13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
What a treat! Challenging sudoku in a variety of new formats!, June 10, 2007
This review is from: Jumbo Sudoku Challenge (Paperback)
What makes this sudoku collection really special is its fascinating variety! Omitting the Easy and Medium sudoku, the collection begins with regular "Hard" puzzles (88 of them, not too hard), and then moves to Fiendish, seventy-seven of them. (Tom Sheldon's Master Class has more difficult "fiendish" puzzles, but the ones here are fun, too.)
Then I discovered variations that I'd never tried, each of which provided hours of new fun! Samurai Sudoku was my first variation--five connected sudoku with a center puzzle sharing its corners with four additional, interdependent puzzles. (See cover photo for example.) It is necessary to use patterns in the additional puzzles to fill in the center puzzle and, most importantly, its shared corners, so that the other puzzles can all be completed. Fortunately, author Michael Mepham rates these from Easy to Fiendish, as I found these puzzles initially to be quite challenging.
The Jigsaw Samurai Sudoku have become my favorites. Similar to regular samurai sudoku, the center puzzle has square corners, requiring 9 numbers, but except for these corner squares in the center puzzle, there are no other squares. Where the squares would be are irregular shapes, some of them in crosses (using one column and one row), some looking like stair steps through the puzzle, and some looking like the NYC skyline. The challenge is to give each irregular shape each of the numbers from 1-9, while, at the same time, putting 1-9 into each vertical column and each horizontal row. These range from "easy" to "fiendish."
Twelve by twelve and sixteen by sixteen square puzzles, which require numbers from 1-9, in addition to letters--A-C for the 12x12, and A-G for the 16x16 are all ranked "hard." The last variation, "Killer" sudoku, shows irregularly shaped "cages" within the regularly-shaped squares, each cage containing the mathematical totals for 2, 3, 4, or 5 numbers within the boxes they enclose. Only a few numbers are shown in the boxes(usually two or three, on average) and one "fiendish" killer puzzle, offers no given numbers at all, only the totals in the cages. Varying from "easy" to "fiendish," these require simple math.
My minor problem with the book is its binding--a spiral binding would help right-handers do the puzzles on the left side, especially at the beginning of the book. (I ended up Xeroxing some of these left side puzzles because it was hard to write along the tight binding.) The pages are 8" x 10 1/2", however, and offer large boxes and plenty of room to write. The paper quality is very high, allowing for numerous erasures. A great collection offering weeks of fun and many new puzzle experiences! n Mary Whipple
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Sudoku Variety Pack!, November 24, 2006
This review is from: Jumbo Sudoku Challenge (Paperback)
This book has given me hours of Sudoku-solving pleasure. It has normal Sudoku puzzles in varying degrees of difficulty and then Samurai Sudoku, Jigsaw Sudoku and Killer Sudoku (my favorites), as well as 12x12 and 16x16 grids. At the end of the book is a super-size Samurai Sudoku which I haven't got around to attempting yet. Michael Mepham is a genius. Buy this one now...it's great.
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9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Misleading Cover, very disappointed, April 28, 2008
This review is from: Jumbo Sudoku Challenge (Paperback)
This book is misleading and I am extremely unhappy with it. I searched Amazon for Samurai Sudoku and this book came up. The cover displays a Samurai Sudoku so I naturally assumed that the book was a Samurai Sudoku book. But it aint! Out of 275 puzzles, only 50 are Samurai Sudoku - a total waste of money if you are looking for Samurai Sudoku.
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