Solving Sudoku
Are you bored?
Do you want to be entertained?
One way to divert yourself from boredom is to take up a hobby. A good suggestion is to try solving puzzles. It does not just keep you from world-weariness; it also sharpens your mind.
A puzzle is a problem-solving game to challenge the your mental strategies and brain power. There are different kinds of puzzle - some are easy to deal with, however others are highly difficult, as if you are solving Math or Logic problems.
An example of a puzzle that is more related to logic is Number Place or Sudoku.
Sudoku has the aim to complete a nine by nine (9 x 9) grid from three by three (3 x 3) regions by entering the numbers 1 to 9 in each cell of the grid. The tricky part is that no single number should be repeated in any column, row or region.
At first glance, Number Place seems to be a fun and easy game. However in the long run it requires deep thought for what strategies to formulate to solve the puzzle.
There are three basic strategies for solving Sudoku:. scanning, marking up and analysis.
Scanning is a method where the process of elimination reigns. When scanning, one can either choose cross-hatching or counting. Cross-hatching requires a systematic course of action where scanning rows or columns in a particular region can give you hints of the possibility where numbers can or cannot be repeated. On the other hand, there is the counting of the numerals 1 to 9 in the rows, columns, and regions to find the missing numerals.
Then there is the marking up method. This method is normally used when you exhaust all the possibilities of solving the puzzle from scanning. To mark up, you use notations such as dots or subscript. Dot notations are used when Sudoku is being played from newspaper or magazine pages where grids are usually too small to write in the number possibilities.
The third strategy to solve Sudoku puzzles is through analysis. There are two main tactics to use the analysis method - the candidate elimination and what-if method. Through the word itself, candidate elimination method does away with candidate numerals from the grids to set aside just one option. With the what-if technique, the player will guess which is which from two remaining numbers, and follow that choice through to its logical conclusion, then return to the alternative number if the first choice was wrong.
You can use a combination of these strategeis or can even formulate new strategies. Take things one step at a time. Learn the basics of the game. Pick the pieces of information where you think you succeed, learn from where you fall apart.
While working on a Sudoku, boredom just fades.
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