Saturday, April 22, 2006

Kakuro: the next level

For the first time last month I saw a sudoku book that also included kakuro puzzles. I was not interested -- "Sudoku with the addition of math? Why would I want to do that?"

Well, I've just now completed my first two kakuro puzzles. The trick seemed to be starting with the places where two squares add up to 3, 4, 16, or 17.



Update: 4:40 pm

OK, now I'm hooked. I bought a book of puzzles from Borders and I've completed the first 9. And the trick isn't just looking for those sets of two that I mentioned before; you really need to be able to recognize the combinations of three numbers that make up 6, 7, 23, & 24. Or the four numbers that will add up to 10, 11, 29, & 30. Or the five numbers that....

Yeah. So I'm probably not going to stay hooked. I can solve the easy puzzles fairly quickly as long as I consult a chart of kakuro blocks first and make notes. If I don't do that, I keep wondering why I can't make 8+3+9 = 21.

Logic is easy. Arithmetic is hard. Still, if this keeps me from getting Alzheimer's disease, it's probably worth the private humiliation of not being able to do 2nd grade math in my head.

3 comments:

Cat Herself said...

Yikes. Gives me a brain ache just to think about it. Maybe that's another reason I need it? Agh. My sister and father are both addicted to sudoku . . .

FiberQat said...

Puzzle geek that I am, I never got into sudoku. Crosswords are my thing. But if it keeps the brain cells functioning go for it!

Anonymous said...

if you would like to play online a Kakuro game.
Good luck ;)!