Basic Rules for Solving Sudoku Puzzles

Kevin Griffin of McKinney, TX, serves as president of Kevin Griffin Realty, LLC. When he is not locating and acquiring investment real estate properties throughout the McKinney, TX, region, Kevin Griffin enjoys solving logic puzzles, such as Sudoku.

Sudoku are logic puzzles comprised of a set of numbers placed randomly onto an 81-square grid. The individual spaces are grouped into nine larger boxes, each featuring nine squares. The rules for completing a classic Sudoku puzzle are deceptively simple.

Individuals are tasked with filling each of the 81 squares with a number between one and nine. Each of the nine larger boxes must contain all nine digits with no repeats. Furthermore, numbers cannot repeat in left to right rows or up and down columns across the entire puzzle. Essentially, all nine boxes, rows, and columns must contain the numbers one through nine.

Puzzles begin with a few numbers placed into each of the larger boxes, forcing players to work around these numbers as they fill in the rest of the Sudoku. With these limitations in place, a single erroneous placement can force a player to erase their work and start from scratch. Sudoku range wildly in difficulty, as some can be solved by beginners in a few minutes, while others may perplex experts for hours. There are also various alternatives to the classic Sudoku, such as irregular and diagonal Sudoku puzzles.