Who is Howard Garns?

zbeckabee

Who made number place puzzles? In addition to being the crossword editor of the New York Times, Will Shortz is a puzzle historian, so he did detective work to find the answer. He knew that "Number Place" puzzles had appeared in Dell Magazines, and went through his collection to find the first. Dell listed no author, but the name Howard Garns always appeared in the contributor's list of any issue containing a "Number Place" puzzle. Also, Garns' name did not appear in any issue lacking a Number Place, which clinched the identification. Further research revealed that Howard Garns to be a retired architect who created the puzzle at age 74. Howard Garns died in Indianapolis in 1989, and never got a chance to see his creation as a worldwide phenomenon. (Shortz, pers. comm. 2005) http://www.maa.org/editorial/mathgames/mathgames_09_05_05.html Jul 29 06, 1:45 PM

zbeckabee

In April 1984, Japan's puzzle group Nikoli discovered Dell’s Number Place presented it for a Japanese audience in the pages of puzzle paper Monthly Nikolist. Originally named Suuji Wa Dokushin Ni Kagiru, ("the numbers must be single") the puzzle became very popular. Kaji Maki, the president of Nikoli, abbreviated it to Sudoku - (Su = number, Doku = single), and trademarked the name. Same Link Jul 29 06, 1:48 PM