| How To Sudoku... |
|
 If you’ve
ever tried and failed to play Sudoku, then you probably experienced the sheer frustration that can be
involved in playing. When patience is something you’ve never been blessed with, it can be a mental
strain. Many walk away and leave it at that, but the other frustrating side to Sudoku is that it’s highly
addictive.
The puzzle was first published in 1979, and although the Japanese have been enjoying the number cruncher for years, it only took off internationally in 2005. It is now so popular a live TV show on Sky One
was screened in July celebrating its logical genius. |
|
| Strategies |
|
Once you’ve mastered the mighty puzzle and
succeeded a few times, you’ll start to notice that you follow some sort of constant
system to get you through. Whether you prefer starting with boxes, rows or columns
it makes no difference, there is always something new to learn!
It is ridiculously easy to forget or miss the obvious, so it’s always helpful
to go back and review what you thought could not be obtained; placing just one
number can quickly help solve others around the grid. |
|
| Baby Basics |
|
Know the rules!
- Only numbers 1-9 can be used
- Each number can only be used once in every box (3x3), column
(up and down) and row (across)
- Careless mistakes mean you have to start again, make notes on paper;
it’s much easier not to enter anything until you’re completely sure it’s
the right answer!
- Don’t guess the answers! This doesn’t help at all, when one number
is added incorrectly the entire board falls apart.
- Start with the row/column/box that has the most filled in numbers.
|
|
| Solutions |
|
 The Lone Number
Look
at all possibilities going through each square and noting not just where
numbers can go, whilst also recognising where they can’t. In this example
of a hard puzzle, the number 8 can only fit in one square.
Eliminating Candidates
Looking at the puzzle row by row you can determine where
a number can’t go by viewing the puzzle as a whole. In this example
of the first row the number 5 has two options. |
|
| Strategies |
|
Once you’ve mastered the mighty puzzle and
succeeded a few times, you’ll start to notice that you follow some sort of constant
system to get you through. Whether you prefer starting with boxes, rows or columns
it makes no difference, there is always something new to learn!
It is ridiculously easy to forget or miss the obvious, so it’s always helpful
to go back and review what you thought could not be obtained; placing just one
number can quickly help solve others around the grid. |
|
| Handy Tips |
|
- Look
at the puzzle as a whole, if one number is more recurrent than others then use that as a starting
point!
- If it appears in six out of nine boxes, you should be able to work out its position in the
final three boxes by default, looking across the columns and rows around it.
- Looking at this example you can see the number 8 appears in five boxes so by default you
can immediately eliminate the rows and columns which already contain a 5 helping you see where
it can go. |
|
| | |
