FRIDAY MORNING SMACKDOWN: Gatemouth v. Fletch, Part 2 (on the perils of sudoku addiction…) Hosted by Steve Nadis
GATEMOUTH: Fletch, the real key to becoming addicted to Sudoku is to get the electronic version on your computer. Then, as soon as you finish one game, you can start another. I was totally addicted (as your son so astutely predicted) for about six months. Then I had to take the damn thing off my computer or risk becoming the most sedentary, unproductive person on the planet (besides George Bush, that is).
EDITOR’S CLOSING COMMENTARY: In conclusion, I should like to say, heretowith, that I agree wholeheartedly with the spirit, if not the tenor, of Gatemouth’s remarks. Yes, sudoku addiction is a real problem. I know this not from my own personal involvement with the game–the situation here, I’m pleased to admit, is under control, I repeat, under control–but rather from my day job as a tireless student of human nature, a subject I study with great relish when I’m not working on number puzzles from Metro, the Globe, and other sources. (With pen, always with pen.) Sorry, I’ve got to go: I’m just about to close out another little 9 x 9 box, and I don’t want to make a mistake. Because once you do make a mistake, it’s hard to get back on track, and your life as you once knew it–so promising, it seemed–is, for all intents and purposes, over.
I actually TRIED to get addicted to Sudoku. You made it sound so attractive. I found an online version and tried it. Too much math involved. I have math phobia. I’ll have to find another addiction. Like reading blogs.
Thanks Rose, what a refreshing & ultimately tragic saga–someone who wanted to get hooked on sudoku and couldn’t. At least you were able to come up with an equally unsavory alternative.
I, TOO, tried ‘em out 2 C what all the fuss was.
But…I jes don’t ‘get’ it…or “them”. I find myself scribblin’ in 2, often 3, even 4 # possibilities for ea square. Chuck says “look for a pattern.” Sorry! I’m thick.
My 2ND one stumped me…well… here it is! (MAYbe
[credit Boston Globe Sept 13 '06]————————-
x x 1 / x x x / 8 x x
x 7 x / x 5 x / x 3 x
6 x x / 7 1 8 / x x 9
———————-
x 2 x / x 3 x / x 9 x
1 x 7 / x x x / 6 x 4
x 6 x / x 4 x / x 1 x
———————-
4 x x / 5 x 3 / x x 8
x 5 x / x 8 x / x 4 x
x x 6 / x x x / 1 x x
Re: 7 1 8
Thats a / 7 x 8 /
(Hey…so i helped a bit!)
Filling in that 1 might have given the whole thing away–like telling the end of a movie.
come 2 think of it, that “1″ was the only “one” i got relatively easily, due to the ‘lack of’ on the columns & rows. Had filled it in boldly, as if printed, hence the confusion. So… my question is: Does one look for an overall pattern, starting w/ the 1s then the 2s, or is it better to start from a more ‘populated’ area in the grid, & sort of work outward, or…? (i bet there must be a C.Program where one just plugs in the given #s &… bleeep burp, POOF! the solved grid. But that wouldn’t be any fun, now, would it?
Hi MP, I’m sure a computer could solve it quickly but where’s the fun in that? I don’t go sequentially–i.e., 1-9–but instead look for the easiest ones & fill those in first, which as you said tends to be in the more crowded sections, and go from there. Have fun.
YUP! That’s what I was tryin’. Is the one above tougher
than average? (Except for the missing “1″s) I got hung up
on even that one. Maybe I’m safe as I don’t carry the sudoku-aholic gene. PHEW!
Hey Marco — It’s hard to tell at a quick glance, w/o working it out to completion, but I’d rate it as “intermediate” or perhaps “moderately difficult.” The Sunday Globe Magazine usually has very challenging ones.