Sudoku

[snoopy369]

Anybody played Sudoku yet? Recently started playing it ... quite enjoyable

For those who haven't heard, it's a number puzzle of Japanese origin (as far as I know). Classic sudoku comes in this form:

123  456  789
456  789  123
789  123  456

234  567  891
567  891  234
891  234  567

345  678  912
678  912  345
912  345  678

Nine boxes of nine number each, a 9x9 numerical grid. Each box, vertical column, and horizontal row must have each digit 1-9 represented exactly once. (Of course, the puzzle does not generally take on such a nice pattern )

You get a puzzle that starts you out with maybe 25-30 of the numbers filled in, and you have to figure out the rest.

This comes in some newspapers now - LA Times and Washington Post I believe among others - and of course is available online in various forms.

[Skanky Burns]

Its in Aussie papers too now. I've yet to play it though.

[DrSpike]

It's massive in the UK too, and a relatively new phenomenon on such a scale.

[Dauphin]

Not sure why it became such a massive phenomemon just now, I've been doing them for quite a while (8-9 months or whenever it was The Times started doing them) and its only in the last couple that its become the jeux du jour.

[Adagio]

Never heard of this...

[Skanky Burns]

Someone find one and we can all try doing it.

:hint hint hint:

[Dauphin]

http://www.sudoku.com/

[Dauphin]

Or for free:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/section/0,,18209,00.html

[DrSpike]

Originally posted by Skanky Burns
Someone find one and we can all try doing it.

:hint hint hint:

Forum Sudoku!

[Adagio]

Originally posted by Dauphin
Or for free:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/section/0,,18209,00.html

Oh man, I failed the easy one. Not the puzzle itself, but writing it down to paper by turning a 6 into an 8 without noticing it before at the end where suddenly there's no room for a 4
The second time I double checked when writing down so I finished it without problems

Does anyone have some app for this (just an empty grid ready for this game). Of course it would be easy to do it myself with Excell or some programming tool, the problem is I don't have any of those installed and can't be bothered to install it now

[Dauphin]

I have found using pencil and paper far superior to using software apps. With the exception of the fiendish puzzles a regular 'player' shouldn't need to write anything down except the relevant number in the relevant box.

With the fiendish ones it can be useful to write down possible permutations in the corners of the boxes, but not essential. Overall these puzzles become quite straightforward (i.e applying a standard methodical processes will always yield a result) once you have become accustomed to the way to solve them.

Its why computers can solve them so quickly and easily.

[Adagio]

Originally posted by Dauphin
I have found using pencil and paper far superior to using software apps. With the exception of the fiendish puzzles a regular 'player' shouldn't need to write anything down except the relevant number in the relevant box.

I need the software to write down the relevant numbers, I hate having to make the grid each time I start a new game, and with software it becomes easier to start a new game while the chances of putting in a wrong number becomes smaller
Not to mention the fact that whenever I make it I accidently make the grids too small so it becomes unreadable so I have to re-write the grids (my handwriting sucks more than you can imagine)

[paramir]

I don't like SuDoKus, it's too repetitive

[Adagio]

I guess so, but it's fun in the beginning

[DrSpike]

Originally posted by paramir
I don't like SuDoKus, it's too repetitive

I don't think the plural of Sudoku is Sudokus.