The New Sudoku Players' Forum

[Sabreman64]

After searching on Amazon, I've found that the only books of killer and samurai sudoku available seem to be the Times Killer book and this samurai book. Why aren't there more killer and samurai books available? How about a Times book of samurais or another Times volume of killers?

[CathyW]

This post might be better placed in the Variants forum but I agree and would certainly like to see another volume of "Killers" (I wish these puzzles were called something else "Sum Doku" as in Tso's post about the different variants is much nicer!) with far fewer Easy and Mild and definitely no single cages or other cells given! Mind you, I'd also like to see some properly 'tough' and 'deadly' ones in The Times.

DJApe at www.djape.net has a book out but not available in this country. He indicated a pdf version would be on his site before Christmas but it has yet to appear.

[ChrisT]

Cathy - by the sound of it you have worked through the Times Killers book?

I've done most of the "tough" and "deadly" ones from the book and found that, like those from the papers, I could do nearly all of them in way under the allotted time, without much bother. However there were a couple that I got really bogged down in and spent over an hour on very complex logic before completing them.

I just wondered if you - or indeed anyone else who has done the puzzles from that book - found the same thing? If not, I'll maybe look up the ones that I found hard, as there may be some technique that I'm not aware of that would have made them much easier.

Thanks,

Chris

[CathyW]

Not quite all, but I only have a few left and will then be dependent on T2 and DJApe for my fix of "Sum Doku"!. Like you the majority that I've done were completed well within the suggested time but there were a couple that I slipped up on - we all have our 'off' days

[lunababy_moonchild]

Well, when I looked up Amazon they gave me :Will Shortz, Peter Greene, Collins UK Staff and Mark Huckvale on the subject of Killer Sudoku - can't vouch for any of them but I do know that Mark Huckvale compiles by computer and for the Independent amongst others

As for Samurai : Peter Greene and the aforementioned Will Shortz.

Since I can't touch either Killer or Samurai, that's all I can offer.

Luna

[Sabreman64]

I didn't mention the Will Shortz, Collins UK Staff or Mark Huckvale books because they've not been published yet (and the Shortz book is not devoted solely to either killers or samurais anyway). But even once those books have been published, there will still only be 4 or 5 killer and samurai books available.

[CathyW]

At least there are some more coming out in a few weeks so by the time I've finished the Times Killer book, they should be ready to order. Anyone got other Sudoku books by Mark Huckvale and are they good? The Collins UK one appears to be available to buy now although the publication date is given as February.

[Sabreman64]

As killers are published in the Sudoku and Kakuro magazines, and the puzzles in those magazines are all supposedly supplied by Nikoli, I assumed that Nikoli might have books of killers available to buy on their site. However, I've been unable to find any reference to killers or samunamupure on the Nikoli site.

[Lindy]

I assumed the same about Nikoli and got quite excited. I've never seen killers in Nikoli's books before, so it may be an area they are venturing into. If that is the case, it will be some time before books come out.

In the meantime there are plenty of magazines with killers in them to keep me satisfied in between books. I quite like the new magazine, Sumdoku, which has 40 killers each issue. This magazine is shared with standard Sudoku, but there was mention that it was going to become completely killer dedicated eventually. I have also seen samurais creep into a couple of magazines – not many and they’re small ones, two or three grids – but you never know. There might be a dedicated samurai magazine one day.

On the subject of samurai puzzles, if you are ever in the central London area check out the Japancentre Bookshop near Piccadilly tube. You might be lucky to find one or two Japanese sudoku magazines on the shelves. Two I get regularly are Nanpure Joy. This contains around 19 samurais of different configurations, plus fold outs of larger samurais. The second magazine I get is a special order, called Cho Nanmon Nanpure containing around 16 samurais. This is my favourite, as each issue comes with a huge samurai of 59 interlocking 9x9s. Both magazines do contain other puzzles – e.g. standard sudokus and variants. There is (or was) a dedicated samurai magazine called Panorama Nanpure, but I’ve never seen it there. The staff are very helpful so if you ever want to enquire about this I’m sure they can find out about it for you, or I can ask, if you like.

[CathyW]

Thanks for that information Lindy - I'm not that interested in the Samurais but I really do enjoy the 'Killers' and it pleases me that the magazine is called Sumdoku rather than Killer Sudoku! What is the level of the puzzles? Are they, or at least a good proportion of them, more challenging than what we get in The Times?

I did a quick search and found that I could subscribe to this magazine via News-stand but there was no other information about it on the News-stand site, not even the name of the publisher. Can you tell me who publishes it so I can see if my newsagent can get it for me. Thanks

[Lindy]

Hi Cathy

Sumdoku is published by H. Bauer Publishing and comes out around the beginning of the month. The next issue is due out 2nd February. WH Smiths usually stocks this title.

The easy puzzles are a breeze and (in my opinion) give too many singles, but I find the medium and hard puzzles challenging. I'm probably not the best person to compare them with The Times, though. I always went well over the alloted times in The Times book and know I need to brush up on techniques! Judging from previous posts, you sound very skilled at killers! All I can say is, try and find a shelf copy of Sumdoku before subscribing, just in case they're too easy for you.

[djape]

Find me a publisher and I'll create you a bunch of very challenging Killer, Samurai and even Killer Samurai puzzles for the book

DJ.

[CathyW]

DJ - I hope you find a publisher soon, or have you thought about self-publishing?

Bought the first Sumdoku magazine - I would say that if you find The Times' offerings too easy, you will also find these too easy.

Found some more Killers on the Sudoku-A-Day website but have only bothered with those graded 4* and 5* - and they're still not a patch on DJ's puzzles (or ND's or JCs two puzzles here and here for that matter)

[Sabreman64]

I see that a second book of Times killers is to be published on August 7th:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0007236174/

[ab]

Find me a publisher and I'll create you a bunch of very challenging Killer, Samurai and even Killer Samurai puzzles for the book

DJ.

Why not publish them yourself through a site like cafepress?