suicides could be a natural occurence from time to time due to too much Sodukuing.

And no, I haven't tried Soduku yet, although I am familiar with the rules and principles. But is there always only one solution? And how do you know where to start? From what I gather, some starting points are better than others. But scanning through 81 tiles or more looking for the best starting position could turn out to be quite tedious...

 

[punkbass2000]

What is it, anyway?

 

[Lozzy_Ozzy]

You have a 9x9 grid divided into 9 3x3 grids.

There are a few number scatterd around.

Every row and column has to have one (and only one, as it's impossible to have more than one) of each number from 1-9.

Pretty neat.

I have a French game similar to it... that's pretty cool as well.

 

[oagersnap]

You have a 9x9 grid divided into 9 3x3 grids.

There are a few number scatterd around.

Every row and column has to have one (and only one, as it's impossible to have more than one) of each number from 1-9.

Pretty neat.

I have a French game similar to it... that's pretty cool as well.

You forgot to mention that the 3x3 also only have one of each number each.

 

[sysyphus]

For those wanting to know more.

http://www.sudoku.com/


It's a part of my saturday morning ritual now, I brew a cup of tea and sit out in the garden doing the puzzle in saturday's Globe.

 

[sanabas]

Isn't Soduko ritual suicide?

You're thinking of Seppuku.

Never seen the puzzles, but they don't sound particularly difficult.

 

[JtheJackal]

They can be very difficult sometimes

 

[WS78]

frustrating too, certainly brainteasers.

 

[BasketCase]

One of those evil puzzles got posted in the Puzzle thread, and it drove everybody crazy.

 

[MeteorPunch]

Seems like timewasting guesswork..

 

[A'AbarachAmadan]

Very cool puzzles. Just a little logic. At least on-line you can easily erase for the harder ones that require elimination of multiple possibilities.

Edit: While I have to take back the guesswork statement. I assumed there would be some, but I've played a couple of the harder ones and it was a simple process of logic without any guesswork required, though one could use it on-line to speed up the process. I prefer to just use the logic.

Do all of them have a logical solution or do some require guesswork?

 

[Taliesin]

I tried one in the paper recently. I finished it in about four minutes without erasing anything, so I haven't bothered with them since. If I want a puzzle I'll do the Globe and Mail's cryptic crossword.

Did I just get an easy sudoku, or are they all about the same difficulty?

 

[A'AbarachAmadan]

Did I just get an easy sudoku, or are they all about the same difficulty?

Very different difficulty levels. Some are extremely easy, some aren't, but even the hard ones don't take too long.

 

[Erik Mesoy]

They're in my newspaper too. I completely PWN them. Solved the hardest difficulty level in three minutes.
(Of course, for fear of making its readers feel inadequate, and GOOD HEAVENS NO WE WOULD NEVER DO THAT, my newspaper probably doesn't publish the ones that are actually difficult in the least.)