Who knew that sudoku could have so much personality? They can—when famous names and intriguing riddles add spice to these popular puzzles. Here’s how it goes: on top of the page is a fun, partially completed clue about an unnamed person; for example, “He was in _____ for 27 years before being elected president.” There’s also a series of nine letters to use in solving the “who-doku,” and the grid itself has a number of circled spaces, as well as shaded areas. When it’s totally filled in, the circled letters provide the answer to the clue, while the shaded ones reveal who the person is. So the solution to the question above is, “prison” and the man is question is Nelson Mandela.
Roy Leban is a computer expert, puzzle creator, ambigrammist, writer, and blogger. In the computer world, he is mostly a serial entrepreneur, best known for the FullWrite word processor. He specializes in software design, architecture and user experience. In the puzzle world, he is a frequent contributor to the New York Times crossword and other puzzle publications and books, and invented the word game of WIM. He is also the founder and chief puzzlemaster of Puzzazz.com.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, Leban has also lived in Kansas, Michigan, California, Taiwan, and Japan. He currently lives in Washington state with his wife, two kids, six computers, three Nikons, and a pizza oven.
