Customer Reviews

Will Shortz Presents Fascinatingly Fierce Sudoku: 200 Hard Puzzles

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I love the Will Shortz Sudoku puzzle books because they are the most challenging. This book, along with "Ferocious Sudoku" and "Triple Threat," make up the series of the "Difficult" to "Beware! Very Challenging!" level puzzles. When you get to this level, you have to buy these three books. I keep erasing them so that I can solve them over again. If you're ready to hit the tough puzzles, get this book!

Soon it will be 5 years since I started with Sudoku, and I since then normally each afternoon over an hour or more, for relaxing, have solved Sudukos. And the most of these being from the books written by Will Shortz of which I owe 7. I have over the years bought around 20 Sudoku books and only found the Mensas Absolutely Nasty, Level 4, and maybe the "Sudoku X", in difficulty being equal to those made by Will Shortz. Some of these 20 books were too easy so that I didn't manage using energy on "solving" all of their problems (missing problems).

All of the Sudoku problems that I get on, either by books or newspaper and magazines, I by Excel put into my PCs. This both because I only can use the left hand and therefore have problem holding the books and papers, but also for storing them in the PCs and then later again solve the same Sudoku in new files. And then later when comparing the old and the new solutions to se if I during the time have become better in solving the same Sudokus. I use different colors and marks. And I can se that when I 5 years ago started on Sudoku many 9*9 took me up to an hour, but now I no longer in book or papers meet any that reach 30 minutes. Of course there exist some Sudoku being much more difficult, but not in the books and newspaper that I've found. But in the Danish Engineering News, 5 years ago, which made me start on Sudoku, there was a couple from competition and they took me hours.

I over the years for the second time again have solved all of the Sudokus in a couple books written by Will Shortz. And now I'm again are working on, and have made much of these in this "Fascinatingly Fierce Sudoku", which I original received in January 2009, and then solved for the first time. And referring to the quality and difficulty of the problems I find that it's one of the best of Will Shortz books which I until now have bought.

One of the reviewers writes that the correct Sudokus shall have the original numbers arranged so that the pattern is the same, also upside down. I have newer before seen this statement printed anywhere, and beside have all of the Sudokus I yet have solved, and which was so arranged, been among the easiest to solve. Which also can be seen in my recommendation in April on the Expert Sudoku?

I have found a number of inaccuracies in the puzzles, which have been confirmed by other puzzle experts. Buy another book. Will Shortz should be embarrassed to have his name on this disaster. Clearly he is just happy to get rich as opposed to making sure his books are accurate and fun.

A good Sudoku puzzle will have the original entered numbers arranged so that the pattern is the same - even upside down. These numbers are randomly scattered. No wonder he can put out so many books. I was very disappointed.