100 Sites in 100 Days - Day 49: Do You Sudoku?

Written by Lynnette on February 10, 2006 | Comments (3)

Have you seen it?... That 9x9 grid that has lots of numbers scattered around it.

So, what kind of a puzzle is that anyway? And how in the world is anyone supposed to "solve" that thing?

After becoming popular in the UK in 2005, Sudoku ended up #7 in the Hottest 100 Web Searches of 2005. Since then, Sudokuhas been picked up in all of the major newspapers and tabloids across America.

Here is is early 2006, and Sudokuhas officially caught on like wildfire!

Here's more about these mind-boggling puzzles, and ways that even you can manage to solve a Sudoku puzzle on your own.

How To Solve Sudoku Puzzles

Sudoku is the ultimate test of your patience and logical ability.

Briefly, your challenge is to complete the large grid by filling in numbers so that every row, column and 3x3 box contains every digit from 1 to 9 inclusive.

Fortunately (for people who, like me, get easily frustrated the moment they get stumped), there are puzzles which range from "very easy" to "very difficult", including about 4 levels in between.

Stumped? Try These Online Sudoku Puzzle Solvers

If you get stumped, try this:

Just enter the layout of the particular puzzle that's got you stumped into this online Sudoku helper and it will walk you through all of the possible solutions!

One by one, you'll be able to use the process of elimination to determine which number (1 through 9) belongs in each box.

Online helpers like this are also great tools for beginners, because you can "see" how it's done before you try to tackle a Sudoku puzzleon your own.

Here's another online Sudoku puzzle solver.

Novices will appreciate thise very basic page describing how to solve Sudoku puzzles. (Here's another one.)

Advanced puzzlers will appreciate these advanced tips & tricks.

And yet another great Sudoku tutorial.

Craving Sudoku all the time?... Consider an electronic handheld Sudoku game

Have questions? Want to chat with other Sudoku puzzle lovers? Check out the Sudoku Forum.

Ready To Try Your Hand At Sudoku?

Try these free online Sudoku puzzles:

You can try a new Sudoku puzzle every day, then submit your answers and see if you win the daily prize at the official headquarters of Sudoku online!

And just for my local peeps... check out the Nashville City Paper's daily Sudoku puzzle.

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3 Comments

Mark said:

Hi,

I noticed that you wrote about Sudoku recently and I thought that you and your readers might be interested in playing a free (offline) Sudoku game (although there is a deluxe version with a few extra features). It is located here http://www.veryfreesudoku.com/

Kind regards

Mark

March 6, 2006 1:06 AM | Reply to this Comment

KristinW said:

There's a great free online sudoku site here:

Fiendish Sudoku

It has new puzzles every day at five difficulty levels, a choice of three grid sizes, pencilmarks and multiple undo, plus it can give hints and step-by-step solutions. It also has several options for printing.

For a real challenge, take a look at Samurai Sudoku.

- KristinW

February 26, 2006 5:04 AM | Reply to this Comment

Suzie said:

I Sudoku and love it! I bought "Sudoku for Dummies" and it has great/easy tips.

February 10, 2006 11:06 AM | Reply to this Comment