A Musing on the Sudoku Numerical Puzzle

Sudoku apparently is the hottest puzzle game in years. Resembling the grid of a crossword, it's a deceptively simple idea that's both fun and frustrating to solve.

The idea is that you start with a 9x9 grid, subdivided into 9 3x3 grids, with a few seemingly random numbers from 1 to 9 shown. The trick is that within any 3x3 grid, you may only fill in the remaining cells with the digits 1-9, never repeating a digit. What's more, the same digit may not appear more than once in any given row or column in the full 9x9 grid. Therein lies the fun of this puzzle.

The first time I tried Sudoku, I found myself immediately addicted. But then again, I'm a math geek with an interest in game theory. Years ago in high school, I first tried solving the "8 Queens Problem", which is in some ways similar to the problem of creating a Sudoku grid. (Solving a Sudoku puzzle uses different techniques.)

The good thing is that thousands of non-math geeks love this puzzle. It's really a lot of fun, espcially if you like puzzles and board games. I've come across a few websites, but the best free Sudoku game I've come across to date is over at Life magazine's site. However, you may need the Macromedia Flash/Shockwave plugin for your browser. (If you do, the page will tell you so, and provide a link.)

I've managed to bring my initial times of about 56 minutes down 13-25 minutes regularly. But don't expect to play and watch TV at the same time, or you'll end up taking an hour per puzzle like I was.

Keep an eye out here or on the new website, http://www.getyergameon.com/, for some pointers in solving Sudoku puzzles, both on paper and online.

(c) Copyright: 2006-present, Raj Kumar Dash, http://www.getyergameon.com/

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