New Word Sudoku (Qudoku!) Puzzle for Sunday, 1/3/2010

On the first Sunday of the month all year long, I’ll highlight a cause or celebration that encompasses the entire month. January is National Hot Tea month! A month my college-student daughter celebrates year-round.

Recent research findings have reported that drinking black tea may improve the body’s defenses and quicken the response to bacteria and viruses…a reason to brew yourself a hot cup of tea this month in celebration of National Hot Tea Month. A study published in 2003 suggested tea drinkers may have a better chance of fighting off an infection than non-tea drinkers because of this increased immune response, though further research will be needed to confirm their predictions.

Here are a few recent findings about the potential health benefits of tea:

• consuming 30 oz. of black tea daily – the fluid equivalent of 2.5 cans of soda – reduced Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL, or “bad”) cholesterol levels by more than 10 percent.


• Those who drank four cups of tea per day had significantly lower risk of death following a heart attack


• the incidence of heart attack decreased in participants who drank more than three cups of black tea per day

MONTHS
6x6 Word Sudoku Puzzle
Each row, column, 2x3 rectangle and set of circled cells contains the letters in the word exactly once

PUBLIC
6x6 Word Sudoku Puzzle
Each row, column, 2x3 rectangle and set of circled cells contains the letters in the word exactly once

FRAYED
6x6 Word Sudoku Puzzle
Each row, column, 2x3 rectangle and set of circled cells contains the letters in the word exactly once
Copy circled letters to the corresponding numbered cells in the quote grid to spell out the quote



SWANKY
6x6 Word Sudoku Puzzle
Each row, column, 2x3 rectangle and set of circled cells contains the letters in the word exactly once

CURVED
6x6 Word Sudoku Puzzle
Each row, column, 2x3 rectangle and set of circled cells contains the letters in the word exactly once

PLIGHT
6x6 Word Sudoku Puzzle
Each row, column, 2x3 rectangle and set of circled cells contains the letters in the word exactly once
Copy circled letters to the corresponding numbered cells in the quote grid to spell out the quote




COUPLE
6x6 Word Sudoku Puzzle
Each row, column, 2x3 rectangle and set of circled cells contains the letters in the word exactly once

FIESTA
6x6 Word Sudoku Puzzle
Each row, column, 2x3 rectangle and set of circled cells contains the letters in the word exactly once
Copy circled letters to the corresponding numbered cells in the quote grid to spell out the quote

Solutions tomorrow morning. I also want to tell you about some of the fun things I have planned for you on this blog in 2010.

• Almost every weekday, I’ll supply you a new 9x9 Classic Word Sudoku puzzle. Classic, because it’s normal size (9x9), no frills. But still fun and a bit of a challenge!


• A few times a month, I’ll throw a Hidden Word Sudoku puzzle or a Diagonal Word Sudoku puzzle at you, to keep it fresh.


• Almost every Saturday this entire year, I’ll continue with my series of Tom Swifty Word Sudoku puzzle-puns in the form of a Qudoku puzzle set—they’ll make you groan out loud as you solve the Word Sudoku puzzles and uncover the silly adverbial phrase or pun-ishing play on words.


• Most Sundays, I’ll continue to challenge you with a 12x12 Hidden Word Sudoku puzzle—what I call, naturally enough, the Sunday Challenge. Tough, but doable!


• And then there are the theme series of puzzles I’ve sprinkled throughout the year.
  
  
  • For instance, in the first half of February, I’ll introduce you to a new kind of Qudoku puzzle set—a KeyWord Sudoku puzzle where, after you solve the Word Sudoku puzzles and fill in the letters in a quote grid full of common sayings, you then have to GUESS the keyword contained in each saying—but conveniently left out of the sayings in the quote.
  
  
  • And in the second half of February, I’ll explore with you the meaning of the 12 signs of the Chinese Zodiac—using Qudoku puzzle sets, of course!
  
  
  • And, later this year, in August—month #8—EVERY Word Sudoku puzzle for each day that month uses an 8x8 grid, with 2x4 internal rectangles.

Here’s hoping you’ll stick with me for 2010. Please comment on puzzles you love or hate; ones you think are too easy or too hard; ones you found very interesting or just plain flat.

And please remind your word puzzle-loving friends to follow this blog!

Thanks,
--Dave

(All puzzles and text contained in this blog are copyright © 2008, 2009, 2010, David H. Thompson. All rights reserved. You have my permission to print single copies for your individual solving pleasure, but you may not collect or further distribute these puzzles in any way without my explicit written permission. Please contact me through this blog's comment feature. And please tell your puzzle-loving friends to follow this blog. Thank you!)