Customer Reviews

Absolutely Nasty Sudoku Level 1 (Mensa)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The puzzles in this book are harder than those in most sudoku books, and are much harder than the puzzles you see in newspapers. The puzzles are not the most difficult I've seen, but given there are three more books in the series, each one harder than the previous, they seem to be about the right level of difficulty.

Pros:
* Contains 242 puzzles--quite a lot for the price
* Spiral bound so you don't have to struggle to hold the book open
* High-quality paper so you can erase your pencil marks without making the paper rough
* Challenging; no easy puzzles
* Puzzles are slightly larger than in most sudoku books, making pencil marks easier to manage

In my opinion, there are no real "cons" in this book (thus the 5-star rating), but I listed three things that could be considered drawbacks depending on what you're looking for in a sudoku book:
* Little to no variety in difficulty level
* Somewhat larger than most sudoku books (but still not huge)
* No tips or strategy section

After fighting through the "Mensa Guide to Solving Sudoku", my other Sudoku books were not a real challenge. To be fair, they actually weren't challenging before reading the guide either! I ordered the Level 1 and 2 books looking for challenges similar to the toughest examples in the Guide. About 200 puzzles into Level 1, I can say that the puzzles are challenging, but only once have I had to use an advanced technique (and even then, it was because I missed something more obvious). I'm expecting a big jump in difficulty in the future books of this series. Still, the puzzles in this book are a lot more fun than what I get in my local paper, airline magazine, and the other books I've had.

From a presentation standpoint, this book is excellent. It's spiral bound, heavy paper, and has plenty of room for notes. They should've done this with the Guide too!

I am very pleased with this book. I have searched for a sudoku book that meets the following expectations and have finally found it:
1) doesn't include easy puzzles (I've done enough puzzles that I don't enjoy doing them, but feel guilty skipping perfectly good pages of a book)
2) promises that each puzzle is solvable by logic; and
3) includes volumes 2 through 4 that get increasingly more difficult.
Thank you Mensa for finally filling a niche in the every growing sudoku world.

This is the first sudoku book that I've picked up - including some of the alleged "expert" books - that really challenges me. The first few puzzle in the book left me completely stumped and reaching for the Mensa book on how-to attack sudoko puzzles. After a period of adjustment, I've started being able to solve these puzzles though I still do have an occasional false start.

If you're looking for a sudoku book that will challenge you, this is probably a very good place to start.

I thought I was pretty good at Sudoku when I could cruise through even the most difficult puzzles in a Will Shortz book without breaking a sweat. Then I got this book as a gift and it really put me in my place. I tried to solve a couple of puzzles and got stuck very quickly. I finally had to go get the author's Solving Sudoku book to improve my technique enough to handle these. Now I'm working these and find each one challenging but solvable, and finishing each one is gratifying. If you're feely pretty cocky about your abilities give this book a try.

This is a great book if you don't want to bother with the really easy puzzles included in most books. But 90% of the puzzles in it can be solved by scanning and basic elimination techniques (pairs, triplets, quads, integration). In the other 10% you do need to use one of the more advanced techniques Gordon and Longo describe so well in their "Solving Soduko" book. But if you're looking for a real challenge, skip to a higher level in the Mensa series.

Having been an avid sudoku fan for over four years, I wanted to find out just how good I was. Ordered Frank Longo's "Absolutely Nasty Sudoku Level 4 (Mensa)"; this is the toughest book of the four.
Not having learnt the advanced techniques of Peter Gordon, I found I could solve about 10% of the puzzles therein without sinking to trial and error. This was a bit frustrating and I reasoned that this level 1 book might just be that much easier and found this to be so. Now, with a great deal of concentration, I can solve about 75% of the puzzles just using common sense and extended logic developed by me.
I am going to save the ones I cannot solve for later when I plan to master Peter Gordon's methods.
In the meantime, having great fun solving most of the puzzles in this book.

This is an excellent book, with lots of difficult puzzles. Be warned that book 1 in this series does not (as the front matter says) require any very difficult techniques. This is not a negative, however: one really nice thing about this series as a whole is that it provides you a clear path of improvement. If you are using the Mensa Guide to Solving Sudoku: Hundreds of Puzzles Plus Techniques to Help You Crack Them All or
Mastering Sudoku Week by Week: 52 Steps to Becoming a Sudoku Wizard, this is a great series to have alongside.

One problem I have with most Sudoku reviews is that they are not specific about what techniques are and are not required, so I will attempt to list here all the ones I've found required in book 1:

* Elementary techniques (cross-hatching, single cell, single candidate)
* Locked candidate elimination
* Naked pairs, triples, and quads

I will do reviews of the further books in the series as I get to them, including required techniques.

The book is spiral bound, which is very nice, but I would have rather had the cover not continue over the binding. I suppose it's a trade-off, but it would be easier to have it lay flat without the cover there. Some might dislike the concept of paying for Sudoku books at all - countering that puzzles are available online for free - but I think there's great benefit in having a book you can take with you.

Overall, a great series of books. Start by buying the one that applies to you and get going improving your Sudoku!

This is the first Challenger Sudoku book I tried. I have since tried others, and this is still the best! I can't wait to work on 2, 3, and 4!

I absolutely love the Mensa Sudoku books. From the Quality of the paper, the size of the puzzle grid, and the challenge to the brain. I have been working through my level 1 book page by page. Most puzzles in Level 1 have not required the use of advanced solving techniques to get through. I'd say 2/3's of the puzzles I get right the first time. The other 1/3 I have to erase and start over. I have recently purchased Level 2 and 3. I'm hoping they show up in my mailbox tomorrow!! Looking forward to seeing what challenges those have in store for me!

I would highly recommend this series to anyone who loves a challenging sudoku puzzle!!