Sudoku Site

The New York Times Sudoku Handheld Game

Price: $19.99*
(Kohls)

An abundance of brain-teasing entertainment is at your fingertips with this The New York Times Sudoku handheld...

Merchant: Kohls

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Electronic Sudoku Handheld Game by Mitaki

Price: $19.95*
(Comfort First)

Sudoku is the latest craze in logic games, and now comes in handheld electronic format! The object is to fill the grid so that every column, every row and every 33 box contains the digits 1 to 9. Sudoku is fun and challenging, not to mention very addic...

Merchant: Comfort First

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The name "Sudoku" is the Japanese abbreviation of a longer phrase, , meaning "the digits must remain single". It is a trademark of puzzle publisher Nikoli Co. Ltd in Japan. In Japanese, the word is pronounced []; in English, it is usually spoken with an Anglicised pronunciation, [] (BrE) [] (AmE) or [] (BrE) [] (AmE) (See IPA, International Phonetic Alphabet for notation usage.) Other Japanese publishers refer to the puzzle as Number Place, the original U.S. title, or as "Nanpure" for short. Some non-Japanese publishers spell the title as "Su Doku".

The numerals in Sudoku puzzles are used for convenience; arithmetic relationships between numerals are irrelevant. Any set of distinct symbols will do; letters, shapes, or colours may be used without altering the rules (Penny Press' Scramblets and Knight Features Syndicate's Sudoku Word both use letters). Dell Magazines, the puzzle's originator, has been using numerals for Number Place in its magazines since they first published it in 1979. Numerals are used throughout this article.

The attraction of the puzzle is that the rules are simple, yet the line of reasoning required to reach the solution may be complex. Sudoku is recommended by some teachers as an exercise in logical reasoning. The level of difficulty of the puzzles can be selected to suit the audience. The puzzles are often available free from published sources and may also be custom-generated using software.