Su Doku

I was lost in the middle of nowhere, my first night in that tiny grimy backpackers on Pitt Street in Sydney .. There, came into my life the utterly addictive number-placing puzzle called : Su Doku.

In Japan , they don't do many crosswords, they make Su Doku instead. The name is Japanese, roughly translating as 'Number Place'. Should be added a health warning: it is seriously addictive !

Since the first puzzle appeared into my life, thousands were devoured in buses, beaches and camping places, planes and airports, waiting rooms, etc. Today, there is always an incomplete game on my desk for a few minutes break at work. I either start or end my day by tackling this 'crossword without words'.

Unlike crossword, you don't need to speak any particular language to get sucked into a Su Duko puzzle. Indeed, technically speaking, you don't even need to know how to count. You simply have to fit every digit from 1 to 9, in any order into each row (left to right), each column (top to bottom) and each box (of nine squares).

I have introduced the Su Doku to some friends. Few have complained that some puzzles were just unsolvable, only to see the solutions at the end of the book, while others have been equally disgruntled to have solved them in minutes. A colleague kept missing her stop because apparently, she couldn't resist making them on her daily bus journey! I can feel she hates me for that now..

So, why don't you also give it a try ?
Remember, you don't need to be a mathematical genius to solve these puzzles; it is simply a matter of logic!