I really don't know how to rate this one since I do them nearly
everyday. Feedback welcome!
This is an example of one of my favorite kinds of puzzles to
solve. If I have to wait for an appointment or I have time at the
end of the day, I usually will be seen with my Kakuro puzzle book
in hand scribbling out the solutions. When people ask me to explain
how to solve them, I often start with, "Well, think of it as sudoku
on steroids."
Kakuro puzzles are half sudoku, half crossword, and use a
combination of logic and basic arithmetic. The rules are very
simple:
- Fill all the empty squares using the numbers 1 to 9 so
that the sum of each horizontal set of digits equals the number in
the black triange to its left.
- The sum of each vertical set of digits equals the number in the
black triangle above it.
- No number may be used in the same sum more than once.
- A number can be repeated in the same row or column only
if the numbers are separated by a black square.
The secret to solving kakuro puzzles is learning how to use
unique sums - those special situations where only a single
combination of numbers can fit into a sum of a given length.
Whenever kakuro solvers spot a unique sum, they immediately know
which numbers are going to be used in that sum; all they have to
worry about is the order. The table below shows all the possible
unique sums that can occur in a kakuro puzzle.
With that in mind, here is a Kakuro puzzle for your number
crunching fun. When you have solved the puzzle, simply plug in the
color coded digits into the formula below to obtain the final
coordinates to this cache. The order your answers will be entered
into the matching color blocks below will go from left to right and
top to bottom. The Evince coordinate verification tool has been
added below to verify your results.
Have fun and good
luck!
