All About Sudoku

15 Points Per Correct Answer - No time limit  

1. Sudoku, of course, comes from Japanese. Do you know what Sudoku means in that language though? The numbers must repeat. The numbers must avoid each other. The numbers must be scattered. The numbers must occur once.

2. Sudoku is commonly found in a grid-like pattern, with 81 squares, divided into 9 squares of 9 squares each. These dimensions are not standard for all puzzles, though. Which of the following is NOT a TOTAL number of squares that a Sudoku puzzle may contain? 16 256 625 324

3. The placement of numbers in a Sudoku puzzle has more impact on the difficulty than the quantity of the numbers. True False

4. Some Sudoku puzzles go beyond the regular realm of difficulty and make it extremely difficult for the solver. What name is given to a regular-sized Sudoku puzzle where the original boxes and shaded interior areas between boxes both contain the numbers 1-9? Doublesudoku Hypersudoku Quincunx Supersudoku

5. To seasoned puzzle solvers, it may be astonishing that no Sudoku grids are repeated in the hundreds of books that have been released. This is because there are approximately how many different puzzles with unique solutions? 5 trillion 5 million 5 quadrillion 5 billion

6. Okay, now we're on to history. The first Sudoku puzzles that resembled magic squares developed in what country in the early 20th century? Japan Germany United Kingdom France

7. The originator of the modern Sudoku puzzle is in question. What man, a retired architect and puzzle creator, is said to have engineered the puzzle as we know it today? Howard Garns Paul Graham Bunningway Robert Penser Herbert Buckley

8. On November 12, 2004, Sudoku got its first big break as a worldwide standout. What did Wayne Gould, a New Zealander who had seen a puzzle in a Japanese bookshop, do? He hosted the Sudoku championships in London. He published a book entitled "Number Mania". He promoted Sudoku to "The Times". He went on American television and called Sudoku "the mixture of math and a crossword".

9. Which of the following has had Sudoku as a prominent theme? A televised competition A video game A game show All of these

10. No Sudoku quiz can be complete without this question. What man, renowned puzzle champion and designer of crosswords and math puzzles alike, has authored several Sudoku books, including colored 'belts' for difficulty? Trey Gathrow Wilhelm Tilire Will Shortz Jonathan Harking