When Sudoku Just Isn't Enough ... Dell Offers Even More Variety!
Written: Jul 27 '06
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Sudoku puzzles from Easy to Challenger difficulty, assorted variety puzzles included, easy-to-read diagrams
Cons: Must enjoy numbers and math to gain the most benefit from this collection
The Bottom Line: Lots of puzzles in a magazine that is easy to take along when on the go.
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| dlstewart's Full Review: Dell Sudoku and More |
Our family enjoys Sudoku puzzles. They tend to twist my brain, but I enjoy the challenge! Usually I do the weekly Sudoku puzzle in the TV Guide, which uses letters of the alphabet instead of numbers. But I also enjoy the traditional Sudoku puzzle in the daily newspaper. When I saw Sudoku and More! magazine (published by Dell) on the shelf of my local pharmacy, I couldn’t resist buying it.
Overall View of the Magazine
Sudoku and More is a magazine-style puzzle book that is published by Dell. It measures 6" across by 9" high and is 1/4" inch. While the cover and back are of colored glossy paper, the inside pages are of newsprint type paper; however, the paper is thicker than newsprint. Each issue is 114 pages that contain 122 Sudoku puzzles as well as other puzzles for variety. A nice feature is that the Sudoku puzzles are divided into Easy, Medium, Hard and Challenger sections.
On the inside front page is a welcome letter from Dell’s publishers. Beneath the letter is a Table of Contents that lists all the Sudoku puzzles by their level of difficulty, including the page numbers. The rest of the puzzles in the book are listed under the heading “Variety Puzzles”. The name of the puzzles is on the left, and the page numbers on the right. At the back of the magazine are solutions to every puzzle.
Each puzzle comes with an explanation of how to solve it, and the page number of the solution is also on the page. These puzzles are large with big numbers. There are two Sudoku puzzles to a page, and the Challenger puzzles have their own page.
The Sudoku Puzzles
I think just about everyone has heard of the Sudoku puzzle craze. Here is a description of the puzzles and how to solve them.
Each puzzle is comprised of nine grids (3 x 3), and each grid is further divided into nine squares. Place a number 1 - 9 into each of the squares in the columns and rows. When all the squares are filled, no number will appear more than once in any column or row. Also, there are nine grids, and each grid is comprised of nine squares, and no number can be repeated in this 9-square section. If you haven’t done one of these puzzles before, don’t be intimidated. In my experience, after doing a few, it will become easier to work the puzzles.
The Easy Sudoku puzzles have numbers filled in to help the beginning solver. The grids are 3 x 3, and each grid has three to five numbers already filled in.
The Medium Sudoku puzzles have three or four numbers filled in each 3 x 3 section. The Hard puzzles become a bit harder with between two to four numbers per grid filled in.
The two Challenger Sudoku puzzles are quite different from the traditional Sudoku puzzle I’m used to seeing. While the regular Sudoku puzzles are based on 3 x 3 grids, the Challenger puzzles are based on 4 x 4 grids, with each grid containing 16 squares. The puzzle is solved the same way as a traditional Sudoku .... except ... there are circles going diagonally from corner to corner forming an “X” in the center of the diagram. The numbers 1 - 16 cannot be duplicated on each row, column, grid or along the diagonal lines forming the “X”. This is truly a challenge!
The Other Variety Puzzles
There are 13 other types of puzzles included in this magazine. Here is a description of some of them:
Bingo Plays
This is a fun game that relies on interpreting clues. There is a Bingo card in a 5 x 5 grid. There are 15 numbers inside each grid, and the center grid (just like a real Bingo card) is a Free space. By deciphering the clues, eliminate the numbers on the Bingo card until the winning Bingo combination is revealed.
Black Magic
Each puzzle has a 7 x 7 grid. Each grid contains some numbers. The numbers indicate how many squares adjacent to that number are to be colored black. In a sense, this game reminds me of a Minesweeper variation.
Block Party
A dice game, except the dice have letters instead of numbers. One dice side as a question mark. The object is to determine which letter should replace the question mark.
Collectibles
Another grid game, this time with a grid that is 6 x 6. The grid section is designed as a curio cabinet. It is your job to interpret the clues and place the collectibles correctly inside their squares (or cubby holes) in the cabinet.
Cross Sums
I have never been a fan of Cross Sum puzzles. This is a math game based on a crossword format. A number is assigned to each section of white squares. In a regular crossword, you would solve clues and insert a word in the white spaces. In Cross Sums, a number is given, and you have to insert a series of numbers that total that number. For example, the number 12 is placed above a vertical column of three spaces. In each of those three spaces, insert numbers that total 12 (ex: the answer might be 6, 4 and 2). These numbers have to mesh with other number clues in the puzzle so that the math is always correct, and no digit is used twice in any number combination.
Eight Ball
This is a maze puzzle using numbers. A series of numbers is provided in a list. The object is to insert the numbers into the puzzle grid so that the last digit of the number forms the first digit of the next number. Doing this, a chain of numbers is formed that follows a maze.
Math Maze
Again, this is a maze using numbers. This is one puzzle I haven’t done since it is more complicated than I care to twist my brain around. Basically, there are numbers placed along the top and left size of the grid. The number at the beginning of each row and column indicates how many squares to cross in order to reach the end of the maze. There are more rules that make this quite the brain teaser.
Trigons
Another challenging game! The diagram is formed of linked triangles. In the center of each triangle is a number. There is a blank spot on each of the three sides forming a triangle. The object is to fill in the numbers along the sides of the triangles so that they equal the number in the center of the triangle. Since the triangles share common sides with their neighbors, it becomes a game of logic to determine which numbers go where.
Purchasing
I bought this magazine at my local pharmacy. I had not seen it there before and decided it would be a fun purchase. Each issue sells for $2.99 U.S. / $3.79 Canada. If you wish to subscribe to the magazine, according to the inside cover, it costs $17.94 U.S. / $22.94 outside the United States for six issues of the magazine. I notice that Dell’s website offers a year’s subscription for $14.97 U.S. / $19.97 outside the United States.
Summary
Will I purchase Sudoku and More again? Probably not. While I enjoy doing Sudoku puzzles, many of the variety puzzles included in this magazine are not to my taste. I admit that with the exception of the Sudoku puzzles, that I prefer word puzzles to those involving math and numbers. I do recommend this magazine, though, to anyone intrigued with number puzzles. Give these a try to see if they meet your puzzle-solving needs.
I hope you have found this review useful.
Enjoy your day,
Dawn
http://dlstewart.com
Please read my other reviews:
PennyPress Tournament Variety Puzzles
PennyPress Master’s Variety Puzzles
PennyPress Approved Variety Puzzles Plus Crosswords
PennyPress Family Variety Puzzles & Games
TV Guide Magazine
Oxford DecoFile Magazine Holders
EraserMate Pen with erasable ink
Papermate ComfortMate Mechanical Pencil
Papermate Sharpwriter Mechanical Pencil
Papermate Magic Rub Eraser
Pentel Click Eraser
Mighty Bright Light
Ott-Lite Flex Arm Plus Lamp
Copyright 2006 Dawn L. Stewart
Recommended:
Yes
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