A clear board with two movable horizontal lines and two movable vertical lines. Each line has a movable point. The puzzle is placed under the board, then you simply place the points over the center of the number you are solving for and the lines will cross through all squares in that row or column, eliminating them from consideration as an option for fill-in with that number.-- ato_de, Apr 13 2006 Goobix.com: very hard http://www.goobix.c...ku/?level=very-hardHere's a randomly generated example of a hard-ish sudoku puzzle. If that's not your thing, choose between four levels of difficulty. Click on "mark helper" to make choices appear in each box. [jutta, Apr 13 2006] I didn't think that visually eliminating numbers from contention was the problem. This is coming from a visual-mathematician though.-- Texticle, Apr 13 2006 o.k. that solves the easy puzzles - what about the fiendish variety? ;)-- po, Apr 13 2006 This is the wrong way round, Shirley? You need to see the numbers you are working with... The invention should be a dark screen, with moveable windows along one row and one column and a square window**. You can move the windows so that only the relevant information for elimination of number combinations can be seen.
As for fiendish ones - are they actually any different from normal ones (other than containing awkward elimination sequences)?
Edit - sorry [po], I'm a bit slow on the uptake today. I've been trappped by your pun!
**No - this isn't PlaySchool!-- Jinbish, Apr 13 2006 sorry guys - I know you'll hate me for saying it, but I find them all fairly easy.-- xenzag, Apr 13 2006 [po] if the puzzles are fiendish, you use the [xenzag].-- ato_de, Apr 13 2006 hmmmm, its so easy to say isn't it - how can he prove it?
I finished a book of 100 finally today which I started last summer (I go through phases of doing them). they started easy and finished fiendish. there were about 4 (of the fiendish) that I just could not complete and another 4 that I'd messed up.
I started a new book of 100 and completed the first (easy) one in the time it took to heat a plate of oven chips - not hurrying - hurry is not in my vocabulary.-- po, Apr 13 2006 I can do ones that only show three starting numbers !-- xenzag, Apr 13 2006 That's not difficult though. I can do one with no starting numbers at all...-- Jinbish, Apr 13 2006 easy to say!
I could say that I can do a grid showing no numbers at all!
me too, jb
I really loathe bull shitters more than anything.-- po, Apr 13 2006 My wife does sudoku puzzles that show only sums for a group of boxes. I stick to the 2 or 3 star (of 5) puzzles.-- ato_de, Apr 14 2006 Bah! Sudoku's are trivial pursuits for those with time for such. I'll have none of it!
Sodokus' are nothing at all like this very serious pursuit of smart-ass HB annotating & BS'ing.-- sophocles, Apr 14 2006 random, halfbakery