The seemingly addictive Sudoku puzzle, which has been wildly popular around the globe for roughly 26 years, has finally found its way to the newspapers of the Northwest.
The puzzle is composed of a 9 by 9 grid with nine boxes inside the grid, and inside each box are nine squares. The object of the puzzle is to fill in each row, column and box within the grid with the digits 1-9 without repeating any digit within the respective row, column or box.
Sounds complex? University junior, Grant Gilchrist, said it’s not as bad as it sounds. He started playing the puzzle over the summer.
“I did one that took about 20 minutes and it was easy,” he said. “Then I did a harder one that took like an hour and it was sweet.”
The puzzles are rated on a five-point scale based on their difficulty. One point is the easiest, and is meant to take about 10 minutes, whereas the more difficult puzzles can take up to an hour. Gilchrist, who happens to be a math major, enjoys them, but despite the numbers, the puzzles are not supposed to be a test of math skills. They are solved with logic and reasoning.
“The best Sudoku make you concentrate, but aren’t stressful. They are absorbing, never boring,” said Nobuhiko Kanamoto, chief editor of Nikoli, in an online essay about the enjoyment of solving a Sudoku puzzle. Nikoli is a Japanese publishing company that creates Sudoku puzzles by hand.
Sudoku puzzles are wildly popular around the world, especially in Japan. The name derives from the Japanese phrase “Suuji wa dokushin ni kagiru” which roughly translates as “numbers unmarried.” The name was shortened to “Su,” meaning numbers, and “doku,” meaning single.
They became popular after they were reintroduced in a Puzzle book called “Number Place” that came out in the United States in 1979. Several companies around the world began publishing and reproducing them in newspapers, magazines and puzzle books.
Credited largely with Sudoku’s rise in popularity is the company Pappocom. Its owner, Wayne Gould, explained the puzzle’s mysterious origins. “My own theory is that it was posed by some academic mathematician at some stage during the 200-odd years since Latin Squares were popularized as a mathematical curiosity,” he said.
Since Sudoku was reintroduced, a worldwide following has emerged. Gould explained just how widespread his own company is.
“My Pappocom Sudoku puzzles are in 237 newspapers world-wide, in 55 countries. My Pappocom books are in 29 different language editions,” he said.
Sudoku “how to” books are also rising rapidly in popularity.
On Amazon.com, there are 136 books on solving or mastering the Sudoku puzzle.
Newspapers all over the country have been syndicating the puzzle for years, but The Oregonian only recently picked it up. Since then, Jolene Krawczak, the senior editor for features at the paper, said The Oregonian has received positive feedback from readers.
Krawczak delineated the puzzle’s progression to Oregon.
“Puzzle enthusiasts in Japan loved it,” she said. “It has thrived and grown in Japan and eventually spread back to England and then the U.S.”
What seems to be so appealing about Sudoku to people spanning all cultures is that it is challenging, yet conquerable, she said.
“It’s different and unusual. It’s not a word-game, like most puzzles in newspapers. It’s easy to understand, and you can start playing at once. You don’t need a dictionary or a library full of reference books. There’s a thrill in being able to make order out of chaos,” she said. “It makes you feel you can meet other challenges in your daily life.”
For tips and other information on Sudoku, visit www.sudoku.com or www.nikoli.co.jp/en.