Sudoku

I have a Nintendo DS with Dr. Kawashima's brain training game. It has sudoku puzzles, easy, intermediate and hard. I have completedall the easy ones and most of the intermediate ones but the hard ones have me stumped. My cousin can complete them very quickly and tells me to look for the pattern in them. Pattern, what pattern?
So sorry NanKate I can't help you with any tricks .

I love sudoko too. I always start by looking at all the 1s, then the 2s, etc. I have a free ap on my laptop which has a daily choice of different levels. Have fun!

I sometimes find the hard ones are easier than the intermediate ones.
I tend to look at squares first, then columns, then rows. I am sure we all have our different methods. Not sure if it helps the memory, though.

Funny, I look at the squares last.
I've also got the Ninentendo sudoko and the brain training, have just about finished the intermediate, but haven't started the hard ones.

If I am doing one when my seven year old granddaughter arrives, she joins in. It's annoying when she spots a number before I do. She's usually right, too.

There is a knack and a few tricks you learn over time. I usually start with trying to place the numbers starting with 1, then 2 and so on. I leave the squares and/or columns until I've done that.

I like to do the three in the Times when I have time, and have managed the Super Fiendish on a good day.

DH does the fiendish one in the Saturday Independent, Numbers and letters! He finishes it fairly regularly but has never won the prize!
I stick with the basic ones but do all tree/four levels. I make mistakes as often in the easy and in the hard/fiendish!

I follow Aka's method and then fill in the numbers that can go in only two places in a box. More than two possibilities and things get cluttered. (I've never found any patterns either Hilda.)

Maybe learn a few 'rules' to help NanKate.
I wind down at bedtime with a couple of sudoku puzzles and find that if I miss a few nights I have to go back to doing 'hard' ones before I can complete 'fiendish' ones again. I like the Times sudoku books and notice the style of sudokus varies from one compiler to another.

I like sudoku, especially the Daily Mail one that goes from numbers 1 - 12.

I have to admit I have no method what so ever.

I am absolutely hopeless at crosswords, especially cryptic ones. I don't even understand the questions when I can see the answers. . That's honesty for you, admitting you are a numpty.

I'm a sudoky addict.Some years ago my son bought me a book by Carol Voderman with tips for solving.Still get stuck on the 'very hard' ones

I do the The Times ones like Aka and it helps to wind down at night. I have no trouble with the difficult ones but the mild ones need doing twice at least. I post the easy ones to my DGS as we did them together on holiday. Often the difficult ones are easier than the mild to me. I have blanks printed and stashed in my bedside table for when I can't do the mild ones and copy out the grid. OCD me , never?

Since I started doing the giant 16 x 16 number and letter Sudokus I cant do the 9 x 9 ones now. You can usually only get them online and I print them off so that I have them to do when I go to bed. The best thing for removing any worries from your mind before settling down to sleep.

I'm so glad someone else finds the difficult sudoku easier than the mild in the Times. I really struggle over the mild sometimes but can sometimes finish the fiendish and have been known to finish the super fiendish. Must be the way our brains process handling numbers/puzzles. Hopeless at cryptic crosswords but enjoy the large sudoku in the Times on Saturday but never complete it in the suggested time! Can sometimes take several days.....(not continuously!)

I used to do the 1-12 one in the Sunday paper, but I found I was getting quite wound up by it and then I would drift off and get bored.
Now, I just do the sudokuX so I'm obviously a lightweight!

All these names for different difficulty remind me of the sizes of cups of coffee. It's impossible to get a small one now, as they are called regular.
I usually just ask for the smallest they have.

I love doing sudoku and am also relieved to discover that people find the harder ones 'easier' than the easier ones. Can anyone explain why?

DH and I photocopy the easy Times one and do it [sort of competitively!]over lunch but also, over the day, between us do that new easier one on the back of T2. I do the one in our local paper too!

I love puzzles of all kinds and don't have much trouble completing them. However Soduko puzzles have me well and truly stumped. Is there a way of doing them that makes them easier? I feel as though I'm missing doing something that others are finding obvious. I would love to buy a book of them to complete whilst sitting outside on nice days.

It's interesting to find out which papers people read.

I think Kitty we just rush the easy ones and feel overconfident. So we don't use as much care need logic with them.

'Care and logic'

Thanks everyone for your helpful advice. Thanks for the Rules Grannyactivist.

It makes me realise we often approach things in different ways but get 'hopefully' the same result.

I will try a harder one and see if it is easier to do, as some of you have found.

I enjoy Sudoku too. I begin with the squares, then go horizontally and then vertically - and then scratch my head, such my pen and try and be analytical. DH thinks I'm dotty but I do like the challenge if I have the time. I do the Daily Telegraph ones the most but can't see the difference between Gentle and Moderately Moderate if often the easier one of the two. The Diabolical is way out of my range