Customer Reviews

Teach Yourself Sudoku

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

 

 

If you find yourself ready to roll up your sleeves and roil the waters of Sudoku this is a fine book to start with. Its compilation of challenging puzzles and accompanying strategy guide offer a great start for anyone looking to take the next sudoku step. Broken up into four seperate skill levels, the jump in challenge isn't dramatic, but it's definitely noticed. Even the "novice" section is challenging enough to side-step any breeze-through puzzles. Quotes spread throughout the pages of the book range from notables to anonymous and it keeps the mood light, especially when you're pulling your hair right before what mystics refer to as the "ah-ha" moment. And to cap it all off it contains a very welcome solutions section for every puzzle.

After a good introductory section the book launches into Sudokus at the beginner, novice, intermediate, and expert levels. I do not advise this book for beginners. My average completion times (although they may be slow compared with many others!) were 26 minutes for the first 5 of the "beginner" level, and 39 minutes for the "expert" level. For "beginner" in other publications my average is about 6 minutes. In my opinion the "beginner" level puzzles are much too difficult and will probably lead to the book receiving little attention from beginners.

My book had all expert puzzles although it had labels for beginner to expert. I don't know if I got a different edition but I have done Sudoku puzzles online which are far easier than the so called beginner ones in this book. The first ones are the same difficulty as the final ones. When you average 27 given numbers in the beginner section and also the expert section, you know someone made a mistake when they printed the book or did their program to create the puzzles. If you are already an expert, this is good for working the puzzles. If you are a beginner, you will likely get very discouraged. You can use the helps in the beginning and create some of your own to be able to work the puzzles.

Teach yourself Sudoku was not only the first Sudoku book I owned but is still the best. The puzzles in this book are true Sudokus, unlike others I have seen which are unsymmetrical.

The first section of the book offers clear and useful advice with helpful diagrams and quick tips to help you progress. There is also a smattering of interesting and amusing quotes throughout.

In all the puzzles are well paced and graded and will certainly keep you occupied this winter.

Beware of puzzles 43 and 141... they're unsolvable. One clue needs to be added to each. For puzzle 43, add a "9" to row 5, column 5 (very middle of the puzzle). For puzzle 141, add a "6" to row 6, column 5. This will help save your hair from being pulled out.

A wonderfully detailed intro with the basics well covered ( for that I give the author one gold star) . . . and then . . . nothing! The rest of the book is just a compilation of puzzles. True they are rated from beginner to expert, but not a another word of help from the author. Oh, yes. the x-wing is covered briefly, but where are the rest of the advanced techniques promised by the statement on the cover, "Conquer the hardest puzzles of all." If you do, you will do it on your own!! I see why there are copies for sale here for a few cents. That's about what it's worth. Too bad!!!