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Sudoku Variants
As
you probably already know, standard Sudoku puzzles consist of a 9x9
grid, which has 9 lots of 3x3 regions within it. However there are many
other Sudoku variations, you can get 4x4 grids that have 2x2 regions
within
them not to talk of 5x5 grids that have pentomino regions (a pentomino
has an area of 5 unit squares) within them.
The Times newspaper offers Sudoku fans a 12x12 Suduko grid and the
company that introduced Sudoku to Japan, Nikoli, offers a 25x25 grid
for die hard Sudoku fans.
Another common Variant of Sudoku goes by the name of Hypersudoku. It
has
the same layout as the standard puzzle, but it also has additional
squares in a shaded area that must also contain the numbers 1-9 only
once, which makes HyperSudoku more challenging than Sudoku.
Alphabetical variations of Sudoku also began to appear shortly after
the emergence of the standard Sudoku grid. These are still solved the
same way as regular Sudoku puzzles are, the
only difference is that they use letters instead of numbers. But some
alphabetical Sudoku puzzles may contain a word which goes across a
central diagnol,
and the resolution can be used as a solving aid.
Steve Schaefer developed a variant known as The Code Duke, and this has
an entire sentence hidden in the puzzle. Some people would argue that
alphabetical puzzle are not true Sudoku because they can not be solved
by logic alone.
Dion Church invented the three- dimensional Sudoku puzzle in May 2005.
This can be found in the Daily Telgraph.
There is a also a Sudoku variant of the Rubik's Cube, with each of the
6 faces in the style of the 9x9 Sudoku grid. The numbers are from 1-9
ike the standard Sudoku grid which makes this a more challenging puzzle
than the original Rubik's Cube itself.
These are some of the most common variations of Sudoku that are
around today, however creative minds are coming up with newer Sudoku
Variants all the time.
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