Customer Reviews

New York Post Fiendish Sudoku: The Official Utterly Addictive Number-Placing Puzzle

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've worked Sudoku puzzles in several books (including the black belts, circles of hell, Mensa, etc.) and rank this book as the absolute best for challenging puzzles in the "pure" form of Sudoku.
Logic, not guessing, rules the puzzle-solving in this book. Most Sudoku books contain just a very few puzzles, if that, at this high level. There are only two levels here: fiendish and super-fiendish! I hope that NYP/Wayne Gould comes out with a Fiendish volume 2 very soon. Enjoy!

I have to admit that I do love Wayne Gould's puzzles, which is why I bought this book sight unseen. Being an addict of very difficult sudoku (or "Su Doku", as he calls them), I looked forward to his worst. This is written after solving the first half.

Mr. Gould is of the solving school that thinks marking up the puzzle gets in the way of good solving. He challenges the solver to find his carefully hidden clues, all of which can be found without marking up -- if you have a better memory for numbers than I have. This is great fun, and I appreciate and enjoy the challenge. The downside is that for people who like REALLY hard (grid coloring, logic chains), these puzzles are not fiendishly hard.

I highly recommend this book to those who are trying to learn how to solve very difficult puzzles that can be solved by traditional techniques. It is filled with interesting and varied puzzles, and you will find some much harder than others because they test different solving methods. For an advanced solver, it is certainly much more fun than the average book.

A collection of fiendish sudoku puzzles that you won't want to put down... This book is by far the best collection of hardcore sudoku out there. I was so happy to have found this book and am savoring each puzzle. I have purchased other books designed to be "difficult" or "very hard" and been rather disappointed, not so with this book... I would rate this book a " 6 " on a 1-5 scale.

I've tried various collections and must agree with the other comments. This is simply the best set out there. Forget Will Shortz and Tom Shelond! As advertised, every single grid can be completed without pencilling a single clue, which is immensely satisfying. The paper quality is good, the font elegant. Each grid brings its own challenge. Most of all, as the author rightfully boasts, by the end of the set you will see Su Doku as a thing of beauty - no mean feat!

I look for Sudoku books with three qualities. First, I want puzzles that have only one solution. If I find a book that includes puzzles with more than one solution I discard it. Two, I want books with grids large enough that I can enter candidates in the cells. Third, I want books with challenging puzzles. Many of the descriptions on Amazon omit such info.

I prefer grids that are about 4 ½" x 4 ½". The grids in my newspaper are about 3" x 3" (which is tolerable because not many candidates are needed).

New York Post Su Doku Fiendish (Wayne Gould): The puzzles have only one solution; the grids are about 3 ½" x 3 ½". There are 200 puzzles in this book; 190 "Fiendish," and 10 "Super Fiendish." Gould does not need to make "pencil marks" and assumes the rest of us don't. Hence, small grids for fiendish puzzles.

I purchased the book for my friend who easily completed puzzles categorized as difficult in booklets found at supermarkets and discount stores. There were never enough difficult puzzles to keep her busy or challenged so much of each booklet was useless. She is delighted with this sudoku booklet and while she can complete the puzzels it does take some time and provides an adequate challenge. She is happy and I am too! Well worth the price.

Went through various books that were supposed to be hard, but they don't hold a candle to this book. While some books have a few puzzles that require a good deal of thought, all the puzzles in this book require a great deal of thought...

If you are just starting out I would recommend one of his New York Post books. If you have a problem working 5 star puzzles online then this book may be a little much.... but if you want a real challenge this book is for you! And after you've worked one... you will feel the rush!

Dear Mr. Gould, Can we have a second fiendish book? Please!

This is the best book of challenging sudoku that I have come across, - yet. The puzzles are stretching but more satisfying as a result. Quite simply, a great book.

I love it! I notice that I as I progress through the book, I get better at doing them. Fiendish are the best!

I like these puzzles, but found that I could complete all of the super-fiendish ones in the back (ok, I screwed a couple of them up). Generally they are nice airplane puzzles, would like to see a whole book of super-fiendish puzzles, though.