Extreme Sudoku For Dummies:Book Information - For Dummies

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Andrew Heron, Andrew Stuart Read an Excerpt
All Titles
Read Excerpt: Chapter (PDF)
Arts & Photography ISBN: 978-0-470-11627-2
Paperback Read Excerpt: Table of Contents (PDF)
Automotive
360 pages
Business, Investing Download Acrobat
& Careers November 2006
US $9.99 Add to Cart
Computers &
Internet Larger Image
Cooking &
Entertaining
Crafts & Hobbies
Description Table of Contents Author Information
Education
Electronics
Have you worn out all of your pencils mastering ever-changing Sudoku puzzles? Have you stepped up your game to the next
Fitness
level and now seek something a little more demanding? Do you crave the challenge of more cunning, deadly Sudoku?
Games
Extreme Sudoku For Dummies features 236 beyond diabolical puzzles to challenge even the most skilled expert—perfect for
Green Living
anyone who wants to be a true Sudoku master. In this book you will not only discover some amazingly tricky Sudoku puzzles, but
Health
also face new challenges in the form of Killer Sudoku, Irregular Sudoku, and other recently developed variations. And you won't
Home & Garden
need to rely on guesswork—you'll find an easy-to-understand, logical approach that will help you tackle even the most difficult
Music puzzles in the book. Extreme Sudoku For Dummies offers:
Para Dummies
Parenting An overview of Sudoku basics

Pets Variations such as 9 x 9, 12 x 12, 16 x 16, jigsaw, circular, and killer puzzles
Useful strategies to filter out candidates and solve puzzles, one step at a time
Religion &
Inspiration The lowdown on advanced strategies such as Naked Pairs, Naked Triplets, Hidden  Pairs, X-Wing, Y-Wing, and other
techniques
Self-Help &
Relationships Time completion estimates so that you can use the clock to measure your progress and ability

Sports
Along with a wealth of puzzles that will test every Sudoku player's skill, Extreme Sudoku For Dummies provides the tips, tricks,
Travel
advice, and strategies to help you become a true master of the game.

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Su Doku for Dummies:Book Information and Code Download - For Dummies Page 1 of 1

Su Doku for Dummies

Andrew Heron, Edmund James
ISBN: 978-0-470-01892-7
Paperback
336 pages
July 2005
US $9.99

Description Table of Contents Author Information Reviews

Download

Su Doku For Dummies offers more puzzles than any other book available.
This pocket-sized guide to the biggest craze for Summer 2005 features:
* Easy to follow illustrated instructions
* Guidance on how to play the game and different strategies to tackle the puzzles
* 240 addictive new puzzles from basic to fiendish
This guide is perfect for newcomers to Su Doku as well as experienced Su Doku players
looking to improve their game and addicts who just can't get enough new puzzles!!!
Su Doku (or Sudoku) has been dubbed the Rubik's Cube of the 21st century, it’s a
cryptic and highly addictive puzzle that involves inserting numbers in a 9x9 grid and
making sure that every row and every column and every 3x3 box within the bigger grid
contains all the digits from one to nine.
All it takes is the ability to identify the numerals 1-9, a sense for logic, a methodical cast
of mind and a large measure of application to boot. You can get better and quicker, if you
put your mind to it. And there is no predicting who will excel: you can be a disaster at
maths and a whiz at Su Doku!

Copyright © 2009 & Trademark by Wiley Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.

http://www.dummies.com/store/product/Su-Doku-for-Dummies.productCd-0470018925,na... 1/2/2009
Su Doku for Dummies:Book Information and Code Download - For Dummies

  Go to Dummies.com Your Account Store Help Shopping Cart

Store Su Doku for Dummies

Andrew Heron, Edmund James Read an Excerpt
All Titles
Read Excerpt: Chapter (PDF)
Arts & Photography ISBN: 978-0-470-01892-7
Paperback Read Excerpt: Table of Contents (PDF)
Automotive
336 pages
Business, Investing Download Acrobat
& Careers July 2005
US $9.99 Add to Cart
Computers &
Internet Larger Image
Cooking &
Entertaining
Crafts & Hobbies
Description Table of Contents Author Information Reviews Download
Education
Electronics
Su Doku For Dummies offers more puzzles than any other book available.
Fitness
Games This pocket-sized guide to the biggest craze for Summer 2005 features:

Green Living * Easy to follow illustrated instructions

Health
* Guidance on how to play the game and different strategies to tackle the puzzles
Home & Garden
* 240 addictive new puzzles from basic to fiendish
Music
This guide is perfect for newcomers to Su Doku as well as experienced Su Doku players looking to improve their game and
Para Dummies
addicts who just can't get enough new puzzles!!!
Parenting
Pets Su Doku (or Sudoku) has been dubbed the Rubik's Cube of the 21st century, it’s a cryptic and highly addictive puzzle that
involves inserting numbers in a 9x9 grid and making sure that every row and every column and every 3x3 box within the bigger
Religion &
Inspiration grid contains all the digits from one to nine.

Self-Help & All it takes is the ability to identify the numerals 1-9, a sense for logic, a methodical cast of mind and a large measure of
Relationships application to boot. You can get better and quicker, if you put your mind to it. And there is no predicting who will excel: you can
Sports be a disaster at maths and a whiz at Su Doku!
Travel

Printer-ready version   |   E-Mail a friend

About For Dummies Subscribe or Unsubscribe to E-Mail Newsletters My Account Store Shopping Cart Topics A-Z

Explore the New Dummies.com

Privacy Policy Terms and Conditions Advertise with Us Contact Us
Copyright © 2009 & Trademark by Wiley Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.

http://www.dummies.com/store/product/Su-Doku-for-Dummies.productCd-0470018925.html[3/31/2009 6:49:25 PM]

 Chapter 1

AL
Simplifying Su Doku

RI
TE
T his part covers a few of the su doku-solving ground
rules, giving you all the tools you need to approach

MA
each puzzle with the best strategy.

Understanding the Rules

D
A blank su doku grid like the one in Figure 1-1 consists
TE

of a grid of nine rows and nine columns subdivided into

nine 3 × 3 subgrids. Throughout this book we refer to a
square by its coordinates – row first, then column: 1,3 is
GH

the top row, third square from the left and 9,8 the bottom
row, 8 squares from the left. We refer to a 3 × 3 subgrid as
a box, numbered as shown in Figure 1-1.
RI

Su doku has two simple rules:

PY

Each column, each row, and each box must con-

tain each of the numbers 1 to 9.

Therefore, no column, row, or box can contain two
CO

squares with the same number.

6 Part I: Su Doku Strategy

Figure 1-1: A blank su doku showing grid coordinates and box

numbers.

Getting Down to Basics

Each puzzle starts with a set of clue numbers placed on
the grid as shown in Figure 1-2.

Logic is all you need to solve a su doku. No addition, sub-

traction, division, or multiplication is required. However,
you do need to ask yourself questions like ‘If so-and-so
number is in this column, will such-and-such number go
 Chapter 1: Simplifying Su Doku 7
in this other box?’ Your answer to these questions will
always be either ‘yes’, ‘no’, or ‘maybe’. When the going
gets a little tougher – if you’re working on a more difficult
puzzle – you may find yourself asking more complex logic
questions, but for now let’s just stick to the basics.

Use a pencil and eraser. Solving su doku, especially the

more difficult puzzles, requires you to make notes of
optional numbers. These notes change as the puzzle
progresses, so you need to rub them out where you’ve
solved – or partially solved – any numbers.

Figure 1-2: A moderately difficult su doku. Tempted?

8 Part I: Su Doku Strategy

Taking the puzzle in pieces

Your first tip to getting started with a su doku: Don’t try
to look at the whole grid at first. Take the puzzle in sec-
tions, as we’ve done in Figure 1-3. You could try using a
sheet of paper to help blank off the part of the grid you
aren’t looking at.

Figure 1-3: Look at a su doku in sections rather than trying to work

out the whole puzzle at first glance.
 Chapter 1: Simplifying Su Doku 9
As you can see in the first three columns, you have a 9 in
box 1 and a 9 in box 7, but no 9 in box 4. The 9 in column
2 precludes any 9 appearing in column 2 of box 4, and the
9 in column 3 stops a 9 being placed at column 3 of box 4.
That means that the 9 of box 4 has to be in column 1, but
could appear in either of two squares. We’ve shown these
options as small numbers in the corner of the squares.
Throughout this tutorial we indicate these options in the
same way – as small numbers in the corner of the
squares.

Looking at the (slightly)

bigger picture
‘Well,’ you might say, ‘looking at one column solves
nothing.’ But wait . . . By revealing the next column, as in
Figure 1-4, you expose a 9 in row 6. Obviously, with a 9
in this row, the option of 9 in box 4 at row 6 has been dis-
proved, and the option can be erased. The 9 has to go
in the only other available square at row 4, column 1
(or square 4,1). This is our first solved number. Whew!
That wasn’t so difficult, was it?

Solving for the second number

The fewer empty squares you have in any box, row, or
column, the better your chances of proving the empty
squares, so look for the most populated rows, columns,
and boxes. For example, concentrate on the middle three
rows. You have a 6 in box 5 and a 6 in box 6, but no 6 in
box 4, so that seems like a good number to focus on.