When I'm on the train going to work, they have this free paper called the Red Eye. A couple of months ago, the Red Eye started having these Sudoku puzzles in them, and I promised myself I wouldn't try them. I could tell they might be addictive.
But then I heard someone refer to Sudoku as "the Rubik's Cube of the 21st century", and my resolve weakened. I'm geek enough to still play with one of those, so I figured...
Anyway, I've been ensnared by the evil puzzles, and now I'm stuck on one that has me beat. At Websudoku.com, they have four levels: Easy, Medium, Hard, and Evil. I've done some evil ones, but I generally stick with hard. And it's one of the hard ones that is killing me.
You can select puzzles by number on that site, and this one is Hard Puzzle 4,788,776,095. Yeah, they have billions of the wretched things. And I have managed to fill in one number in the entire thing. Other than making wild guesses, I can't figure out what to do with this thing. Other than just ignore it, and if I could do that, this post would never have started.
So. If any of you are victims of Sudoku and would like to have a go at this one, and can get me any explanation at all of how you can figure out more than one number in it, I'd be eternally grateful.
If you are a Sudoku addict as well, don't even look at it. I wouldn't want to be an enabler. <sigh>
Posts: 12266 | Registered: Jul 2005
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posted
I think you've created another addict. Though I can only manage the Easy ones by relying heavily on the 'How am I doing?' button. I = lame.
Posts: 957 | Registered: Aug 2002
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It would be really easy to write a program to do this. But I won't. Or maybe I will assign it as homework.
Posts: 1877 | Registered: Apr 2005
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posted
I've got no clue what the notation you all are using is, but here's another item you can get after the 5 and the 7 mentioned above, before getting anything else:
For the '9' in the bottom row, the square directly above it and the square directly to the right of it must both be either a "3" or a "4". So one of them must be the 3, and the other the 4, but we don't know which is which. Now the square immediately to the left of the 9 can only be either a 2, 3, or 4. Since the 3 and 4 are taken up by the others, this one must be a "2".
This means there must be a 2 directly below the '3' on the leftmost column as well.
Posts: 142 | Registered: Apr 2005
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quote:Originally posted by firebird: I'm having a go ...
So far can only get a 5 in IH.
Yeah. That's the one I was able to get. I can't get a single other number. It's extremely frustrating.
Posts: 12266 | Registered: Jul 2005
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posted
I'm not quite sure I like this web interface. It only lets me have 5 pencilmarks per square and the first thing I do when solving these is immediately mark for every square every possible digit that can fit in it, which can often be more than 5 digits. After doing that I find every single puzzle quite easy to solve. In this particular puzzle, there's six pencilmarks I'd like to fit in several squares.
Posts: 142 | Registered: Apr 2005
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posted
OK, now I'm addicted. I've done 3 easy and they are easy enough, but I'm way below average on the times. Posts: 6394 | Registered: Dec 1999
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posted
This is so amusing. Finally, something is "trendy" that I already know about. I've been doing these puzzles for years - they've been putting them in Dell crossword puzzle books for quite a while now, although they don't call them "Sudoku". They're still the same thing. I enjoy them although I'm not that good at them.
Posts: 2454 | Registered: Jan 2003
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Sudoku became the latest craze in the Uk about 9 months ago ... everyone is doing them.
But now they have come up with mean Killer Sudoku's ... and those require logic and maths. I've lost my mother to them.....'In a minute dear I just have to work out this one number then ....'
posted
I discovered suduko on a train journey a couple of months ago. I'm not addicted (yet) but only because I cycle to work so can’t do them then.
I do a few when I go on a long train journey, but end up muttering numbers to myself, so the other people near me must think I’m odd.
Posts: 169 | Registered: Aug 2005
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I don't know if I'll be much help in your evil one though. I've completed one of the 'hard' category (it took me close to an hour), and I stick mostly with medium. I think I'm getting better though.
Posts: 270 | Registered: Jul 2004
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quote:Originally posted by JemmyGrove: UUGGGHHHHHH!!! CURSE YOU!!! (I'm hooked.)
I did warn you. <grin>
quote:Originally posted by JemmyGrove: I don't know if I'll be much help in your evil one though. I've completed one of the 'hard' category (it took me close to an hour), and I stick mostly with medium. I think I'm getting better though.
Firebird's advice got me through that bad one.
Posts: 12266 | Registered: Jul 2005
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posted
Today I beat my first Evil Sudoku (puzzle# Evil 2,186,310,771). No idea how long it took because I printed it out, had given up for a while, and came back to it. It was at least an hour though. You really have to use more complicated logic on the evil setting. Fun, but I think I have a headache now.
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![[Frown]](frown.gif)
I = lame.
![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
And now I'm done.![[Wink]](wink.gif)
