You probably couldn’t escape it. Since the beginning of summer, sudoku, Japanese translation of “unique digit”, is everywhere. In newspapers, puzzle books, on the Internet, but also in certain classrooms, where teachers appreciate its logical approach. Even Nice-Matin has gotten into it, that says it all!
Just like the Rubik’s cube in the 1980s, sudoku grids have now become a fad. So much so that in bookstores and puzzle books, they are relegating traditional crosswords and word searches to the status of has-beens. Sudoku enthusiasts are gradually replacing crossword enthusiasts!
The story begins in 1979, with the first grid created by American Howard Garns. Introduced to Japan in 1984, this number cube would then take the name sudoku, short for “Suji wa dokushin ni kagiru”, or if you prefer, “the digit must be unique”. This logic game doesn’t date from yesterday. But despite the enthusiasm of the Japanese for more than twenty years, and more recently the British, it is only this year that the puzzle arrived in France. With the success we know it has, since many specialized magazines have appeared. Sudoku has even become an essential appointment for readers of Figaro, Libération, or Today in France.
The game is simple. Well, so to speak. The grid is a square of nine boxes on each side, subdivided into as many identical squares, called regions. Each row, column and region must contain each digit from 1 to 9 only once (digits are used by convention, some replace them with letters A to I, or even with symbols or colors…). That’s the rules. The big advantage is that several difficulty levels are offered: you practice with “very easy” grids, and you spend nights on “diabolical” ones…
If you’re not yet an enthusiast of this new craze, don’t wait too long to get into it, one day sudoku will also become a collector’s item and object of nostalgia… Moreover, it is good mental exercise, since many math teachers recommend sudoku grids to their students to develop their logical thinking. It’s still more fun than traditional train and pipe problems!
Nicolas Pelazza
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