Sudoku Puzzles
Exercise your brain, and stretch it beyond the limits of your usual thinking with this sudoku challenge. Originally from Japan, sudoku has taken the world by storm, with everyone from bored commuters to school children taking on this number-crunching, IQ-testing game.
I thought I would add this sudoku game to my blog so that you can sometimes take a break from your work for a few minutes and relax with a game of sudoku. Enjoy!
Tsem Rinpoche
P.S If you do not know how to play Sudoku, scroll down for the instructions
How to Play Sudoku?
Sudoku requires no calculation or arithmetic skills. It is essentially a game of placing numbers in squares, using very simple rules of logic and deduction. It can be played by children and adults and the rules are simple to learn.
Sudoku Objective
The objective of the game is to fill all the blank squares in a game with the correct numbers. There are three very simple constraints to follow. In a 9 by 9 square Sudoku game:
- Every row of 9 numbers must include all digits 1 through 9 in any order
- Every column of 9 numbers must include all digits 1 through 9 in any order
- Every 3 by 3 subsection of the 9 by 9 square must include all digits 1 through 9
Every Sudoku games begins with a number of squares already filled in, and the difficulty of each game is largely a function of how many squares are filled in. The more squares that are known, the easier it is to figure out which numbers go in the open squares. As you fill in squares correctly, options for the remaining squares are narrowed and it becomes easier to fill them in.
Sudoku Solution Techniques
The first things to do in tackling a Sudoku puzzle is to scan the rows and columns to see where a certain number might go, given the 3 constraints listed above. For example, the fact that a 7 is required in the top right corner can be determined by first analyzing its 9 square sub-region. The only numbers missing in the region are a 5 and a 7. However, putting a 5 in the top right box would conflict with the 5 already in the top row and the rightmost column. The 7, on the other hand, would not conflict with any of the given numbers.
Once the 7 is filled in, deduction requires that only a 5 can go beneath it as all digits from 1 through 9 must be represented in the region. From there, one can turn to the two remaining open boxes in the right column – these must include a 2 and a 4 as the column’s digits must represent 1 through 9. One of these options, placing the 4 beneath the 1, would lead to a conflict with the 4 already in that horizontal row, so the only option for this box must be a 2.
However, options for boxes are often not that easy to deduce. Another technique is to “pencil in” possibilities and then follow the possible solutions that emerge until a conflict is found. Often these conflicts appear after 2 or 3 numbers are penciled in, and one can return to the start and try the next option until something clicks.
The great thing about Sudoku is that every step makes the next step easier by narrowing possibilities. Every solved box makes filling the next box a little bit easier.
Source: sudokudaily.net
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My favourite game! :DD I love sudoku ever since I’ve started doing it~ at first I can’t understand why people would get addicted, but now I know as I’m one of them! I found out that its a healthy game, and it’s far better to use my free time to do sudokus rather than wasting my time playing computer games and sort. It totally helps in my concentration and observation power as well as my logic sense~ I noticed that I could be more observant these days~ so I strongly encourage and recommend sudoku for students like me out there~ :DD
I love Sudoku. Was addicted to them a few years ago. Went through books and books of them. Now my crazy phase is over, but I still like the challenge once in a long while. Just the kind of game for loners, hehe!
hehe, seems like I’ve just started my craze a few months ago~ xD for loners? well, okay, kinda~ xD I’ll solve a few puzzles before I start school every morning or while I was in class~ sometimes getting engaged to every conversation my classmates are having is quite stressful, and I totally cherished the moment I get when I can be alone~
Dear Rinpoche,I just want to let you know that you are greatly loved across the miles in a small city of Morocco.Always in my thoughts,prayers,and heart!! :))
Is a game time 🙂 Enjoy!
Thanks Rinpoche.
Thankyou Rinpoche, not only we get to learn dharma, we get to play game too..
Nice!
I have never been a sudoku fan too many numbers for me. I know its a big thing, but what is the catch? What do people find so intriguing? addictive?
It’s almost like gambling addiction for some. I used to work with cryptic crossword addicts and they hang out for their daily fix.
Thank you rinpoche its a nice game I now know how to play to relax a bit 🙂 Its is really relaxing …
LIKE! Thanks Rinpoche 🙂