Kakuro

[Moderator1]

Anyone play?
A friend of my son's is a Sudoku wizard and she was helping me recently figure out some "Mensa Sudoku." It gave me a headache, she did it in about six seconds.

Anyway, she suggested I try Kakuro - and I did. Not as much fun, at least not yet. I'm not addicted. At least not yet.

 

[slappy4428]

I'm too lazy to find a bunny with a pancake on its head...
I give.. what is it and how do you play?

 

[Moderator1]

You put numbers in the squares that add up to the total written in - you can't duplicate a number in the answer and you can only use 1-9. So a two-block answer for four has to be 3 and 1. The trick is figuring out which goes where based on the other "clues."
Let me see if this one shows up better:

 

[Moderator1]

Yeah, that worked. Lower right. The 1 has go to in the first square next to the four because the six can't be 3-3. So it is 1-3 for the four. 5 goes above the 1 to complete the six. 2 goes above the 3 to complete the five.
You are on the way.

 

[Football_Bat]

Payback's a bench isn't it? Thanks Moddy. I will stave off the Alzheimer's for another decade.

 

[mediaguy]

I love Kakuro. Give 'em a Japanese name, they go crazy. They've been "Cross Sums" in the Dell puzzle books for years. I'm all over the easy and mediums, but the Hard ones are just too much. The kind you find in the papers are pretty easy though.

It's all about isolating number combinations. If you see two squares that add up to three, you know it's 1 and 2; same with 17 and 8 and 9, or 16 with 7 and 9. If you see a four-square line that adds to 30, you know it has to be 6-7-8-9 in some order. It's like a numeric logic problem.

I understand that this post alone has doomed me to board dorkdom.

 

[Barsuk]

Too forkin' hard. Makes my head spin.

 

[JR]

HC plays.

She has the voice of an angel and the mind of a mathematician.

Trust me on this.

 

[HC]

Sudoku sucks. It's a number puzzle you can play without knowing math. (eg. Sopranos Sudoku).

Kakuro kicks ash. I forkin' love that ship.

 

[imjustagirl2]

I read Moddys' description while looking at the box. Have no idea what he was talking about. I don't see threes or sixes anywhere around the bottom right corner.

 

[HC]

I read Moddys' description while looking at the box. Have no idea what he was talking about. I don't see threes or sixes anywhere around the bottom right corner.

In the bottom right corner, the total for four must by 1 and 3. It can't be 3 and one because then the only possible total for 6 would be 3+3 and you can't duplicate numbers. It's pure logical and an absolute blast.

 

[imjustagirl2]

OK. I see a square with a line and a 4 on top. But I see no 1s, no 3s and no 6s. I have no idea whatyou're talkign about. I don't know what "adding up" means in reference to this. I don't know if it includes boxes without lines or not. I just don't get it.