Friday, July 14, 2006

Cuckoo for Sudoku

Let me just start out by saying I am not cuckoo for Sudoku. But a lot of people I know are just plain addicted to this puzzling pastime. It sort of reminds me of the Rubik's Cube craze 20 years ago. I'm told Sudoku has nothing to do with math, but it's all about numbers and logic, and to me, that's like being math's first cousin.

And I'm someone who thinks cooking (the combination of calculating complex oven temperatures while measuring using the metric system) is equivalent to cracking the launch codes for those *secret* missile silos in Nevada, so anything even remotely involving numbers is, well, not my idea of relaxation.

Plus, I barely have enough RAM in my little keppe (that's "head" for you non-Yids) to store all my PINs, passwords and account numbers now. There are too many numbers in our lives as it is. Come to think of it, every Hebrew letter has a numeric equivalent. It's amazing Moses didn't invent the compass and get our people out of the desert years earlier.

So will someone please explain to me the allure of putting a bunch of random numbers in little boxes and having them all add up to the date of your grandmother's birthday? I just don't get it.

4 comments:

The Tattooed Librarian said...

Each small square, verticle, and horizontal line has the numbers 1-9. It's easy to know if you mess up because you'll end up with two of something in a small square, horizontal or verticle line. No math, no adding, subtracting, short or long division. It's just a process of elimination making the whole thing much more puzzle-like than math-like.

Why do people like cross-word puzzles is my question? What is a 9 letter word for X? Where is the joy in storing up useless bits of information, counting each letter in it and filing it away in your brain under some witty catchphrase or pun-like clue. I majored in English, I love dictionaries, poetry, and puns, yet I still hate cross-words.

Different strokes I guess.

Liz said...

Thanks for your insight. I guess I'm just not a puzzle person. And, like you, I just love dictionaries. Nerd alert! Nerd alert!

Anonymous said...

I recommend you go and see the documentary WORD PLAY. It gives you an insight into "puzzlers." Crosswords aren't my cup of tea either but this movie is quite entertaining taking into account the subject.

Anonymous said...

I am a Sudoku addict...the numbers bring order to an unordered world. And the best ones are like little pieces of art. (No computer ones for me.) And I like crosswords, too. Just so you know.