The Times Difficult Su Doku

I have been a puzzle nut ever since a kid.I have every type of puzzle imaginable as well as over 500 puzzle books.That doesen't even take into account Crosswords.As I just turned 70,I have to admit the ole noggin ain't quite what it used to be;along with a few other things.However; back in June I came across my first SUDOKU in a little "freebie" paper I have been doing a Crossword,as well as a "STICKLER" by the well known Puzzlermaker Terry Stickels;for some time.At first glance I thought it reminded me of Magic Squares;but not really.Then I thought it might be more like Word Search,which I don't care much for ,especially after having done only a couple of easy ones.Then they got a bit more difficult ,and then a lot more challenging.Wow! are these fun! I guess there have been some of these around for some time but they have never been common;and I had never noticed them.No doubt, that if I scoured my library,I might find some.But what the heck;in just over a month,they are literaly everywhere,a lot of people are giving them a try ;and we are seeing a worldwide craze develop. Already, my bookstore has several books,this being one of them.As with all of them ,we are given some hints on solving and this book does a pretty fair job.However;you don't need a lot of help to see how to do them, especially the simple ones.However;as you tackle the harder ones;here is where it gets to be real fun. No doubt;we are going to be seeing speed competitions,and probably they are already working on TV Game Shows. What more is there to say but that this is a great little starter book to get you on your way and in the game. I have just seen a 3rd. book in this series.I have written reviews on other Sudoku books and they all have hints for solving,but the hints in this series is the weakest.See my reviews dated Aug.10,2005;Aug.6,2005 and 2 on Aug.3,2005.I just purchased another Sudoku book yesterday, Sept.23,and will be reviewing it shortly.....done as promised,see the review on Sept 30,it's a real good book!