Second-Degree Brown Belt Sudoku(r)

This is a great one for those of us who are too fast for the newspaper sudokus but don't want to kill ourselves with scenarios. I was able to do 3/4ths of them each in one sitting. Now that I'm done with the book, I am going back to the hard ones and getting about half of them.

This book would rate 5 glowing stars from me except.....that the format of the book is such that I have to remove the page from the book to be able to solve the puzzle comfortably. This is a personal quirk of mine and it may not bother you at all. I like to have the sheet flat and to be able to move my hand around on the page freely. I solve the problem by using a box-cutter and removing four or five pages at a time. Each sheet contains two puzzles on each side. It would be nice if the puzzles were a little larger but I have adapted to what I have been given. I have actually come to this book after solving the puzzles in the Second Degree Black Belt Sudoku by Frank Longo. I loved that book so much that I bought it again last weekend. While I was in the bookstore I saw the Brown Belt edition and wondered what the difference would be. Inside the book Longo himself describes the Brown Belt as "300 puzzles of hard level of difficulty". In the Second Degree Black Belt Sudoku he says: "This book consists of 300 puzzles of super-tough level of difficulty." I had already found that I could believe his word for describing his own puzzles. I decided to give the Brown Belt a try. Please do not expect any detailed instructions for Sudoku solving in this book. Only the most basic solving technique is given. Once again, I just love these puzzles. They are "hard" but not impossible. I find that if I take my time and pay close attention I can solve these on the first try. I still have to put in my "little numbers" for the puzzles but they really do solve themselves very well from that stage on. If I could hold the number possibilities in my memory longer I probably could do these without the "little numbers". This book is NOT for a beginning Sudoku solver. Mr. Longo gives the puzzle fanatic some honest-to-goodness workouts for your brain. I am not mathematically inclined in real life. But, by solving these puzzles I have discovered that I am determined, resolute, stubborn, patient, and very thorough. If you think your personality fits even just some of those definitions, try this book. Just remember, they are meant to be a challenge. Don't expect anything to come easily.

The "Second-degree" versions of the sudoku books seem to be the actual challenging ones, whether brown or black belt. Frank Longo has delivered in this book 300 challenging, yet deterministic Sudoku puzzles for the avid sudoku fan. No guessing and "playing out" necessary if you just look long enough. I would compare these to the "Evil" level on websudoku(dot)com. Most experienced Sudoku fanatics should be able to knock one of these puzzles out in 10 - 15 mins, with exceptions.

I've said many times over the past three months that this particular book is the best bang for the buck of any book I've ever bought: $6.95 for 300 challenging puzzles! Such a deal! One tip, though: If you think "Brown Belt" should be downright EASY, as in, "For Complete Novices Who Are Just Learning These Puzzles," DON'T buy the version by Frank Longo--buy the one by Michael Rios. I bought the Longo book and loved sweating out each puzzle. But just today I bought the Rios book and was dismayed to discover that every puzzle is an absolute cinch. The Rios version should be labelled "Pre-White Belt" or "So Easy You Can Throw Your Eraser Away." (No, I'm not being a snob. I have the proper humility for a genuinely challenging puzzle. That's why I'm still too timid to buy the Black Belt edition. But Michael Rios should be chastised for an improperly labelled volume.)

This was the first sudoku book I bought after doing numerous puzzles from newspapers and online. This book lasted me a good 6 months, and was an excellent time killer on bus cummutes to work, during lunch breaks, during a hospital stay, while waiting for food in restaurant, and anywhere else the sudoku mood struck me. The puzzles can not simply be solved by inspection. You must fill in all of the cells with number possibilities. Some of the puzzles can easily be solved by single candidate from there, while others require you to use candidate reduction strategies. A good book to start with for anyone serious about getting into sudokus.