Number puzzles started appearing in French dailies and magazines in the late 19th century, when puzzle setters began experimenting with removing numbers from magic squares.
On July 6, 1895, La France created a puzzle that was close to a modern Sudoku. Its instructions read, "Use the numbers 1 to 9 each nine times to complete the grid in such a way that the horizontal, vertical, and two main diagonal lines all add up to the same total."
These number puzzles were a feature of French dailies and magazines for a couple of decades, but disappeared about the time of World War I.
The modern Sudoku puzzle was invented in Indianapolis, USA in 1979 by 74-year-old retired architect Howard Garns. It was first published in the May 1979 issue of Dell Pencil Puzzles & Word Games (issue #16), page 6, under the name Number Place.
Number Place was introduced in Japan by Nikoli in the April 1984 edition of puzzle paper Monthly Nikolist where it soon became hugely popular.
The Nikoli puzzle was originally named Suuji Wa Dokushin Ni Kagiru, ("the digits must be single") because only the single numbers from one to nine are used in the original versions of the puzzle.
Seeing its popularity, the president of Nikoli soon abbreviated 'Suuji Wa Dokushin Ni Kagiru' to 'Sudoku' - (Su', meaning number and ‘doku', meaning single), and trademarked the name.
As "Sudoku" is a registered trademark in Japan, the puzzle is still generally referred to there as 'Number Place.' However, in the United States and elsewhere, it's called 'Sudoku.' Thus, Japanese-speakers use the English name, and English-speakers use the Japanese.
In 1997, New Zealander Wayne Gould saw a partly completed Sudoku puzzle in a Japanese bookshop. Over the next six years, he developed a computer program known as Pappocom Sudoku that could mass-produce puzzles for the global market. He attracted the interest of The London Times in his puzzle, which launched it on November 12, 2004 (calling it Su Doku).
Gould's Sudoku puzzles rapidly spread to other UK newspapers as a regular feature, stimulating international interest.
On July 6, 1895, La France created a puzzle that was close to a modern Sudoku. Its instructions read, "Use the numbers 1 to 9 each nine times to complete the grid in such a way that the horizontal, vertical, and two main diagonal lines all add up to the same total."
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| From La France newspaper, July 6, 1895: |
These number puzzles were a feature of French dailies and magazines for a couple of decades, but disappeared about the time of World War I.
The modern Sudoku puzzle was invented in Indianapolis, USA in 1979 by 74-year-old retired architect Howard Garns. It was first published in the May 1979 issue of Dell Pencil Puzzles & Word Games (issue #16), page 6, under the name Number Place.
Number Place was introduced in Japan by Nikoli in the April 1984 edition of puzzle paper Monthly Nikolist where it soon became hugely popular.
The Nikoli puzzle was originally named Suuji Wa Dokushin Ni Kagiru, ("the digits must be single") because only the single numbers from one to nine are used in the original versions of the puzzle.
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| A 9x9 sudoku puzzle.. |
Seeing its popularity, the president of Nikoli soon abbreviated 'Suuji Wa Dokushin Ni Kagiru' to 'Sudoku' - (Su', meaning number and ‘doku', meaning single), and trademarked the name.
As "Sudoku" is a registered trademark in Japan, the puzzle is still generally referred to there as 'Number Place.' However, in the United States and elsewhere, it's called 'Sudoku.' Thus, Japanese-speakers use the English name, and English-speakers use the Japanese.
In 1997, New Zealander Wayne Gould saw a partly completed Sudoku puzzle in a Japanese bookshop. Over the next six years, he developed a computer program known as Pappocom Sudoku that could mass-produce puzzles for the global market. He attracted the interest of The London Times in his puzzle, which launched it on November 12, 2004 (calling it Su Doku).
Gould's Sudoku puzzles rapidly spread to other UK newspapers as a regular feature, stimulating international interest.
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| Pixiebay |
Veteran puzzlers at first dismissed the game as a fad. Will Shortz, crossword editor at the New York Times, said in 2005: "The craze, judging by history, will last four, five, six months, and then it will taper off."
Global pencil sales increased by 700 per cent in 2005 thanks to the Sudoku craze.
The world's first live TV Sudoku show, Sudoku Live, was a puzzle contest first broadcast on July 1, 2005, on Sky One, which was presented by Carol Vorderman. Phil Kollin of Winchelsea, England, was the series grand prize winner, taking home over £23,000 over a series of games.
The first World Sudoku Championship was held in Lucca, Italy, from March 10 to 12, 2006. The competition brought together the world's top Sudoku players to compete in a series of timed challenges and puzzles. Jana Tylová of the Czech Republic was crowned the champion of the inaugural event, beating out competitors from around the world. The competition helped to popularize Sudoku as a global phenomenon.
The first World Sudoku Championship was held in Lucca, Italy, from March 10 to 12, 2006. The competition brought together the world's top Sudoku players to compete in a series of timed challenges and puzzles. Jana Tylová of the Czech Republic was crowned the champion of the inaugural event, beating out competitors from around the world. The competition helped to popularize Sudoku as a global phenomenon.
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| Sudoku competition at SM City Baliuag. By Ramon FVelasquez |
In 2008, an Australian drug trial costing over a million dollars had to be aborted when it was realized that five out of the twelve jurors were playing Sudoku instead of paying attention.
Sudoku is recommended as a form of mental exercise to help defend against age related disorders like Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.
There are about 5 billion possible Sudoku puzzles with different grids. The permutations for correct answers are estimated to be a total of 6,670,903,752,021,072,936,960.
Sources Daily Mail Onlinesudoku, Techfeatured
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