The Ultimate Sudoku Challenge

by Nikoli

Book Overview

Confident solvers who think they've got Sudoku down cold will have to think again, because these are absolutely the most fiendishly difficult, devilishly baffling Sudokus ever devised...and the biggest, too. Created by hand in Japan--from Nikoli, the company responsible for the puzzles' popularity in that country--the collection includes megasudokus on a 25 x 25 grid, designed to give even the sharpest minds a workout. True to its title, it's the...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1402736495
• ISBN13: 9781402736490
• Release Date: December 2005
• Publisher: Sterling
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.0" x 7.1"

Customer Reviews

Beware addictive 25 x 25 grids!

I had been doing the regular 9x9 grids for awhile when I bought this book. Seeking more of a challenge, I skipped the regular puzzles & went straight for the mega puzzles. Aside from them being small, I have had no trouble solving them in the actual book using mechanical pencils (and reading glasses). Each one has taken several hours & I've gotten more than my money's worth just from these 10 puzzles alone. I'm almost done with the last 25x25 puzzle & I'm wishing I had made copies of the puzzles before working them in the book so I could go back & do them again sometime because I'm having trouble finding any more 25x25 puzzles. After doing the big puzzles, you won't want to go back to boring 9x9's.

Challenging without requiring guessing

I just finished solving the last of the 190 9x9 puzzles, having purchased the book 8 months ago while stuck out of town with a blown car engine. Each puzzle can be solved strictly through logic. No guesses were needed. I find that I averaged around 20 minutes per puzzle, with a few being simpler and a few stumping me for a while. As such, I've definitely gotten my money's worth on this book and am moving on to 2 others that I bought at the same time (Mensa Sudoku and Second Degree Black Beld Sudoku) - we'll see how those match up. And, like everyone else, I haven't tried the 25x25 grids yet. Maybe after I finish the other 2 books...

Megasudokus

This book is like most sudoku books--filled with the basic 9 X 9 puzzles (190 in all). While somewhat challenging, for an advanced puzzler these are just more of the same. However, what sets this book apart from the rest is the section on megasudokus (25 X 25 grids). The book contains 10 such puzzles, each requiring hours of work. I suggest using a very thin lead pencil and tearing the pages out (including the solution pages). While cramped, there is enough room to complete the puzzles. These 10 puzzles make this book an absolute steal!

My New Favorite Sudoku Book!

"The Ultimate Sudoku Challenge" is the best sudoku book I've come across so far. It has great instructions & examples for beginners, a nice little history on the puzzle, and I love the fact that there is only 1 puzzle per page - this makes it so the numbers and blocks are nice and large, so you don't have to squint to see the number options you've written in. Sudoku is a numbers/logic puzzle, where you have to determine the appropriate number for each box within a 9x9 grid. You do this by utilizing the few numbers that are already filled in, and logically deducing until you find the appropriate number. If you've completed the puzzle correctly, you'll have one of each of the numbers 1 through 9 within each 3x3 square, and then again in each row and column of the full 9x9 grid. This particular book also includes a few "megasudoku" puzzles - which use a 25x25 grid. I haven't tried these out yet, as they look a bit to confusing for me right now. Overall, I think "The Ultimate Sudoku" challenge is perfect for beginners and "pros" alike. Although it states that the puzzles are really tough, I found them to be a challenge, yet not "over-the-top". Watch out though, you may become hooked (they're addictive!).

IF YOU'RE LOOKING FOR DIFFICULT....

There are 10 25X25 grid puzzles in this book. The other 190 are the normal 3X3, but they are difficult nonetheless. You will definitely not be disappointed with this book! The only problem is that you have to copy & enlarge the 25X25 puzzles, so you can have enough room to work the puzzle. The paper quality is great! Buy at your own risk! They are frustrating, buy you can't put them down!