Silly over Sudoku

I hate numbers. Whether its trigonometry or just calculating the tip, I’m just hopeless. However, despite my dire skills, I stumbled upon a very interesting game that might help me become the next mathematician. Okay, probably not, but it’s worth a try.

I found this game in the back of the daily Metro newspaper, sandwiched in between the crossword and the horoscope section. Aside from the useless but amusing horoscope I usually avoid this page and skip to the celebrity gossip section. For me at least, learning about Lindsay Lohan’s latest tricks are far more interesting than solving a 55 word puzzle on a Monday morning!

However, despite my aversion, I started to notice a lot of subway riders eagerly flipping to the back page, hastily searching for a pen and then attacking the daily mathematical brainteaser before they get to work. Their steady but deep concentration suddenly spiked my curiosity and within a few minutes I found myself also confronting SUDOKU.

With a brief set of instructions, the game appears to be somewhat straightforward to the untrained eye or the math dummy (by which i mean - me). But on closer observation, I realize, that arranging numbers can be somewhat challenging, (especially when you’re holding a non fat extra hot Starbucks latte on the subway at rush hour). In any case, I was hooked within the first few seconds. And for reasons i still can’t explain, I actually enjoyed putting all the numbers in those very small squares as the subway slowly moved from stop to stop.

Although, I only recently became acquainted with the game, Sudoku has been around for decades. The number placement puzzle was actually invented in 1979 and first published in The Times (British ed) newspaper in 2004. I won’t bore you with too much history but I stumbled upon an interesting fact while researching (yes I’m that addicted) the numbers game.

Apparently, last June an Australian drug related jury trial had to be stopped because 5 of the 12 jurors had been playing Sudoku instead of listening to evidence.

Can you believe it?! A drug related case aborted because a silly game becomes too addictive! (Pretty ironic if you ask me)

Anyways, next time you’re on the subway, pull out your pen or pencil and challenge yourself to a game of Soduku. It’s definitely more captivating than reading about Chris Brown’s or Amy Winehouse’s latest court appearance.