The Art of Sudoku

The Art of Sudoku by

The Art of Sudoku by

Introduction

The Art of Sudoku © 2012 by Thomas Snyder All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission from the publisher. Grandmaster Puzzles 419 Saint Emilion Ct Mountain View, CA 94043 www.gmpuzzles.com

It is rather easy to be a prolic creator of sudoku these days. Since the “boom” in attention for this numbers puzzle, making a sudoku generator is now a common homework assignment in introductory CS classes. With an efcient algorithm, a computer can generate more puzzles in a minute than even I can solve in a lifetime. Quantity is not what interests me as a puzzle solver and designer though. Computer-generated puzzles will look like random splatterings of ink compared to the ones found here, where the human touch has created aesthetically pleasing and logically interesting challenges no computer ever could. From interesting grid designs to patterns in the digits, there is a lot to see and savor here. At rst glance that “double zero” pattern looks kind of special, but take a longer look to realize that both zeroes use the exact same digits in the exact same spots which is truly unique. Seek and you’ll nd a downward spiral of numbers, a puzzle that groups the evens and the odds separately, separately, and a smiley face that might put a smile on your face. And that’s just the rst few pages. By the end you’ll work through sudoku that seem impossible to start until you discover the challenging - but organic - logical step that was put in by hand. Whether you’ve solved a handful of sudoku or thousands, I’m condent you’ve never experienced puzzles quite like these before. You’ll nd the sudoku organized from fairly easy to fairly hard, but depending on your skill spotting particular types of deductions your experience may vary. Enjoy! -Thomas Snyder

ISBN 978-0-9850094-0-3

2 4 6 8 9 7 5 3

Rules: Place a single digit from 1 to 9 into each empty cell so that no digit repeats in any row, column, or bold 3x3 region.

1 1 3 5 8 7 1 2 9

2 4 7 2 3 4 5 3 1

2 1

8 6

4 2

3 2 4 6 7

4

6 8 1

Thomas Snyder

8 4 3 2 1

4

6

8 6

6 4

2 5

7

1

8

5

1

9

1 8

5 6

5 1 5 2

4

7 2

7 3

3 4

The Art of Sudoku

5

3   1 2 3 5 4 3 8 2 4 7

4 6 2 7 9 1

4 1 2 3 5 4 3 8 2 4 7

4 6 2 7 9 1

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

 

6

Thomas Snyder

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

6 1 2 4 3 2 6 8

6 1 2 4 3 2 6 8

The Art of Sudoku

7

5 4 5 6 3 2 1 2 3   7 1 6 2

8

6 7 8 2 3 4

7 6 5 4

3

8 5 1 4

5 4 3 6 7 8 7 6

Thomas Snyder

2 3 4 5

2 9 8 7

5 5 6 7 4 3

8 9 1

1 2

6

8 6 5 4 3

2 5 4 3

8 7

The Art of Sudoku

9

7

8

1 3 5 7

2 4 6 8 2 4 6 8 1 3 5 7

3 5 7 9

10

3 2

6 8 5 2

5 8 4

 

7 1

3 9 7 2

  1 9 1 7 5

Thomas Snyder

4 5

4 6

4 3

2 4 6 8

2 4 6 8

1 2

6 9 4 6 3

The Art of Sudoku

11

9

10

5 2 8 7 3   1 2 7 5 9 3 2 4 6

4 2 9 1 8

6 2

12

9 8 7

6

6 5 4

9 9 7 3

Thomas Snyder

1 2 3 4 5 6   7 3 8 2 1 5 7 4 9 5 8 7 2 1 4 2 4 6 1 8 5   7 3 6

The Art of Sudoku

13

11 1 9 3 8 3 7 5 9 6 8 9 3 5 8 7 4

14

12 1 2 3 4 5 6

5 6 3 4 3 8 1 8 9 7

Thomas Snyder

3 4 2 1

7 8 5 6

2 5 7 8

8 7

1 4

4 5

5 6 1 3

8 9

2 5 1 7

6 9 3 2

The Art of Sudoku

15

13 1

3 2 3 4

6 7 8

7 8 9 1

9

16

5 4 5 6

5 6 7 8

14

9 1 2 3

2

Thomas Snyder

4

3 7 6 8 5 2

8 2 7 4 9

2 9 6 9 3 8 3 8 5 4 7 6

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

The Art of Sudoku

17

15

16 4 5 6 3 7 2 3 1

8 4 9 1 3 9 6 2

1 8 6 2

8 7 5 8 6 5 4 3

18

5 6 3 1 4 6 5 3

Thomas Snyder

1 2 3 5 2 3

3

4 3

9 3

5 6

6 8

2 6 4

7 5

7 1

6 7 8 8 2

6 5

The Art of Sudoku

19

17

18 1 2 3 4

1 3 5 7 9

6 8 6 9 5 4

4 6 1 2 3 4

3 6 8 5 9 6

3 4 5 1 2

2 1 3 9 5 6 7 8 5 3 5 4 6 7 4 9 1 2

5 7 3 2 4

20

Thomas Snyder

 

8 4 1 5

The Art of Sudoku

21

19 2 1 5 4 3 8 7 6 9 7 8 1 4 5 6 9 2 3 5 5 4 6 9 7 4 1 3

22

Thomas Snyder

20  

9 3 5 2 4 6 2 4 6 8 1 1 6 7 3 4 5 5 2 7 5 3 1

8 4 6 5 1 3 2 4 6

The Art of Sudoku

23

21   1 2 3 4   5 6 7 8 5 7 8 6 4 3

24

22 1 2 3 4 5 6

5 4 7 1 6 2 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Thomas Snyder

4 2 7 1 6 8 5 3 1  

7 4 2 6 1 5 3 6 9

4 5 8 2 9 7

The Art of Sudoku

25

23

24

1 2 9 4

4 3 1

3

5 1

2 5 6

2 2 3

7 9 2

7 4

8

8 1

26

8 6 7 5

1 8

9 6

Thomas Snyder

4 1 2 3

9

8 6 7 5

4 1 2 3 8 6 7 5

4 1 2 3

The Art of Sudoku

27

25 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

28

26

6 4 4 7

2 3 5 1

2 4 1 1 6 5 2 4 8 5 2 3 8 5 6

Thomas Snyder

2 3 4 5 1 6 3 4 6 2 6 4 8 7 1 5 8 6 2 7 6

7 8 4 5 8 4 9 3 2 7 9

The Art of Sudoku

29

27 1 2 3 4

5 6 7 8

5

2 7 3 4 3

8 5 6

1 3 7 7 2 5

30

28

1 2 3 4

Thomas Snyder

5 6 7 8

6 7

6

9

  2 5 8 9 1 4 7 8 5 3 6 9 4 5 8 1 7 6 7 9

The Art of Sudoku

31

29 1 4 5 3 2 4 7   2 9

32

30 8

9 7

7 4 5 6 7 1 1 6 8 8 9 4 1 6

2 1 1 1 4

5

2

6

4

6

7

5

6 2

Thomas Snyder

5 7 2 3 3 3 4 7

8 9

The Art of Sudoku

33

31 2 7 1

8

1

3 2

8 7

3 5 5

7

34

9

4 6

7 8

4 3

1

4

32

3

Thomas Snyder

5 2 6

6 1 2 9 3 3 4 8 2 1 7 8 4 9 5 2 1 7 6 9 1 5 7 6 7 3 8 9 2

The Art of Sudoku

35

33 8

36

34

1 2 3 6 7 4 1

7

1 9 5 8 4 6 1   2 3 4 5 6 7

2 5 1 2 3 4 9 8

Thomas Snyder

9 5 2 3

3 6 5 9 7 3 6 9 8

3 4 5 6 7

2 1 4 4 7

The Art of Sudoku

37

35

36 8 5

1 1

9 8

2 4 3

5 7

5

Thomas Snyder

9 2 9

8 3

3

6 4 7 3 1

38

1 2

2 9

7

2 3

7 5 6

6 5

7 4

4

7 6 8 6 5

3 2 4

The Art of Sudoku

39