Brown Belt Sudoku(r)

Excellent condition and not used previously. Delivery was well prior to anticipated delivery date. Will utilize this vendor for future purchases.

This is a very good Sudoku. Just right for someone who is pretty savvy about Sudoku.

I did all the puzzles in the "Brown Belt" book, although I had to skip a few and "cheated" on a few more by looking at the answers. When the book was nearly finished I was hoping to get the "black belt" version for Christmas, but a friend gave me a second copy of this Brown Belt one. I was amazed to find that the first few I could do using the method I use to start each puzzle (starting with the nines, I look for a 9 in two cubes and try to figure out the missing one in the third cube) without doing my normal horizontal, then vertical, then cube by cube. I was surprised to find that the puzzles do get harder, even though they don't seem to. Now I'm wanting to move on to the Black Belt Black Belt Sudoku (Martial Arts Sudoku) book, but the reviews are pretty abysmal. Oh well, I'll give it a try anyway.... [bragging rights: I do mine in ink with no side notations :)]

I actually received this entire series from my brother, who although he couldn't get into the Sudoku mode himself appreciated my passion for it. I enjoy all levels of Sudoku, and tend to select the difficulty of the puzzle I do on the basis of how I'm feeling rather than on what I believe my ability to be. One of the benefits is that the easier puzzles provide one with a sense of accomplishment that can help neutralize a blue spell or a negative life experience. (I wouldn't be surprised to find out that the seretonin level of the brain is significantly effected by this process which may be what gives these puzzles their reputation for "addiction.") The mid-level and difficult puzzels, provide a sense of a challenge well met. In short they give one a bit of a buzz. I have to say, however, that I actually found some of the Green Belt puzzles more complicated than some of those in this book. It seems almost as if the author generated a bunch of puzzles and divided them up between two volumes to which he gave different relative lables quite randomly. That said, I found them all very entertaining.

This book of 300 Sudoku puzzles is a great buy, with hours of mental escapism; however, the puzzles are not all that hard. None of the puzzles require any of the specialized techniques that truly difficult (or diabolical) puzzles require. Instead, all can be solved by basic and careful cycling through. This makes the book, with its large number of puzzles, (1) a good one for any level of player to have around (for those times when you just want to dive into a quick puzzle or two) and (2) a great one for just-past-beginner players, but (3) not a good choice for serious players looking for the more difficult puzzles.