Product Description

The vast majority of sudoku puzzles that are labeled "hard," "expert," "challenger," are not really all that difficult. And in a surprising number of cases, they are downright easy. In the "Mensa Absolutely Nasty Sudoku" books, you will find puzzles truly worthy of the label "hard." The puzzles increase in difficulty throughout the four books in the series. It ranges from basic and intermediate puzzles and techniques at Level No. 1, to the most advanced techniques at Level No. 4, along with puzzles that require multiple advanced techniques each time.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #54485 in Books
• Published on: 2007-03-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Spiral-bound
• 160 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781402743962
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Customer Reviews

Challenging puzzles, high-quality construction
The puzzles in this book are harder than those in most sudoku books, and are much harder than the puzzles you see in newspapers. The puzzles are not the most difficult I've seen, but given there are three more books in the series, each one harder than the previous, they seem to be about the right level of difficulty.

Pros:
* Contains 242 puzzles--quite a lot for the price
* Spiral bound so you don't have to struggle to hold the book open
* High-quality paper so you can erase your pencil marks without making the paper rough
* Challenging; no easy puzzles
* Puzzles are slightly larger than in most sudoku books, making pencil marks easier to manage

In my opinion, there are no real "cons" in this book (thus the 5-star rating), but I listed three things that could be considered drawbacks depending on what you're looking for in a sudoku book:
* Little to no variety in difficulty level
* Somewhat larger than most sudoku books (but still not huge)
* No tips or strategy section

An introduction to the tough world of sudoku
This is the first sudoku book that I've picked up - including some of the alleged "expert" books - that really challenges me. The first few puzzle in the book left me completely stumped and reaching for the Mensa book on how-to attack sudoko puzzles. After a period of adjustment, I've started being able to solve these puzzles though I still do have an occasional false start.

If you're looking for a sudoku book that will challenge you, this is probably a very good place to start.

A good start...hopefully the remainder of the series gets tougher
After fighting through the "Mensa Guide to Solving Sudoku", my other Sudoku books were not a real challenge. To be fair, they actually weren't challenging before reading the guide either! I ordered the Level 1 and 2 books looking for challenges similar to the toughest examples in the Guide. About 200 puzzles into Level 1, I can say that the puzzles are challenging, but only once have I had to use an advanced technique (and even then, it was because I missed something more obvious). I'm expecting a big jump in difficulty in the future books of this series. Still, the puzzles in this book are a lot more fun than what I get in my local paper, airline magazine, and the other books I've had.

From a presentation standpoint, this book is excellent. It's spiral bound, heavy paper, and has plenty of room for notes. They should've done this with the Guide too!