Customer Reviews

The Giant Book of Sudoku Presented by Will Shortz: 300 Wordless Crossword Puzzles

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

 

 

This Sudoku treasury has 60 each of "Light and Easy," "Moderate," "Demanding," and "Beware! Very Challenging" puzzles. It also has six different types of bonus puzzles, 10 each: Super Sudoku, which are 12x12 grids, subdivided into 12 little 4x3 grids, "Up and Down", "Spiral Galaxies," "Alternate Corners," "Snaky Tiles," and "End View."

The Up and Down are worked on a grid, like Sudoku, with each number unduplicated in its row and column. The object is to fill in all the subdivided blocks with numbers in order. Spiral Galaxies is worked on a grid but with no numbers; the object is to draw symmetrical tiles that completely cover the board. Alternate Corners is another numberless puzzle; the object is to draw a line through all squares on the board, turning at certain cells. Snaky Tiles is another spatial puzzle with numbers as reference points. End View asks the solver to put letters in the puzzle so that each row or column has all the letters. Certain rows and columns have letters at the margins; those letters are the first letters in from those margins, as if the puzzle was turned on end.

These other puzzles I feel are a nice little change from the sudoku mindset. I don't know if I'd want a whole book of Snaky Tiles, but a couple here and there are fun.

The Sudoku puzzles are on the same scale as Sudoku Easy to Hard, the other Shortz book of puzzles. The book is nicely laid out with one puzzle per page and plenty of room to work them and make notes.

The only downside of this book is that it is a little thick for casual solving; it doesn't fit in a pocket. You can, of course, tear out the puzzle pages and take them with you. If you like Sudoku puzzles, this is a good book to get and grow on. Happy solving and good luck!

If you have solved Sudoku puzzles before, this book just contains too many easy puzzles, the hard ones aren't that hard either. And on top of that it is huge! Not practical to bring with you and a bit clumsy to hold when you are solving the puzzles. I prefer his other books to this one.

I agree it's a bit big, but on the other hand you get all the puzzles you'll ever need - maybe even a bit more than you need, but then you can do what we did and rip the puzzles out and split them between family members. I know, it's an awful thing to do to a book, but still... In summary, high quality puzzles, just like we've come to expect.

Will Shortz, need I say more, what he touches turns to gold, he and Carol Vorderman are greatest.

This is a great book. I'm starting with the easy puzzles and working my way up to the harder ones. I bought one for my dad and he is now addicted as well.

This book will keep me busy for a long time. Just what I was looking for.

This is a collection of sudoku puzzles compiled by Will Shortz, editor of the N.Y. Times Crossword Puzzles.

There are 250 regular Sudoku puzzles that fall into 4 categories; Light and Easy, Moderate, Demanding, and Beware very challenging. By and large the classifications are reasonable accurate. Nearly all 'easy' puzzles are do-able without notations or an eraser; the other 3 types will need some due consideration, requiring the solver to apply some of the standard Sudoku techniques that advanced solvers know and use, especially with the more difficult puzzles.

In addition, there are 10 super sudoku puzzles which are played on a 12x12 grid (instead of the normal 9x9 grid). But wait, there's more (sounds like a fast sell TV ad, doesn't it) also included are a 5 other games called END VIEW, SNAKY TILES, UP & DOWN, ALTERNATE CORNERS and SPIRAL GALAXIES. These are all number, letter or maze type games that some may find very interesting and challenging, but have little to do with Sudoku.

Conclusion:
This puzzles are nicely sized for making notations and corrections but the book itself is not too big to take on a trip or such if you want to pass some time. It includes a reasonably assortment of easy to very hard sudoku puzzles. There are a few other solitary game/puzzles included as well. A good mixture for any Sudoku enthusiast. 5 STARS

R.Nicholson

Okay, I'm hooked! This is the latest puzzle book I picked up. I love doing Sudoku puzzles, and this ones pretty decent.