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Sudoku (数独, sūdoku^?) listen (help·info) is a logic-based placement puzzle. The objective is to fill the 9x9 grid so that each column, each row, and each of the nine 3x3 boxes contains the digits 1 to 9. The puzzle setter provides a partially completed grid so that there is only one solution.

Completed Sudoku puzzles are a type of Latin square, with an additional constraint on the contents of individual regions. Leonhard Euler is sometimes cited as the source of the puzzle, based on his work with Latin squares.

The modern puzzle was invented by an American, Howard Garns, in 1979 and published by Dell Magazines under the name "Number Place". It became popular in Japan in 1986, when it was published by Nikoli and given the name Sudoku. It became an international hit in 2005.

Introduction

The name "Sudoku" is the Japanese abbreviation of a longer phrase, "suji wa dokushin ni kagiru" (数字は独身に限る, "suji wa dokushin ni kagiru"^?), meaning "the digits must occur only once". It is a trademark of puzzle publisher Nikoli Co. Ltd. in Japan. In Japanese, the word is pronounced ; in English, it is usually spoken with an Anglicised pronunciation, (BrE) (AmE) or (BrE) (AmE) (See IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) or IPA chart for English for notation usage.) Other Japanese publishers refer to the puzzle as Number Place, the original U.S. title, or as "Nanpure" for short. Some non-Japanese publishers spell the title as "Su Doku".

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