The Origins of Mini Sudoku: A Brief History

In the late 19th century, French puzzle setters began experimenting with magic squares by removing numbers from them. This led to the creation of puzzles that shared similar characteristics with Sudoku, but were not quite the same. One such example is the partially completed 9x9 magic square published in Le Siècle, a Paris daily, on November 19, 1892.

The puzzle, which was called 'magic square' back then, required arithmetic rather than logic to solve and contained double-digit numbers. However, it shared key characteristics with modern Sudoku puzzles: each row, column, and subsquare added up to the same number.

Fast forward to July 6, 1895, when La France newspaper published a puzzle with similar rules. The instructions read: 'Use the numbers 1 to 9 nine times each to complete the grid in such a way that the horizontal, vertical, and two main diagonal lines all add up to the same total.'

Although these early puzzles laid the groundwork for modern Sudoku, it wasn't until 1986 that the puzzle gained widespread popularity. That year, Japanese puzzle company Nikoli published a partially completed grid under the name Sudoku, which translates to 'single number.' The puzzle setter provides a grid with some numbers already filled in, and the objective is to fill the remaining cells so that each row, column, and subsquare contains all digits from 1 to 9.

In fact, Sudoku has been appearing in puzzle books since 1979 under the name Number Place. French newspapers featured variations of Sudoku puzzles throughout the 19th century, and it wasn't until 2004 that The Times (London) published a computer-generated version of the puzzle thanks to Wayne Gould's efforts.

Today, Sudoku remains one of the most popular puzzle types worldwide, with millions of enthusiasts solving puzzles every day. Its logic-based, combinatorial nature makes it an engaging and challenging activity for people of all ages.

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