Yeah I read the same Economist article on sudoku and tried the puzzle. It was quite easy but at the same time enjoyable.

I also tried one of the hard puzzles and I admit it take me quite a while to do it: more than an hour. Perhaps I missed something simpler but the final chain of reasoning that allowed me to solve it was quite elaborate: about three separate strands of what-if analysis coming together. Very satisfying.

I think the charm of the game is that unlike a crossword you can't really get stuck but at the same time solving it is hard enough to give you some real satisfaction.

Incidentally Sudoku is an interesting example of global pop culture. The puzzle was first published in the US in the 70's , refined, popularized and given its name in Japan in the 80's and brought to Britain by a New Zealander last year. No doubt the Internet will help it spread like wildfire from Britain back to the US and the rest of the world.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudoku
Check out the wikipedia page with some nice links at the end examining the phenomenon.

Well Dan, being a little more conservative then you, I had been concerned ever since you started flirting with the whole Kerry thing, but finding out that you are also addicted to Civ. Well, that covers a multitude of ...frusterations.

In any event that's cool, I'm glad to find that (at least some) academics have the opportunity to enjoy such fun games.

Science-fiction writer Jerry Pournelle said that Civ cost him a book.

The versions of this puzzle that appear in Games magazine also use the two principal diagonals.

That's interesting, I know at least two other IR scholars who are Civ3 addicts. Would be interesting to know whether Civ playing is especially widespread in academia (and IR in particular)...

I myself was hooked on Civ2 some years ago. But now I'm awaiting the release of Civ4 later this year. Oh, boy, will my academic career suffer!

The Economist thinks this is the Next Big Thing in puzzles -- apparently the broadsheets in Great Britain are falling all over themselves to create the winning New-York-Times-crossword-style brand.

New York Times crossword-style brand? Ha! The piece de resistance has always been (and will be forever) the crosswords in the Times (of London). Your American versions are an abomination and the examples in the New York Times and LA Times, in particular, have nothing to do with real crosswords.

I would have loved to have created a Java or PHP version as a way to generate some traffic. However, I see thousands of hits for sudoko java, and likewise with php. There are even versions for handhelds.

Could someone alert me to the Next Big Thing before it already becomes somewhat big?

Me, I'm thinking it's going to be Reverse Jeopardy: saying the answers to Jeopardy backwards.

Daniel,

when you have a chance,would you be so kind as to go to Apolyton.com (the premier Civ site on the internet) and read my column "Civ2's Hegelian Tech Tree" and tell me what you think?

Holy cow. I've been horribly hooked on these for a few days now.

It's so easy to reach a flow state while playing it! You start off slow and then eventually you're fitting stuff right in. No wonder everyone seems to love sudoku.

This puzzle and the NY Times crossword puzzle bore me. Addictive is the last word I'd associate with them. But that's just me.

If you think sudoku's addictive, pick up a World of Puzzles (or possibly a Games, some have them, some don't), and check out Paint By Numbers. You can kill hours on the big ones.

Heck, that's just Number Place. They've been in Dell puzzle mags for years. I do them on my way to the Cross Sums, which are far more addictive. *twitch*

.... while I turn to the Cross Sums once I've used up the Trigons, which are most addictive of all.

I noticed the walk back there on Civ Dan. Don't worry it's all good!

Ed von der Burg has written a three line perl program that solves sudoku puzzles in a fraction of a second:

http://www.ecclestoad.co.uk/blog/2005/06/02/sudoku_solver_in_three_lines_explained.html

Do you still think them challenging? Or worth attention?

Oh man, you've just solved a big cultural puzzle for me. I'm visiting in UK and I've been wondering what the hell these Brits at the pub were doing over their pints. First I thought it was crosswords. But that was obviously wrong. Now I know...

If you liked the Civ line, check out Paradox Games' line (Europe Universalis, Victoria, etc). IMO they've addressed most of the really irritating limitations of Civ & have a much richer diplomatic model to boot.
OTOH, maybe that wouldn't be doing your career any favors... :)