Have You Discovered Sudoku?

"The latest craze since the Rubic's Cube!" That's what they call Sudoku. Although they involve numbers, Sudoku puzzles require no math; they are actually logic puzzles. Vhildren as young as 7 or 8 can enjoy solving simple Sudoku puzzles, and will want more challenging puzzles in no time. In fact, Sudoku has become a challenging, fun, and even addicting adult pasttime.

To learn about what Sudoku is and how to solve Sudoku puzzles step-by-step, click here. (This is a downloadable pdf, so you need Adobe Reader to view it.) Basically, the idea is to complete each quadrant or section of the puzzle using each number once while ensuring that each row and column has no duplicate numbers. Try this one:

Don't just guess... use logic to fill it in. You can see, for example, that the second column has a 4 and a 2, so it needs a 1 and a 3. The 3 cannot go in the first row because there is already a 3 in that row, so it must go in the 3rd row (next to the 1). From there, you can finish that column, then the third column, then the first and fourth column (solution below). There are many Soduko puzzle sites on the Internet, two of which are Activity Village (pdf printable puzzles) and Junior Sudoku (interactive online puzzles).

Warning! Sudoku can be addictive! If you find that five hours at a time are disappearing and you don't have any idea how, you may have the Sudoku puzzle habit. Take a break! Quickly find a meadow of Spring Flowers to run around in, or take a cold shower, or cook food (you probably forget to eat anyway).

Here is the solution to the puzzle above: