I have recently discovered Sudoku puzzles. Basically, you arrange numbers 1 through 9 so that all of them occur once in a line or a box made of 9 squares. No duplications. The line goes up and down and right and left.If you don't like numbers, then realize it could just as easily have been made of letters of the alphabet.
However, I am finding it difficult to find tips as the ones on the internet are too complex and written by geniuses who don't know how to make it comprehensible for the average person or they are suggestions that I already figured out.If you have any suggestions, I'd be happy to read them. Here is what I have discovered so far:
If you have 2 boxes with the same two numbers, let's say a 3 and a 5, then remove the 3 and the 5 from any other boxes in the line as they can only fit in the box that has no other numbers.
I look at the puzzle and go left to right, right to left and top to bottom... to see where I can fit in the numbers in the beginning, before I start writing in possibilities.
This sounds a bit more complex than it really is. You just kind of look at it and understand it. I like these puzzles because they take my mind off of other things, force concentration and actually give me a mental break. It's a great stress reliever. The newspaper has one in the comics section daily and the dollar store has a bunch of $3.95 books for a buck.
I wanted to find a book that has all easy (one star) puzzles, but it seems that they all range from easy to difficult, with the answers in the back. Depending on which numbers are missing, the puzzle can actually be difficult at a 1 star or fairly easy at a 5 star. However, the 1 stars are supposed to be easy and the 5 stars the most difficult.
I discovered a trick that helps make openings obvious. I take popsicle sticks and place in the columns where a number should not go (because it is already occupied by the same number) and often am able to discover other spaces. You would think that just by looking at the puzzle, this information would jump out at me, but sometimes it doesn't. The sticks help a lot. I use them when the puzzle is becoming filled (cluttered) with numbers and nothing seems to fit.
I love the games, too. Too much. I do what I call " load 'em up". Say you still need 3,4, 7 in a row. I check each box to see if 3, 4, 7 are already there - sometimes I'll find 3 and 7 are already in the column or in the 9 box, so I know it's 4 - it's a good process of elimination.
I love the website Diane mentioned. Holly, also on websudoku.com, click on FAQs on left-hand side of page for more info about the game. Click on Wikipedia within the site to get detailed information about playing the game.
Here are other game websites (I call them Time Wasters - lol - but a lot of fun). aarp.org/fun/puzzles; aarpmagazine.org/games; funbrain.com; thinks.com; prevention.com - click on Brain Fitness; factmonster.com/games/sudoku.html
Hi Holly -- I also enjoy doing Sudoku. Sometimes I try to eliminate numbers by lightly indicating numbers which could go in each box. Of course, at times I have many & other times not too many. It can be frustrating.
I always clip a few from newspapers & carry them in my wallet. It is a great way to keep myself busy if waiting for a doctor or dentist appointment.
I have never seen a book with just easy puzzles. Happy Sudokuing!!
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