I like puzzles. I have been doing crosswords for years (not cryptic ones, though - never quite seem to get them to wok in my head), and I was introduced to sudoku about three years ago. I like sudoku - I can usually solve them, which is very pleasing.

The recent trip to the UK led me to actually have a proper go at a couple of other puzzles that are printed in The Guardian now - kakuro and futoshiki.

Both puzzles apply similar digit constraints as sudoku: you may not use the same digit twice within a certain domain. Futoshiki seem easier (although that may be a function of my only having attempted easy puzzles) while kakuro can be really quite difficult to get a handle on how to solve the puzzle.

The advantage for me with both of these puzzles is that they are much more easily debugged than sudoku. When I make a mistake in sudoku I don't see it for ages until the consequences ripple out, and then I have to basically start again from scratch. But the kakuro and futoshiki seem to force you to recognise mistakes much sooner, and the effects are more localised so that repair is easier.

To use a programming analogy, it is like the difference between having only global variables and having local ones.

Time for another poke at a kakuro before I go to sleep.

Posted by Dunx at April 20, 2008 08:08 PM