Sudoku
I have had an interest in doing Sudoku
Puzzles, for a long time. A long time being since our local San
Jose Mercury News (SJMN) added it to the comics section. My first
attempts at solving these numerical puzzles ended in miserable
defeat. I simply didn't know even the single basic technique of
solution, that of the process of elimination. A new friend shared
this solution technique with me and it got me started on the quest to
solve Sudoku Puzzles.
Sudoku is just that. You are given a set of numbers placed in
rows and columns and 3x3 cubes and you have to figure out the remaining
numbers according to the rules of Sudoku: No number one through nine,
can be duplicated in any row or column or 3x3 cube and all nine numbers must appear at least
once in every row or column or cube.
A Solved Puzzle An html
example of a solved Sudoku Puzzle using steps and explanations.
An Excell Sudoku Template If you
know how to use Excell (or any spreadsheet) this is a template to
assist you in solving a Sudoku puzzle.
The SJMN lists the alleged "level" of difficulty of a Sudoku Puzzle
from 1 through 4 as an indication of the difficulty you can expect in
solving a puzzle. There is one level which the SJMN wont do and
it is called the "Evil" level. I spent three days of frustration
solving the following one. (I amended this per the following
paragraph.)
I have solved it and I can share my techniques with you if you email
me. I will give you one hint, you may need to work "outside" the
box (not literally) in order to solve this one. I have purposely
left my "outside" the box solutions off of this post as I think part of
the charm of these Sudoku puzzles, is discovering the various
solutions. I initially posted this with an invalid
solution. I guarantee, if you are reading this, this one has now
been solved. This puzzle is evil because it is elusive right up
until the last digit is placed. If you get too hasty and make
even a simple mistake or placement of an incorrect number in a single
location, you will be doomed. With other puzzles, I have been
able to transpose digits to get a final solution. This doesn't
work with this puzzle.
I worked at this puzzle for over three weeks before getting it
right. Don't even let me know that you did it in a half an hour
if you value your life and your mothers life.
Initially in the past, I worked on various puzzles for about three
weeks, non stop. They are a GREAT way of restoring short term
memory and for improving short term memory as well as visual
acuity. Now I am on maintenance Sudoku, doing an "evil" one, once
or twice a week. If you want your very own "evil" one, flit on
over to this page, and select
one of your own. Let me know how you do.
The whole puzzle library
in chronological order from the month of March. Some of these are
from
a newspaper, some from a friend and a few from the net web site.
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