Thursday, September 11, 2008

New Word Sudoku Puzzles for Thursday, 9/11/2008

New Word Sudoku Puzzles for Thursday, 9/11/2008

Today's first Word Sudoku puzzle, a 9x9 Classic, is based on the words RIOT SQUAD:

RIOT SQUAD
9x9 Classic Word Sudoku Puzzle
Each row, column and 3x3 square contain the letters in the word or phrase exactly once

The next puzzle is one in a series of 10 that I sat down and created after listening to NPR's Sunday Puzzle with NPR Puzzle Master and New York Times Crossword Editor Will Shortz. If you like word puzzles of all sorts, the feature is a must. It's easily available in podcast format from iTunes, etc. In a recent puzzle, Will asked listeners to find a nine-distinct-letter word using all five vowels, where the vowels were only in the odd-numbered letter positions--so the word would be in the form VCVCVCVCV, where V=vowel and C=consonant.

Talk about up my alley! I've already put together a bookful of AEIOU Sudoku puzzles, employing nine-letter words, eight-letter words, 10-letter words, 12-letter words, and 14-, 15- and 16-letter words, phrases and even famous quotes (no matter how long they are, they just need to have about that many distinct letters).

So I looked at my list of words, and came across 10 words fitting the pattern Will requested--maybe 3 or 4 would be in our normal vocabularies; the rest are scientific terms, or just plain arcane. His announced solution the next week listed two of the ten--the two most regular of the 10, to be sure.

So for the fun of it (and that is why I do this, after all!), I have constructed 10 Hidden Word Sudoku puzzles, all the normal-sized 9x9, where each nine-distinct-letter word uses all five vowels (a, e, i, o and u) in some order, and they're all in the odd-numbered letter positions. I supply an anagram that usually has a distant connection to the hidden word--although that won't help you--and you solve the puzzle following the regular Sudoku rule, spelling out the hidden word down the diagonal.

Here's the first of the 10. I'd be surprised if you consider it a word in the average person's vocabulary! It's certainly not in mine...

SO MAIN CUE
AEIOU (Odd) Sudoku: 9x9 Hidden Word Sudoku Puzzle
Each row, column and 3x3 square contain the letters in the anagram exactly once
The hidden word or phrase is spelled down the diagonal and contains all 5 vowels (a, e, i, o and u, in some order)
In addition, the odd-numbered letter positions of the hidden word or phrase are vowels
Solutions first thing Friday morning. And be sure to visit both days this weekend--Saturday's puzzle will be a Diagonal Word Sudoku puzzle, and then of course Sunday I'll present you with the latest Sunday Challenge--a 12x12 Hidden Word Sudoku puzzle, with 3x4 internal rectangles.

Thanks,
--Dave

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