Wassup with sudoku's popularity?
Is it just me, or did sudoku puzzles basically come out of nowhere to rival crossword puzzles as the ideal way to while away the time on our daily CTA commute?
The people I used to see reading trashy novels or fiddling with crossword puzzles are now obsessed with the sudoku craze.
For those unfamiliar with the game, Wikipedia tells us sudoku: "is a placement puzzle, also known as Number Place in the United States. The aim of the puzzle is to enter a numeral from 1 through 9 in each cell of a grid, most frequently a 9×9 grid made up of 3×3 subgrids (called "regions"), starting with various numerals given in some cells (the "givens"). Each row, column and region must contain only one instance of each numeral. Completing the puzzle requires patience and logical ability. Its grid layout is reminiscent of other newspaper puzzles like crosswords and chess problems. Sudoku initially became popular in Japan in 1986 and attained international popularity in 2005."
To my mind, it gained popularity over the summer of 2005. And after the Tribune started giving away free copies of the RedEye. Plus, the Trib replaced some comics and the Bridge game to find room for sudoku puzzles on it main pages. (Not long after, bridge players of the world united and the Trib had to squeeze he bridge game back in the paper.)
So all you sudoku players out there, wassup with that? Why do you like it so much?
I actually programmed a Sudoku puzzle game widget for Apple computers after learning about it in the RedEye. Any of you Mac OS X Tiger users can download it here: http://www.dashboardwidgets.com/showcase/details.php?wid=977
The game is pretty fun and addictive although some of them can be fairly challenging. For those of us who are really bad at crosswords, its a great alternative.
Posted by: Tovi | October 04, 2005 at 07:35 AM
Sudoku has been around for decades in Japan. They have hundreds of books full of Sudoku puzzles and its derivates over there. It became popular in the British tabloids, which is how it came to Chicago -- through the Sun-Times, which has a sister paper in London.
Posted by: Repaerducer | October 04, 2005 at 07:46 AM
I am ADDICTED. I think the biggest draw is anyone can do them - there is only one right answer and all you need to do is apply logic. It's not like some impossible crosswords where you have to know the name of obscure Polish composers from the 50's or the Swahili word for "juice."
Plus I love beating the time of that nimrod from WGN radio. It's a wonder that guy can dress himself in the morning.
Posted by: Tequila Red | October 04, 2005 at 09:26 AM
Tovi, thanks for the link. Soduku + Widget = Love.
For anyone not lucky enough to own a Mac, you can play here:
http://www.gamesforthebrain.com/game/sudoku/
Posted by: Meghan | October 04, 2005 at 11:52 AM
actually, ive been addicted to number places since i was about 5. my mom is addicted to the cross sums in the Dell Math & Logic Puzzles monthly magazines. (you can see them here: http://www.dellmagazines.com/order/math.shtml)
since i was such a knowledge-hungry kid when i was little, my mom would buy two copies of the dell books when they came out and have me do the number places (there are usualy about 15 per magazine), the logic puzzles, and the figure logics. i didnt even know the number places were called "sudoku" until the red eye. i tried the red eye's versions, and to be honest, i find them severely disappointing compared to Dell's Number Places.
to all you "sudoku" fans, here's a good tip: pick up the Dell Math Puzzles and Logic Problems books (you can find them in the magazine racks of Jewel Osco, Dominicks and sometimes in Walgreens) and try out the number places. you'll find an all new form of challenge there!! i've grown accustomed to jumping back and forth between 3 at a time (a luxury not found in the red eye) and doing kind of a speed game. my quickest time is about 5 1/2 minutes to complete 3 at a time!
if ur really brave, you could try your hand at one of the number/word place challenge, which has 16 boxes, and the object is to complete a "sudoku" so that each box, each row across, each row down, and each of the two long diagnals across the grid contains the numbers 1-9 AND each letter in the word "NUMBERS". some can get even harder than THAT!
Posted by: rexblade | October 04, 2005 at 04:29 PM
Swahili for juice is maji.
Posted by: NeverMind | October 04, 2005 at 05:46 PM
I'm a puzzle fan, so when I saw it in the Red Eye the first week it was published (by total luck) I fell in love.
Find an easy one, and work on it. After you bash your head against the wall a few times, look up some tips. Learn how to work the easy ones, and then when you are able to unlock a more difficult puzzle you'll be hooked.
Viva la Sudoku!
Posted by: Pinwiz | October 05, 2005 at 05:12 AM
I guess I haven't caught the craze yet, although I've tried Sudoku a few times. Yawn! I'd rather watch the passing walls in the L tunnel. :)
Posted by: Scott | October 05, 2005 at 07:52 AM
Don't like Sudoku. I tried it a couple times and solved them pretty quickly. At first I thought "This is great, finally a crossword puzzle even I can solve". But it doesn't have nearly the satisfaction. In the end, all you have is a bunch of numbers, no words or structure. The game needs to have a greater motivation to keep me interested.
Posted by: Johannes | October 06, 2005 at 07:33 PM
greater motivation? Channel 5 news reported last night that these number crosswords keeps the brain active and can help reduce the chance of developing alzhiemers (sp?). But if you're not a number buff, it doesn't matter one way or another.
Posted by: cmama | October 07, 2005 at 10:18 AM
Don't like Sudoku. I tried it a couple times and solved them pretty quickly. At first I thought "This is great, finally a crossword puzzle even I can solve". But it doesn't have nearly the satisfaction. In the end, all you have is a bunch of numbers, no words or structure. The game needs to have a greater motivation to keep me interested.
Gee, did you try the hard ones? I doubt it!
Posted by: Jeff | December 03, 2005 at 10:53 PM
Good game. In french it's www.e-sudoku.fr.
Posted by: Arnaud | December 04, 2005 at 07:12 PM
Sudoku kids here !!
http://www.sudokuz.eu
Posted by: Carine | July 06, 2006 at 09:56 AM