Killer Sudoku 1: The Deadly New Dimension (Paperback)

by Collins Uk Staff (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Just when you thought it was safe to pick up a pencil

Killer Su Doku is based on the original Su Doku grid, with the same rules and numbers—1 to 9—but with an added deadly twist. This time there is an element of arithmetic involved and there are few, if any, clues. The aim is to not only complete every row, column, and cube so that it contains the digits 1 to 9, but to also fill in the outlined cubes so they add up to the same number.

Hints to solve the puzzle are hidden in the joined squares where only one combination of numbers applies. In the case of joined squares, if the printed number is 3, it should be 1 and 2 that go into the squares. Likewise, in the case of three joined squares, if the printed number is 6, the only combination possible is 1, 2, and 3.

To add one final fiendish level, each puzzle also has a time worked out by its Japanese creators so you can try to beat the clock.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Harper Paperbacks (January 24, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061126470
• ISBN-13: 978-0061126475
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #17,105 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Now Add Some Math, June 6, 2006

By	Joshua Koppel (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Killer sudoku is my favorite sudoku variation (with the possible exception of killer samurai sudoku). The game is the same in many ways. The grid layout is the same. The logic for solving is the same. The completed puzzle is the same. But the clues, the clues, are different. Unlike with traditional sudoku, you will not start with a partially filled puzzle grid. Although I have seen a handful where one or two numbers is given, usually no numbers are provided. So how do you solve these?

Well, instead of the standard partially-filled grid, the puzzler is told what the relationship is between groups of squares. You may be told that two connected boxes have a sum total of eight or you may bee told that five connected boxes have a sum total of thirty-three. But whatever you are told, each box has a relation to others. What you fill in follows the standard Sudoku rules but some of the elimination and possibilities are similar to those in Kakuro. For instance, if two boxes add up to four, then they have to be a one and a three. you just don't know which.

These regions of relationships can range from just one square to nine or more. Just remember that sometimes one of these regions will contain the same number twice or more because it spans multiple rows, columns and subgrids. Ouch. Wrapping you mind around killer sudoku can take some getting used to but I find it a wonderful puzzle that combines classic sudoku with the mathematics of Kakuro. The result is one I find highly entertaining and am happy is finally being collected in quantity instead of just a few.

This volume contains a short section on how to solve the puzzls and thwn 110 puzzles in five levels (Gentle, moderate, tricky, tough, and deadly). If you are looking for a new dimension in sudoku, check it out.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a Good Collection of Puzzles, May 30, 2006

By	B. B. Trammell (Baton Rouge, LA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I was hoping to be the first person to review this one, but it appears I'm a couple of days late. When I bought it, I was unsure about whether it'd be good or not because there were no reviews.

ON KILLER SUDOKU:

I had first encountered Killer Sudoku in Will Shortz's Favorite Sudoku variations. I liked it so much I wanted to get more. It may seem like Killer Sukoku is just some cheap knock off of the original, but I'd say it's what the original should have been. In fact, it'll probably make you bored of the original like it has for me. Killer Sudoku is so much more complex, and gives you a lot of oppurtunities to apply logic that don't exist in the original. It gets to the point in the original that to make them the most difficult, the puzzle solver must resort to the chore of possibility testing to figure it out. In Killer Sudoku there's a lot of tricks you can do involving the sum regions, and that keeps it interesting.

Although regular Sudoku has numbers, it doesn't work with numerical values (the numbers could be replaced with letters or even meaningless symbols and you'd still be able to figure it out). In Killer Sudoku the numerical values are crucial to figuring out the puzzles; most of them give you no starting numbers and only give you sum regions instead.

ON THIS BOOK:

One of the first things I noticed was the Sudoku borders are in BOLD BLACK and that makes them easy to see. In Will Shortz's book with Killer Sudoku, the borders were lighter and less noticable, and I'd sometimes lose track of which 3x3 square I was in. What the first reviewer said about difficulty is mostly true. It rougly gets more difficult from puzzle 1 to 110, but I've found hard ones sooner than they should be and I found a lot of easy ones later than they should be. In fact, I found that the whole "Deadly" section wasn't any harder than the previous section. I really don't know how they came up with the goal times for these. For a few of them I finished in less than half as much of the goal time. For others I used much more than the goal time.

I found puzzles 78 and 98 to be the two most difficult ones. Puzzle 78 has a number in a certain area that looks valid, but really it isn't if you look further. Without finding it, I don't think you can make progress. Puzzle 98 involved a sum region trick I had never needed to use before. It took me forever to think of it. I'm very certain you can't go on without figuring it out.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I'm hooked on Killer Sudoku!, May 28, 2006

By	eponine (Boston) - See all my reviews

If you're a Sudoku fan and are looking for something a bit different, pick up this book!

The rules for Killer Sudoku are quite simple, especially if you've already mastered the rules of Sudoku. The digits within the dotted-line boxes must add up to the small number written in the top corner of that box. Apart from that, all the normal Sudoku rules apply (1-9 in each row, column and nonet).

The puzzles are divided into five difficulty levels: Gentle, Moderate, Tricky, Tough and Deadly. The only qualm I had with this book is that some of the earlier puzzles seemed harder than later ones! Other than that, I thought this book was excellent.