Sudoku Method

Everytime someone sees me doing Sudoku, I get requests to explain the process.

When I started doing Sudoku I simply read that first book intro instructions. “one to nine” in each square, row, and column. It was a way to pass time, while standing in line or waiting at a doctors’ office. It was a sporadic habit until I reached harder puzzles that required several sessions over several days to complete. At different times along the process, I “discovered” certain patterns I had not seen before. I started writing clues to the numbers at the edges of the puzzle to help me remember. Eventually, I learned to write the clues within the puzzle and only if there were certain  patterns.

I remember waiting at Burbank airport, and another woman approached me and in our conversation she explained that she travelled for a large insurance company. She had used Sudoku as a means to increase her learning focus. She felt she owed part of her promotion to her Sudoku practice.

From that point, I was just determined to use Sudoku as a method of increasing focus, and to try and do one puzzle every day as an exercise. It took me a couple of years before I realized certain patterns in the math, and increase focus and speed.

Here is a (30min.) talking through the Sudoku process

1. Use a pen in a different color ink from the book you are using. It will be easier to distinguish what you have filled in, from the original
2. Only write in number clues when they occur as a pair within a row or column for a specific square
3. Look for “what is missing” for columns and rows.
4. At times, when you are stuck and there seems like no solution…get up and walk away for awhile. I can not tell you how many times I have left a puzzle and come back and find the solution in plain view. (this also helps in programming.)
5. Don’t give up. There were times in my process, when I could not fathom the pattern but continued to work through until the pattern emerged. There is no short cut to this process.
6. Enjoy!