Product Description

1-905102-42-9
The Ultimate Book Of Sudoku - Volume 1
Published by Crombie Jardine

This SUDOKU book is PACKED WITH 401 NEW PUZZLES - a Sudoku player's BOOK OF CHOICE, by BESTSELLING international Sudoku author, PETE SINDEN.

401 brand-new puzzles that adhere purely to the rules of true Sudoku: playability, symmetry, beauty and singularity.

All puzzles are self-created via the application of computer modelling and artificial intelligence and designed solely to create pure brain-teasing Sudoku for the pleasure of humans.

Puzzles come in four specially designed levels: PAINLESS, TRICKY NASTY, and MIGRAINE.

No puzzle is duplicated between any of Pete Sinden's books.

The sudokumania craze is growing and getting better and better!

For further titles in this and other bestselling Pete Sinden Sudoku series, visit sudokumania.com or click on bestselling author, Pete Sinden.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5855 in Books
• Published on: 2005-07-22
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

Synopsis
There are two types of people in the world today: those hooked on Sudoku, and those about to be. Sudoku is a mind-bending, pleasantly addictive number-placement game that exercises your brain and helps you escape from the everyday stresses of life. Puzzles are organised into four levels: from the Painless (best to start here or play these when you're not feeling like Einstein), to the Tricky (so you think you can play Sudoku?), then on to the Nasty (come on then, try me!), and finally to those of Migraine - inducing difficulty (number crunching for the addict).

Customer Reviews

Good for beginners
Buy this book if you're a Sudoku beginner and it will give you bundles of confidence. You'll sail through the early sections and even the "Nasty" and "Migraine" sections don't present too many diffculties for the accomplished novice. Very good practice.

Don't give me a migraine!
Plenty of puzzles to solve, just don't expect it to be too challenging. I'm not the World's greatest Su Doku solver, but I have still solved each "Migraine" puzzle attempted without making notes.

On the upside, the grids are clear and paper easy to write on and it's fun if you don't want to be too challenged.

Good value for money
I like this book.

With 401 puzzles it is good value for money and the puzzles are well constructed. There are 2 puzzles per page, which disconcerts me sometimes but not enough to prevent me from using it and it does mean that the book is not the size of a doorstep. It's not pocket sized either but it is small enough to take on the commute. The puzzles, however, are large enough to allow pencil marks/candidates.

I very much appreciate the fact that Pete Sinden gives some pertinent information at the beginning of the book clearly stating what he considers to be the essence of 'good' Sudoku, that he is the one that constructs the puzzles and the method that he uses to do this. I like to know against whom I'm pitting my wits, if they are aware of how to construct a decent puzzle and the method with which they do this. I also appreciate that he states clearly that "No puzzle is duplicated between any of Pete Sinden’s books", which means that when you buy another book of his you know that it contains fresh puzzles.

There are no solving tips in this book, a la Carol Vorderman, which I like also. It contains only puzzles and their solutions.

I do, however, take issue with the Migraine rating and that "Migraine - inducing difficulty (number crunching for the addict)." definition. These puzzles do not require any of the advanced solving methods - as far as I'm aware - and thus I find the statement confusing. Then again I suppose that it would depend on the solver. I've been solving since November 2005 and have been known to solve a Wayne Gould rated Fiendish in 35 minutes. Fiendish and below don't require advanced solving methods either. I would say that I was addicted but not in the number crunching category. I certainly don't find Pete Sinden's hardest puzzles in this book migraine inducing either - I'm sorry to say!

The Migraine rating/definition is the only quibble I have with the book (which is why I gave it 5 stars), and I know that ratings are the hardest thing to get right with puzzles. I solve on a regular basis and this book is not the only one I possess, but I do find it entertaining and I do keep coming back to it.

So, my recommendation is : buy it, you'll love it.