Anybody else hooked on Sudoku?

[Howzit]

I had seen bits about Sudoku (http://www.sudoku.org.uk/daily.asp) on TV, and the Mrs got me a Sudoku book last Christmas for something to do on flights.

The rules are easy - digits 1 through 9 in each square of each row, column, and 3x3 sub-square, but each digit can only appear once in each. An example of an easier one is shown below.


http://img510.imageshack.us/img510/4390/sudoku5en.jpg


I suck at crosswords, but these are pretty addicting...

[proud gonzo]

yep... I spent a LOT of christmas break filling in those things.

[yermom]

my grandma likes those

i think she said something about this "old guy" she knows named "Rich" telling her about them

;)

[Howzit]

Mmmm...grandmas.

[Stanley1]

This isn't going to make people think that you are smart humper.

[King Crimson]

i saw a guy on the bus to Denver with a NY Post sudoku book. i wondered what it was. now, i guess i know.

[BeetDigger]

I am hooked on them. I try to stay away from them so that I don't end up sitting there and doing them for 2 hours.

We got my daughter a kids one and she is hooked. It's basically solving simultaneous equations. But I don't tell her that. She'd say "huh?".

[OUAndy1807]

I'm into them, but I think I'm going back to crosswords soon.

[mdklatt]

Is there a strategy to those or is it mostly trial and error? For example, you know that a 2 goes in the first or second square of the first column of the example, but that's it. Does each puzzle have a unique solution?

[Mjcpr]

I'm into them, but I think I'm going back to crosswords soon.

:confused:

Sword fight?

[Howzit]

Is there a strategy to those or is it mostly trial and error?

Beet uses sumltaneous equations. I pencil in what the options are and use the process of elimination. You pick up little obvious tricks as you go. Example: Say you have thre squares in a row, and the possibilites are 2/3 in one, 2/3 in another, and 2/5 in the last, you know the 2/5 possibility is 5 because the other two can only be 2 or 3. Stuff like that.

Or you have empty 4 squares with these possibilites:
Square 1 - 2/3/5
Square 2 - 2/3/5
Square 3 - 2/3
Square 4 - 2/3/7
You know square 4 is 7 because it is the only one with that possibility.


Does each puzzle have a unique solution?

Yes.

[yermom]

seems like if you can do it with simultaneous equations it would get a little boring, after you do it like once

you guys do them online or on paper?

[OklahomaTrombone]

Do them all the time...I've got some on my PDA

[OklahomaTrombone]

Here's a great free website that has TONS of puzzles.


http://www.krazydad.com/sudoku/

[Howzit]

I'll do the ones in my book or the one in USA Today when I'm out of town, and sometimes I will print off the daily from the link in my first post. I don't do them online.

[Penguin]

This stuff got popular all of the sudden. I had never heard of them a few months ago. Now, the bookstore is full of these puzzles. The crossword puzzles have been moved to the bottom shelf.

[BeetDigger]

Beet uses sumltaneous equations. I pencil in what the options are and use the process of elimination. You pick up little obvious tricks as you go. Example: Say you have thre squares in a row, and the possibilites are 2/3 in one, 2/3 in another, and 2/5 in the last, you know the 2/5 possibility is 5 because the other two can only be 2 or 3. Stuff like that.

Or you have empty 4 squares with these possibilites:
Square 1 - 2/3/5
Square 2 - 2/3/5
Square 3 - 2/3
Square 4 - 2/3/7
You know square 4 is 7 because it is the only one with that possibility.



Yes.


This is how I solve them as well, which in essance, is solving simultaneous equations. The trick is to continue to find the space where there is one answer.

There is another form of puzzle that is similar but that involves addition. There are spaces that are answers and spaces that are inputs to the answers. Going horozontally you may have to put in a number that adds to another number and adds to 15. But that number may also be an input for a vertical sum that adds to 20. The trick is to make all of the inputs so that the horizontal and vertical answers are correct.

[1stTimeCaller]

did Kaeru San get you started on these?

[OUAndy1807]

www.websudoku.com (http://www.websudoku.com)

remember, you should never have to guess at a square. there is always at least one square that can be solved using logic.

[Ike]

I love this game...

[skycat]

I like doing these too.

Given the choice, I do them online. Because in the unlikely event that I make a mistake, it's less messy to fix than it is on paper with the erasing or crossing-out.

[TopDaugIn2000]

yes

[Penguin]

Damn this thread for getting me hooked, too! :mad:

[Al Gore]

en otro lado es donde viví con mijita que se llama mixie
y su hermana si me quiere
y ahorita tenemos un bebé

[Beano's Fourth Chin]

I'm not a huge fan, but I've never really played it.

[Beef]

I don't do anything involving numbers unless I'm gettin' paid.

[jk the sooner fan]

if math and logic is involved, then count me out :)

[Scott D]

my step-mother is apparently addicted to these things.

my mother in law is still a crossword junkie, which is why we got her a subscription to a magazine of all crossword puzzles for her birthday.

[Penguin]

On a flight from Vegas to Houston, we were sitting in the back row right next to the flight attendants. I had to explain to one of them how to play. I tried to explain it 3 times. She just didn't get it.

[GottaHavePride]

if math and logic is involved, then count me out :)

Logic yes, but no math. The lines and boxes don't have to add up to anything - they just all have to contain every digit from 1 to 9. Although I suppose that means they all add up to 45.

[Beano's Fourth Chin]

Logic yes, but no math. The lines and boxes don't have to add up to anything - they just all have to contain every digit from 1 to 9. Although I suppose that means they all add up to 45.

You're like a vulcan or something with your crazy skills.