Sudoku Genius: 144 of the Most Fiendish Puzzles Ever Devised [Mass Market Paperback]

Tom Sheldon (Author)

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Plume (December 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0452287502
• ISBN-13: 978-0452287501
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #68,841 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #6 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Science > Mathematics > Recreation & Games
  • #7 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Entertainment > Puzzles & Games > Trivia
  • #20 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Entertainment > Puzzles & Games > Sudoku

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

55 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun in Sudoku Hell, December 22, 2005

By 

RoeDudster (Fremont, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sudoku Genius: 144 of the Most Fiendish Puzzles Ever Devised (Mass Market Paperback)

Most Sudoku books have puzzles from easy to hard; this book contains all difficult puzzles, taking you through the nine "circles" of Sudoku Hell. The levels are Daunting, Tortuous, Merciless, Harrowing, Horrific, Maddening, Murderous, Devastating, and Deadly.

The introduction contains a very brief explanation of the basic concepts and methods. Then, for the seasoned Sudoku addict, there are 15 pages of "expert methods" which includes new strategies that I hadn't seen before.

Each puzzle is about 4.5 X 4.5 inches, allowing plenty of room to write in the squares. The paper quality is good, allowing the maximum usage of your eraser without smudging and thick enough to let you erase over and over . . .

This is a great book for the person who has already mastered the easy to medium puzzles, and finds most of the hard puzzles too easy. If you want to learn new tips and experience a challenge, this is a great book!

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If these are the "Nine Circles of Hell," then Hell may not be too bad!, April 3, 2007

By 

Mary Whipple (New England) - See all my reviews
(COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Sudoku Genius: 144 of the Most Fiendish Puzzles Ever Devised (Mass Market Paperback)

Tom Sheldon's second book of sudoku puzzles picks up where the introductory Big Sudoku Brain Workout leaves off, presenting 144 difficult puzzles graded in nine levels of difficulty, from Daunting to Deadly. Though these are described as "the most fiendish puzzles ever devised," they can all be solved (albeit on the second or third try, sometimes) by someone who has a basic knowledge of sudoku strategies and a good sense of logic.

I began at the beginning, and either there is not much difference between the puzzles from the beginning to the end or I learned some tricks as I went along, but I found myself spending about the same amount of time on the puzzles at the end as at the beginning. Some of this may be because I gained greater practice using some of the techniques Sheldon includes in his helpful Master Class in Advanced Strategies, in the introduction.

The author helpfully lists the thirty puzzles which require "trailing," his term for the technique that is sometimes necessary when groups of pairs block further progress in solving the puzzle. He makes a case for why this controversial technique (which involves choosing one of the numbers in a pair at random and following it throughout the puzzle) is still logical, not simply trial and error. He didn't convince me, but the puzzles could easily solved (especially when the first trial number was done on a Xerox copy). Several intriguing puzzles are completely missing one given number, but those turned out to be the most fun, and, as a rule not difficult. Some not listed as requiring trailing did require it, and three or four listed as requiring trailing did not. and one puzzle, done by both my husband and me, turned out to have two completely different and correct solutions!

The book is a good size, easy to carry in purse or portfolio, and the extra grids are helpful is you don't have a Xerox machine handy for copying the puzzle as you have worked on it to date. The puzzles are large, with plenty of room for listing options, and the answer key is at the end. Overall, this is a terrific collection for the sudoku puzzler who doesn't want to spend all day on one puzzle, a collection of challenging puzzles which are still "do-able." n Mary Whipple

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Perfect for advanced sudoku solvers, July 6, 2006

By 

Jason Harland - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sudoku Genius : 144 of the Most Fiendish Puzzles Ever Devised (Paperback)

Sudoku Genius is by far the most enjoyable sudoku puzzle book I have every completed. One aspect I like about this book is that it is challenging but it does not require you to use brain-bending techniques like X-wing and Swordfish which after reading numerous definitions of I still have not been able to comprehend.

What makes the puzzles in this book perfect is the means by which the puzzles must be solved:

Step 1 Inspection: fill in all the obvious numbers that are the only possibility for a particular cell.

Step 2: Fill in the possibilities: Writing in all the number possibilities for the remaining cells.

Step 3 Look for Patterns: reducing the number of possibilities per cell by looking for hidden subsets, row and column elimination, etc.

Step 4 Solving: getting possibilities down to 1 unique candidate in a cell per row, column, or square, and solving further from there.

Some of the more difficult puzzles in this book require repeating steps 3-4 after you've solved a good deal of the puzzle.

The only negative about this book is the author's insane love for what he calls "trailing". Trailing is basically getting to a point in a sudoku where the only way to solve the puzzle is to outright guess at some of the numbers. To me this is not what sudokus are all about! I get much more satisfaction out of solving a sudoku using logic (and not guesswork) from beginning to end. Fortunatly the author provides the page numbers for the puzzles requiring trailing and I simply skipped over all of those puzzles. Were it not for puzzles requiring trailing I'd give this book 5 stars instead of the 4 I rated it.

Great for the experienced sudoku solver who's looking for fun and challening puzzles, I highly recommend this book after trying several others that were inferior.