sudoku news stories on Newser

Google App Solves Sudoku in Seconds

John Johnson — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 12:20:05 CST

Sudoku fans might love or hate this: The updated Google Goggles phone app can solve even the most difficult of the numeric puzzles in seconds. The phone's camera takes an image of the puzzle and sends it to Google, whose central servers make quick work of it and send back...

Brain Teasers May Speed Up Dementia, Alzheimer's

RaptorFan — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 14:04:00 CDT

Sudoku, crosswords, and even listening to the radio may not be all they're cracked up to be when it comes to staving off mental decline. A study by researchers at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago indicates that once diagnosed with dementia and Alzheimer's, increased brain activity may actually accelerate...

Lose Weight: Do a Puzzle

Kevin Spak — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 11:44:32 CST

Hunkering down with a Sudoku puzzle could help you shed some pounds. Tim Forrester, the man behind brain training website cannyminds.com, says mental exercise doubles as real exercise, with the body burning 90 calories for every hour spent working on crossword puzzles or brain teasers. A passive brain requires...

Mathematician Solves Sudoku

Nick McMaster — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 13:11:00 CDT

A mathematician has devised a foolproof method for solving Sudoku puzzles, USA Today reports. The stimulating mental challenge of the game has attracted millions of fans all over the world, but, from a mathematical perspective, “the interesting fact about Sudoku is that it is a trivial puzzle to solve," says...

Sudoku Champ Eyes Tougher Puzzles

Will McCahill — Sat, 10 May 2008 05:41:26 CDT

Beating all comers—for the second year in a row—at the world's top sudoku tournament is nothing to scoff at, but champ Thomas Snyder has loftier goals, the San Jose Mercury News reports. The 28-year-old Stanford scientist is hoping he can solve complex DNA puzzles instead: "I hope I...

THE SEARCH FOR THE NEXT SUDOKU

Heather McPherson — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 11:48:44 CDT

Nikoli, the Japanese publisher that turned sudoku into a blockbuster, has about 250 more where that came from, most of them unknown outside Japan. Founded by a college dropout with a horseracing habit, the company doesn't invent puzzles, it relies on its readership to submit ideas, as well as help...