Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #544594 in Books
• Published on: 2005-08-01
• Released on: 2005-08-16
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 176 pages

Customer Reviews

Truly addictive
These puzzles are better than crack.

Every Su Doku can be solved without guesswork, and this knowledge can leave you pulling your hair in frustration as you patiently search for the one clue you know you can find if you look and think hard enough. They are more purely logical than crosswords--rather than filling their head with new words of dubious usefulness like "oleo" and "ecru," Su Doku users end up devising new logical tricks and tests, sharpening their mind like a Number 2 pencil. And there is a certain elegant beauty to the way the puzzles fall together as you start nearing the end--and a jarring ugliness to them when you go wrong early on. Make a wrong number placement near the beginning, and the puzzle becomes an irretrievable mess.

This book has several virtues to recommend it. It is small, so you can slip it in your pocket and take it places rather than lugging it around in a briefcase or a backpack. (Say, for instance, you want to bring it to the bathroom with you at work--you can slip it in your pocket and no one's the wiser. Not that I've ever done that, of course, Mark. I'm just saying you could, hypothetically, do so.) Also, it gives the beginner a good overview of the game without describing every possible logic puzzle solution technique. Lastly, it provides a good mix of difficulties in the puzzle--4 Easy ones to get you started, 26 Mild ones to build your skills, 46 Difficults to really hone your skills, and 24 Fiendish puzzles to drive you to the brink of logic-puzzle insanity as you waste a large chunk of your day in a frenzy of brain-melting number-placement. (The Fiendish puzzles are very accurately named.)

And, not to spoil the ending, but: 3,6,5,4,1,2,8,9,7

PRODUCT ADVISORY:

This book will take up all of your free time, if you let it. In fact, you may have to limit your Su Doku consumption to avoid damage to your work and social life.

Fiendish
The New York Post is to Su Doku what the New York Times is to crossword. If you are addicted to Su Doku (and if you played it, you probably are) this is a great book to get. The levels are Mild, Difficult and Fiendish. Webster's defines fiendish as being extremely cruel or wicked -- that's quite an accurate description for the puzzles in this section. I wouldn't recommend this book for first time Su Doku players because even the mild is a bit trickier than your average puzzle. Keep one in your bag, for those times when you have an unexpected wait. With Su Doku time flies and your brain isn't bored.

From the Board Games Editor at BellaOnline.com
The New York Post is often credited with popularizing sudoku in the United States.... as if we needed something new that we could become addicted to! We fell for it like a ton of bricks, and now millions of us need to get our fix daily, if not more often. For those of you for whom one puzzle a day just isn't quite enough, pick up a few sudoku books so you'll always be prepared. The New York Post book series are great ones to start with, with puzzle difficulties ranging from very easy to wickedly difficult. Even the best sudoku-ers enjoy a simple puzzle from time to time (they are quick enough to do during a coffee break), and this book also makes a nice starting point for beginners.