3 Wild and Crazy Stories About People Playing Sudoku

Other people have used Sudoku as an inspiration for crime stories, and one mathematician has tried to develop the most challenging, impossible-to-solve Sudoku puzzle in the world.

What is it about Sudoku that inspires such extremes? Perhaps the fact that Sudoku is a “brain game” makes people more likely to use their creativity and ingenuity to come up with fun new ideas; perhaps there’s something about the rhythm and meditative nature of playing Sudoku that taps into the pleasure centers of people’s brains. Whatever the reason, it’s clear that Sudoku has inspired its share of wild and crazy stories.

Here are a few wild stories of crazy Sudoku games and extreme behavior by Sudoku players:

The Runaway Sudoku Jury

One of the important principles of a democracy is that people have the right to a trial by jury when they are accused of a crime, and jurors are supposed to be observant, fair and not distracted; jurors are expected to listen closely to the trial and weigh the evidence in an objective manner.

Unfortunately, one jury trial in Australia was derailed by nothing other than Sudoku. 5 jurors at the trial were playing Sudoku were caught playing Sudoku during the presentation of evidence, which meant that the entire trial had to be cancelled – at considerable cost to taxpayers of over 1 million Australian dollars.

Sudoku Crime Fiction

Author Kaye Morgan wrote a book of detective fiction based on Sudoku called “Death by Sudoku.” In the book, the main character Liza Kelly is the Sudoku editor for the “Oregon Daily” newspaper who finds herself investigating the murder of an old friend and fellow competitor on the Sudoku tournament circuit. The book is organized into sections based on Sudoku terminology, such as “Naked Pairs,” “Forcing the Chain” and “Solution Set.”

Does playing Sudoku ever make you feel like you have strong deductive logic and “detective” skills? Then maybe Sudoku crime fiction like “Death by Sudoku” should be on your reading list!

World’s Hardest Sudoku Puzzle

Finnish mathematician Dr. Arto Inkala has created some of the world’s most difficult Sudoku puzzles, but in 2012 he unveiled his most fiendish puzzle yet. The average newspaper Sudoku puzzle grid is rated at level 5 difficulty; Dr. Inkala’s hardest Sudoku puzzle was rated at level 11. It’s even harder than a puzzle he designed in 2010 which took some of the world’s most accomplished Sudoku experts more than 24 hours to solve. To take a look at Dr. Inkala’s hardest Sudoku puzzle, check out this article.

Why does Sudoku inspire such extreme creativity and fascination with the puzzle? Perhaps it’s the seeming simplicity of the empty grid, combined with the straightforward nature of plugging in the numbers – Sudoku is elemental and taps into many different parts of our brains. By all means, keep pushing the limits with your Sudoku skills and keep using it as an inspiration for creativity and deductive thinking – but not while you’re at work or serving on a jury.