Original Sudoku

Description

Over twenty-five years ago, Nikoli, a Japanese puzzle and game company, started publishing a curious logic puzzle called Sudoku. The result was magical and in recent years, Sudoku has spread from Japan to other countries. These newer puzzles, however, are often computer-generated and lack the simple beauty of handmade puzzles. Nikoli continues to nurture and develop Sudoku with handmade puzzles that contain the vital ingredient that make puzzles enjoyable--the sense of communication between solver and author. The best Sudoku make you concentrate, but aren't stressful. Arranged from "Easy" to "Very Hard," here are over 300 logic puzzles that celebrate the compulsive joy of Sudoku with symmetry, smartness, and elegance. Absorbing and engaging, every puzzle is designed by an author who anticipates your next step and obscures the path, while never leading you into frustration. Each puzzle carries the careful thought of a master who knows when to encourage and when to withhold, who shares the joy of that moment when one hard-won number is captured and the entire puzzle falls into place.

Puzzability, based in New York, includes Mike Shenk, who has written puzzles for Games magazine and its offshoots, and provided daily crosswords for a major newspaper syndicate. He is currently the crossword editor of The Wall Street Journal; Amy Goldstein, a trivia buff and wordsmith who has served as associate editor and managing editor for Games magazine and its sister publications; and Robert Leighton, an illustrator, writer, New Yorker cartoonist, and creator of unique visual puzzles.