Do You Sudoku?

The latest Japanese craze to hit the States and Washington DC is sudoku, a sort of crossword puzzle that is based on numbers rather than words. Simply put, a sudoku puzzle is a square grid of nine boxes, arranged 3 x 3. Each box in turn is a 3 x 3 grid. All you have to do is fill in the larger grid so that every row, every column, and every 3 x 3 box contains the digits 1 through 9.

Think it's simple? Just try it! You'll get addicted, too!

The Washington Post now has a daily sudoku puzzle in its Style section, near the crossword puzzle. And area bookstores like Barnes & Noble and Borders are filled with sudoku books, from Sudoku for Dummies to a series edited by Will Shortz, the crossword puzzle editor of the New York Times.

Try it now -- just go to the Washington Post website and try their on-line sudoku puzzle:
http://www.uclick.com/client/wpc/wpdoc/

The Post has gone one step further, and is now organizing the First Washington Post Sudoku Tournament, which will be held at Union Station on February 2. To become of the 200 participants, check the Style section of the Post on January 9 and complete the entry sudoku puzzle, one each day from January 9 to 13.

The winnner gets to attend the World Sudoku Championship in London.