Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
Having addicted millions of people around the world to filling in 81 little squares with the numbers 1-9, with varying levels of difficulty, it looks like the Japanese have tried to come up with another puzzle to occupy our coffee breaks and lunchtimes.
The question is: have they succeeded and will Futoshiki become another sushi-sounding addiction?
At first glance, the puzzle didn’t seem to have enough clues to get me started filling in the numbers 1-5 in the 25 squares with the aid of those triangle things (I always struggled with those at school). Once I started, however, it turned out to be just a matter of logic and I finished the puzzle within five minutes.
I can’t say that I found it anywhere near as satisfying as a good Sudoku puzzle. The thinking process seemed very one-dimensional, without the angles of thought that Sudoku requires.
Will Futoshiki be a success and will we see train-loads of commuters frowning over their newspapers, pencil in hand, or paperback collections of Futoshiki puzzles at airport bookshops? Personally, I don’t think so, but five years ago, who’d have thought that we’d be poring over those 81 squares, or cursing when someone else has got to the newspaper first and had the indecency to make a mistake and abandon the puzzle halfway through?
