Su-Do-Ku

This site was just supposed to be a quick and easy way to print off a few sudoku puzzles while on the go. I have to admit that was kind of boring. To spice things up a bit I decided to put in a section with some random facts I found about the game while researching for the site. If you just want to print some puzzles, click here to go to the sudoku puzzle printer. Otherwise, feel free to read on.

• What does the word Sudoku mean?

Sudoku is a japanese word. The spoken word literally means "single number." The name of the game is derived from the fact that every row, column, and box can only have one single instance of a given number within it.

• When was sudoku invented?

You might be surprised at this one, as there seems to be alot of misinformation surrounding sudoku's origin. I even heard somewhere that ninja's used to play it in their dojo to sharpen their minds. Sudoku was in fact first invented in 1979 by an american architect by the name of Howard Garns. Originally the game was called Number Place, and was published by Dell Puzzles. At first The game didn't take off in the US, but it became popular in japan. Garns passed away in 1989, but the game didn't become popular in the United States until 2004, when it started running in a major newspaper.

• How many starting numbers does a puzzle need to be solve-able?

The truth is that nobody really knows. To be solve-able a sudoku puzzle must have one, and only one answer. At present there are thousands of sudoku puzzles that can be solved using 17 starting digits. However there are zero known puzzles that can be solved with 16 starting digits. That doesn't mean that a 16 digit puzzle isn't possible. So far there isn't any mathmatical proof that it can't be done. Apparently thats a quest for the nerdy math geek types to seek out.

• What other variants of sudoku are out there?

The basic concepts behind sudoku don't change if the puzzle gets larger, or smaller. The only requirement is that each block has the same number of cells as each row and column. That means a 4x4 puzzle with 2x2 subgrids is possible for those of you who like easy. Its also possible to have a 16x16 or 25x25 grid for those of you who like your puzzles extra complicated. Another thing that can be changed is the symbols that represent each number. Often large puzzles have letters instead of numbers. There are also puzzles using pictures instead of numbers made for children.

Do you know something that would fit well on this page? If so, drop me a line on the contact page.