The comics page is getting a makeover. Replacing the daily horoscope today is a brand new puzzle game: sudoku.
Sudoku now runs in hundreds of the daily newspapers across the country. The game is the fastest growing phenomenon since the crossword back in the 1920s. The Daily is one of the first college papers in the country to join the trend.
The game orginated in Japanese puzzle magazines during the 1970s. The trend was brought to the Western world by a retired Hong Kong judge Wayne Gould, who saw a completed puzzle in a Japanese bookstore. He recommended the puzzle to the publishers of The Times in Britian in late 2004. The rest is history.
The rules to sudoku are simple: fill-in the blanks in the nine-by-nine squares with the numbers one through nine. Each digit can only be used once in each horizontal row, vertical row and three-by-three square.
This may sound like a game for only computer scientists and actuaries, but it's not. Trust us. We here at the Daily are already addicted. Try it out during your next plus block class.
A sudoku will be running Tuesdays through Fridays on the comics page. Each puzzle will be rated easy, medium or difficult. We're starting off with a gentle one.
And don't worry - the horoscope isn't completely disappearing. Your astrological needs will be fulfilled on Mondays, with a new weekly horoscope.
Turn to page 19 to begin gaming.
