Kakuro
Fill the grid so that each block of squares adds up to the total in the box above or to the left. Use only the numbers 1-9 and never use the same number more than once in a block. (A number may reoccur in a separate block in the same row)
The Guardian relaunched this week in the new Berliner format. Among other changes, they have included a new number based game from Japan: Kakuro. Apparently, it is even more popular than Sudoku.
I tried it last night on the tube home, and I managed to fill in eight boxes. It is definitely tougher than sudoku as you have to be aware of sets of number possibilities. Hopefully, I'll be able to fill in a few more on the trip home tonight.
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I agree kakuro is tougher than sudoku. However I have generated crib sheets which list all possible twos, threes, fours and fives for given totals and this helps a lot. How sad is that?
I loved the Guardian's kakuros. Could not put them down. I was quite annoyed this morning that I couldn't find a new one in the paper! Anybody know of a place to find kakuros to feed my addiction?
I first saw Kakuro in a Puzzler sudoku book and only found out from this site that the Guardian ran one. It shares similarities with the killer sudoku from The Times which is like a mix of kakuro and sudoku. There are some really hard killer sudoko grids on the times site but the ones in the paper are not too bad.
Anyone having problems with today's Guardian Kakuro (Monday 19th) - 9 squares adding up to 16 - could be a bit tricky!).
I have made a freeware game, of Cross Sums (kakuro). You can download Kakuro / cross sums free download
If you're wanting more pencil & paper puzzles (including Sudoku and Kakro/Kakuro) look at http://www.puzzle.jp/index-e.html They have a good selection of sample puzzles, and for $3.99/month you can join and get access to 3 new puzzles each day. I love it.
To Jon Cartmel, I think in today's kakuro the long 9 square row should be broken into 2 rows of 5 and 3, and there should be 23\24 in between. I've solved it this way, I'm not sure if this is th e only way to do it, but I'm positive that the row needs to be split into 5 then 3. Hope this helps! Emil
Thanks Emil, I think I'll just concentrate on today's (I was expecting a comment in the Guardian today, but couldn't see one!). JC
p.30 under corrections and clarifications: fourth square from the bottom and from the right should read 23/24
I see the point of keeping the corrections together, but it would have been nice to have seen this mentioned next to today's kakuro, where more people would have noticed it. I also got a bit concerned when one of the white boxes in today's puzzle had a line through it. I was able to solve it assuming the line was not meant to be there, but you'd have thought they would be checking carefully after printing an unsolvable puzzle just the day before.
Hi, I've recently launched a Kakuro site. I hope to update it daily with a new Kakuro puzzle and improve the hints and tips section (any contributions welcome!). Take a look : http://www.kakuro.info
Hiya, I've also launched a Kakuro site - this one has an online player with assistants, pencil mark capability and so on. Take a look if you like! I'll be adding more to it soon. www.dokakuro.com. Eventually it'll have the same book structure as dosudoku.com.
There are 2 Kakuro cross sums puzzles every day at http://www.kakuropuzzle.com and there is Windows software so you can play unlimited numbers of Kakuros on your PC too ...
Hi. The French know Kakuro as Nombre Fleche, and we call it 'CrossNumber' - you can download free pencil and paper puzzles [including Kakuro/CrossNumber] from the puzzleclub.co.uk website, plus there are links to a forum for helping you solve them. Enjoy. M
Hi, Kakuro-san (from the makers of www.sudoku-san.com) is now up and running, with two graded puzzles every day: http://www.kakuro-san.com cheers, Alastair