Collideoscope

Posted by: David Bunch

Check out the Fresh Links portion of our flagship webzine, 90&9. This week Paula North links us to the ever so popular Sudoku puzzle.

As much as I try to convince myself that I'm an early adopter, I find that usually I'm on the bubble when it comes to cultural phenomenons. But I am getting better.

I had just learned about Sudoku over the weekend in a news magazine and thought it sounded interesting, so when Paula linked to a free Sudoku puzzle online I could hardly contain my glee knowing that I am actually on the cutting edge of something.

Or am I?

According to Wikipedia, the first puzzle was published in the US in 1979, gained popularity in Japan in 1986, and (oh here we go) found international cult status in 2005! Yes...so I'm only a few months behind.

From Wikipedia:

Sudoku is a logic-based placement puzzle, also known as Number Place in the United States. The aim of the canonical puzzle is to enter a numerical digit from 1 through 9 in each cell of a 9×9 grid made up of 3×3 subgrids (called "regions"), starting with various digits 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.