We have a number of people who like math in our family, so Kathleen and I were pleased to discover Sudoku last week when we were shopping for Christmas gifts. Wikipedia says that Sudoku is a Japanese logic-based numeric placement puzzle which reportedly became popular in 1985 but only broke out to the rest of the world recently. According to the article:

The aim of the canonical puzzle is to enter a numerical digit from 1 through 9 in each cell of a 9×9 grid made up of 3×3 subgrids (called "regions"), starting with various digits given in some cells (the "givens"). Each row, column, and region must contain only one instance of each numeral.

The game we bought Sudoku - The Utterly Addictive Number Puzzle Game is apparently so popular that Amazon.com is having trouble keeping it in stock. Here are a few other options for people who are trying to find Sudoku to give as a gift for the holidays:

• Board Games
  • SuDoku Sensations
  • The Original SuDoku with Wood Playing Pieces
• Electronic Games
  • Handheld Sudoku
  • Play at Joe's Sudoku Challenge
  • Sudoku Puzzle Addict
• Books
  • The Official Book of Sudoku: Book 1
  • Sudoku Easy Presented by Will Shortz, Volume 1
  • Sudoku Easy to Hard Presented by Will Shortz, Volume 2

Even more Sudoku options can be found at Amazon.com by searching for Sudoku.

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