THE OBJECT OF THE GAME IS TO PUT THE NUMBERS 1 THROUGH 9 IN EACH ROW, COLUMN AND BOX.

SO, IN EACH 3x3 BOX THE NUMBERS 1 THROUGH 9 MUST EACH APPEAR EXACTLY ONCE

THE SAME WITH EVERY ROW AND EVERY COLUMN

A SUDOKU PUZZLE HAS A UNIQUE SOLUTION AND IT IS POSSIBLE TO FILL IT IN COMPLETELY WITHOUT MAKING ANY GUESSES, USING LOGIC ONLY

WHEN YOU MAKE ONE LITTLE MISTAKE, THAT FUCKS THE WHOLE THING UP, AND YOU HAVE TO START ALL OVER, WHICH SUCKS. IN CROSSWORDS YOU CAN JUST SORT OF IGNORE WORDS LIKE OMISITUARY (YAY! NEW WORD!!!), BUT NUMBERS ARE LESS FORGIVING!!!

BE YE WARNED: DO NOT TRY TOO HARD TO FIGURE THIS OUT! IF YOU DO, TERRIBLE THINGS WILL HAPPEN, LIKE YOU WILL NEVER GET ANY WORK DONE EVER AGAIN! YOUR BRAIN IS PROTECTING YOU! LISTEN TO YOUR BRAIN, ESSEXJAN!

BUT I DON'T UNDERSTAND! I DON'T NECESSARILY WANT TO UNDERSTAND, I CAN PROBABLY LIVE THE REST OF MY LIFE NOT DOING SUDOKU, BUT I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY I CAN'T UNDERSTAND. I HAVE READ WHAT YOU WROTE THREE TIMES, Capn, AND I COULD STILL LOOK AT THE PUZZLE GRID AND HAVE NO CLUE ABOUT WHAT I AM SUPPOSED TO DO.

SO SAY YOU HAD A PUZZLE LIKE THIS, WITH THE #'s REPRESENTING EMPTY SQUARES

1## ### ###
### ### ###
### ### ###

#2# ### #7#
#8# #7# ###
5## ### ###

### ### ###
##1 ### ###
### ### ###

SO, YOU KNOW THAT EVERY BOX, ROW AND COLUMN NEEDS TO CONTAIN THE NUMBER 1 EXACTLY ONE TIME.

SO, IN THE LEFT MIDDLE BOX, THERE HAS TO BE A 1.

IT CAN'T BE IN COLUMN 1, SINCE THERE IS ALREADY A 1, AND IT CAN'T BE IN COLUMN 3, FOR THE SAME REASON

IT MUST BE IN COLUMN 2 IN THE MIDDLE LEFT BOX.


THERE IS ONLY ONE EMPTY SPACE IN THE MIDDLE LEFT BOX IN COLUMN 2, SO YOU CAN FILL IN THE 1:

1## ### ###
### ### ###
### ### ###

#2# ### #7#
#8# #7# ###
51# ### ###

### ### ###
##1 ### ###
### ### ###

NOW WITH THAT 1 FILLED IN, BY SIMILAR LOGIC, YOU CAN PLACE THE 7 IN THE LOWER MIDDLE BOX IN THE 7TH ROW

SUDOKU IS THIS YEAR'S THE DA VINCI CODE. EVERY IDIOT ON THE PLANE WHO TOOK FOUR MONTHS TO READ THE DA VINCI CODE HAS NOW BEEN WORKING THROUGH THE SAME SUDOKU BOOK FOR THE LAST TWO MONTHS.

ACTUALLY SUDOKU IS A PRETTY NEAT PUZZLE GAME, REGARDLESS OF ITS RECENT RISE TO POPULARITY.

I THINK THE WIRING IN MY BRAIN MUST BE DIFFERENT BECAUSE I HONESTLY, TRULY DON'T UNDERSTAND, Capn. THERE IS NO POINT TRYING TO EXPLAIN IT TO ME IN EVEN THE SIMPLEST TERMS. PEOPLE AT WORK HAVE TRIED, AND I JUST CAN'T GET IT.

WHAT I AM REALLY SHOUTING ABOUT IS NOT "TELL ME HOW TO DO THIS" BUT "WHY CAN'T I UNDERSTAND THESE INSTRUCTIONS WHEN I CAN DEAL WITH VERY COMPLEX NUMBER-RELATED PROBLEMS AT WORK?"

DOES ANYONE ELSE HAVE A BLIND SPOT WITH THIS?

DOES ANYONE REMEMBER WHEN POPULARITY WAS AN INDICATOR OF QUALITY?

I'M NOT TRYING TO DEMEAN THE QUALITY OF SUDOKU, JUST NOTICING A TREND AMONGST A CERTAIN GROUP OF PEOPLE.

IT IS TOTALLY OK TO HAVE A BLIND SPOT. IT PROBABLY MEANS YOUR BRAIN IS BUSY DOING SOMETHING IMPORTANT. ME, I CAN'T LEARN HOW TO PLAY BRIDGE. MANY PEOPLE HAVE TRIED TO TEACH ME MANY TIMES, AND IT JUST DOESN'S STICK.

I CAN'T DO SUDOKU EITHER ESSEXJAN. YOU ARE NOT ALONE. I CAN'T STAND THAT THE NUMBERS JUST SIT THERE AND DON'T GET ADDED UP OR ANYTHING. THAT'S NOT WHAT NUMBERS ARE SUPPOSED TO DO. NUMBERS ARE SUPPOSED TO BE LIKE VERBS, NOT NOUNS. ANYWAY I HATE NUMBERS AND THEY HATE ME SO IT DOESN'T MATTER.

IT PROBABLY MEANS YOUR BRAIN IS BUSY DOING SOMETHING IMPORTANT.

LOL, YEAH, LOOKING FOR ALL THE 'BUNNY! OMG!' PICTURES I CAN FIND. HEH.

MGL, WHAT IF IT DIDN'T USE NUMBERS?

THERE ARE KIDS' SUDOKU BOOKS THAT HAVE SYMBOLS IN PLACE OF NUMBERS. I TOO HAVE TROUBLE -- I CAN DO THEM BUT IT TAKES FOREVER, YET I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN PRETTY GOOD AT MATH.

SUDOKU ISN'T MATH, IT'S LOGIC, IT'S HOLDING A BUNCH OF "IF THIS THEN THIS OR THIS BUT NOT THIS UNLESS THIS SO THEREFORE IT'S A 7" IN YOUR HEAD.

THAT BUNNY SUDOKU IS COOL BUT I STILL HAVE NO CLUE ABOUT WHY EACH BUNNY GOES ONLY IN THE ONE RIGHT PLACE. IT MAKES NO SENSE. LET THEM RUN FREE!!

THAT'S PROBABLY WHY I DON'T UNDERSTAND IT, IF IT'S LOGIC. MAYBE THEY SHOULD BRING OUT 'GUT INSTINCT SUDOKU' AND THEN I MIGHT STAND A CHANCE OF AT LEAST BEING ABLE TO FOLLOW THE RULES.

YOU HAVE TO THINK OF THE BUNNIES AS BEING ANTAGONISTIC. IF A BUNNY HAS TO SHARE IT'S BOX WITH ANOTHER IDENTICAL BUNNY, IT GETS ANGRY, IF IT SEES AN IDENTICAL BUNNY IN IN ITS ROW OR COLUMN, IT MESSES ALL OVER THE PLACE AND WON'T EAT

IT'S ALL ABOUT BUNNY MANAGEMENT

THANK YOU Capn, I WILL GIVE THIS A TRY TOMORROW BUT NOW IT IS NEARLY 11.40 AND I HAVE TO BE UP FOR WORK AT 5.30AM SO WILL DO MY BEST NOT TO DREAM ABOUT SUDOKU AND BUNNIES.

HERE IS A STARTER PUZZLE:

783 195 642
614 278 359
952 463 781

846 712 935
579 384 216
321 659 478

295 837 164
138 946 527
467 521 89#

(I KEED, I KEED!)

is the answer "pie"?

DOES ANYONE ELSE HAVE A BLIND SPOT WITH THIS?

I'm right there with you, ej.

the answer is always pie.

I can't shout because it's vewwwwy late at night, and the neighbors will become annoyed... but, Visual Aids!

So, first of all you want to fill each row (pink), column (blue), and square (yellow) with the numbers 1 though 9 without repeating any number within that row, column, or square.

≡ Click to see image ≡

Now look at the partially filled puzzled below. You will see that in the top left box (outlined in red), it's missing the numbers 3,7, 8, and 9. Now looking at what surrounds it, the yellow row already has an 8, so that eliminates the possibility of the 8 going into the two empty spaces that the square shares with that row. And there's already an 8 in the blue column, which eliminates another space in the square... leaving the middle space of the square as the only possible option for placing the 8.

≡ Click to see image ≡

And you just go on in this way, placing numbers by the process of elimination.

I wasn't at all interested in Sudoku, and thought they would be really boring, but a friend of my husband's gave me a Sudoku puzzle book at Christmas, and now I'm down with 'em, just like everyone else. I don't think I ever would have picked one up otherwise... I was like, "yuck putting numbers in grids? Where's the fun in that?" But they grabbed me.

i'm with drjimmy and cmonkey--the answer's definitely pie.

P I E
I E P
E P I

WHO TOLD YOU PEOPLE YOU COULD STOP SHOUTING?

I DON'T GET SUDOKU EITHER!

I HAVE A BLIND SPOT WITH PHILOSOPHY! I AM A VERY INTELLIGENT PERSON IN EVERY OTHER MATTER BUT AS SOON AS PEOPLE START TALKING ABOUT AXIOMATIC REALITY MY BRAIN GOES "MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM" REALLY LOUDLY AND MY EYES GO ALL SLIDEY AND I START THINKING ABOUT BUNNIES! IT IS OKAY TO HAVE BLIND SPOTS! AS LONG AS THEY ARE NOT IN THE FRONT OF YOUR EYEBALLS AND YOU ARE TRYING TO DRIVE!

BE ONE WITH THE BLIND SPOT! EMBRACE IT!

But I get sudoku.

THEY ARE UNRULY PEOPLE!
THIS IS A GOOD THING!
MINDSWEEPER IS SUDUKO WITH LESS NUMBERS!AND GUESSING!
i think i hurt something.

I DON'T GET IT EITHER! YOU CAN EXPLAIN AND EXPLAIN AND EXPLAIN UNTIL YOU ARE BLUE IN THE FACE OR YOUR HEAD ASSPLODES, BUT I JUST. DON'T. GET IT. WHAT IS MORE, I DON'T CARE THAT I DON'T GET IT, SO THERE!

ACTUALLY I AM SO HAPPY THAT THIS THREAD EXISTS!!! I THOUGHT THAT MY INABILITY TO GET SUDOKU WAS SOME KIND OF TERRIBLE PERSONAL FLAW AND I WAS ASHAMED AND ABASHED! BUT NOW I KNOW THAT I AM NOT ALONE IN MY SUDOKU CLUELESSNESS AND I FEEL AFFIRMED! YAY! THANK YOU SUDOKU FREE PEOPLE!

YES!! WE NEED TO FORM A SUDOKU-FREE CLUB! WE SHALL HELP EACH OTHER WEATHER THE STORM UNTIL THE LONG SUDOKU NIGHTMARE IS OVER, AND THE WESTERN WORLD MOVES ON TO OBSESSING ABOUT SOME OTHER FAD.

I WENT TO THE AIRPORT SHOP AND I WAS LOOKING FOR ONE FREAKING CROSSWORD BOOK AND THEY WERE ALL SUDOKU BOOKS!!! i mean i get sudoku but come on! I WANT MY CROSSWORDS BACK!