Puzzles Like This Are Why We Love Sudoku (2024)

FAQs

What does it mean if you love Sudoku? ›

If you love playing Sudoku, your hidden powers reveal that you must have confidence, speedy analyzing powers, quick decision-making skills, and not break down under pressure. You may like tough challenges. Yet, you have an uncanny ability to remain calm under pressure.

Sudoku does not require luck. Sudoku does not require guessing. In fact, when solving Sudoku puzzles, you're better off NOT guessing at all. Sudoku is a logic puzzle, using the power of simple deductive reasoning and process of elimination to fill in the gaps in the grid.

It's fun to use your brain.

Sudoku gives us a chance to flex our mental muscles in a variety of ways. Every time you place a new number on the Sudoku grid, you are utilizing different parts of your brain.

Like Sudoku, solving a Kakuro puzzle involves investigating combinations and permutations.

The ability to solve a Sudoku Puzzle indicates that your IQ is most likely in the range 50–200.

From this case study it can be concluded that an individual who is skilled at solving Sudoku puzzles likely has a high general IQ. The results of the weak correlation between Sudoku scores and the WAIT test indicates that in some cases a high Sudoku doesn't necessarily mean a high general IQ.

The 45 Rule

An essential Killer Sudoku solving technique is the "45 rule". This uses the fact that every row, column and block must contain each of the numbers 1 to 9 once. Therefore, the total of all numbers in one row, column or block will always be 45.

Focus on a section at a time.

Rather than trying to work on the entire puzzle at the same time, look at the section of the puzzle that has the fewest empty cells. Try your best to work through and deduce as many of the numbers in that row, column, or square as you can.

The most basic strategy to solve a Sudoku puzzle is to first write down, in each empty cell, all possible entries that will not contradict the One Rule with respect to the given cells. If a cell ends up having only one possible entry, it is a "forced" entry that you should fill in.

Solving the most high-level Sudoku players requires speed, quick decision-making, and an element of confidence and “guts.” The best Sudoku players are unflappable under pressure.

What happens if you play Sudoku every day? ›

Stimulates your mind: The game works on your logical thinking process as you are absorbed in solving a puzzle and eventually improve your number skills. Helps with decision-making: Sudoku not only keeps you absorbed in the game for hours, it also helps you with decision-making and time management skills.

[And Sudoku] is one of the most addictive puzzles ever invented. What makes it so addictive? It's the appeal of the empty squares to be filled in, which is a quality it shares with crosswords, and it has very simple rules. You can learn it in 10 seconds, and yet the logic needed to solve Sudoku is challenging.

Many Sudokus have been found with 17 clues, although finding them is not a trivial task. A 2014 paper by Gary McGuire, Bastian Tugemann, and Gilles Civario proved that the minimum number of clues in any proper Sudoku is 17 through an exhaustive computer search based on hitting set enumeration.

A Latin square of order n is an n × n array in which each row and column contains each of the n symbols exactly once. The number n is the order of the Latin square. Sudoku is a Latin square of order 9, but additionally includes the condition that each block must also contain the numbers 1 through 9.

The world's hardest sudoku is a specific sudoku board that was made by Arto Inkala in 2012 and is considered the hardest solveable sudoku puzzle in the world.

Showing Determination

The best Sudoku players have taken a fun game and transformed their skills to a higher level. Whether or not we ever play at a Sudoku World Championship, this type of determination and diligence is admirable, and is something that we can try to emulate in other areas of life.

Playing Sudoku may offer a range of brain health benefits, including enhanced mental agility and concentration, stress reduction, improved memory, sharpened pattern recognition skills, and enjoyable mental challenges.

Your brain is a complex organ that reacts to rewards. When you solve a Sudoku puzzle, especially when faced with a seemingly insurmountable challenge and then find a solution, dopamine is released. This neurotransmitter hormone is closely related to reward mechanisms, motivation, and the feeling of happiness.