Sudoku Hints May Help Solve The Puzzle
One of the best Sudoku hints given probably came from a frustrated puzzle solver who said not to start working these exceptionally addictive games. The puzzles use numbers between one and nine, placed one number per square in each of the typically 81-square grids, without repeating any number in any row, column or diagonal lines. While the concept may appear to be rather simple, without logical thinking skills, solving a Sudoku puzzle can be an exercise in frustration.
Many commercially produced puzzle books include the complete answer to ever puzzle included in the book. Many times when people begin to run into trouble solving a puzzle they flip to the answer section of the book to get some Sudoku hints about the puzzle on which they are working. They may not look beyond one or two numbers to give them that extra push they need to get on their way to solving the puzzle, but for serious solvers, even the smallest Sudoku hints takes away from their ability to solve puzzles on their own.
Every puzzle created contains a certain number of Sudoku hints that can lead to the successful solving of the puzzle. There are three basic levels of puzzle difficulty including easy, that may have as many as 30 or more numbers present from the start to the extremely difficult with a few as 17 hints. Intermediate puzzles will have a number of Sudoku hints somewhere in the middle.
Using Last-Ditch Search To Solve The Puzzle
A person's level of patience will decide how far into working a puzzle they will get before they start to look for Sudoku hints. Many people will return to the same puzzle numerous times before simply giving up and turning to the answer guide for additional hints as to what number should be placed where inside the grid.
Working Sudoku puzzles will seem to get easier the more often a person works them, as their logical thinking skills improves the more they are used. For this reason, many players will not use the available Sudoku hints as they claim it detracts from their developing those skills. They would prefer to leave a puzzle unfinished than seek out the Sudoku hints that will lead to the puzzle's completion.
A word of caution however to successful puzzle solvers is if when looking over the shoulder of someone new to the game, never offer unsolicited Sudoku hints anywhere inside the puzzle. While the next move may be obvious, the person working the puzzle will not be thrilled with someone else trying to help them without being asked.
