Lifestyle: sudoku

Self-tutoring about a pastime: the tutor mentions sudoku.

I first heard tell of sudoku sometime in the early 2000s – The Economist had an article mentioning its popularity. Then, maybe around 2015, my wife started buying sudoku books. She’d play it while watching television, for instance. She went through them quickly.

On this cruise, there is a daily sudoku puzzle and also a daily sudoku competition. A couple of days in, my wife and I were wondering what to do after breakfast, so we went to the competition. It was only us two, and I was no match for my wife.

My wife should have beat me: that was my first time trying sudoku, while she’s been playing it for years. Yet, there’s more to it than that: some people are just better with that kind of logic. In day-to-day life, my wife is more logical than I am. Even if we both played sudoku all the time, she’d likely be faster than I.

My wife showed me some of her sudoku strategies, which have become straightforward now that I’ve played sudoku for about a week. My 17-year-old son commented that sudoku has “a steep learning curve.” Although I didn’t know, he’s played it since he was young.

My second day playing sudoku, all three of us picked up the same puzzle from the host. My son and my wife, working separately, each finished it off in around 15 minutes. It took me hours to complete that puzzle.

I finished off today’s featured sudoku in around half an hour – still not so fast as my wife or son would, but under control. Sudoku has been a learning experience for me.

Jack of Oracle Tutoring by Jack and Diane, Campbell River, BC.

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