Sudoku is a Japanese puzzle game. At least, it was first popularized in Japan. The idea is to fill in a 9×9 grid with the numbers 1-9. To complete the puzzle correctly, the numbers must be arranged so that each row, column, and mini grid contains just one of each of the nine digits 1-9.
The word sudoku is an abbreviated form of “Suji wa dokushin ni kagiru,” which is Japanese for “The numbers are limited to singles” – i.e. single digits.
Sudoku number-grid puzzles were popularized in the UK by the Times newspaper. Although they are known as “sudoku” in England, in Japan they are not called sudoku but “nanpure“! Nanpure is an abbreviated form of the Japanese-English phrase “number place”.
Obviously, giving a product a name with a foreign provenance adds a sense of exotic je ne sais pas!
Sudoku are highly rated by teachers and parents with young children. Graded Sudoku typically take a child about 30 minutes to complete. The beauty of them is that although Sudoku grids use numbers, children do not need mathematical skills to solve the puzzles. Sudoku puzzles are perfect for classroom use, as time-fillers for children whofinish early, as whole class activity, or as “homework”.
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