- Ah sudoku, the great mistery of life... - giggled the man as he bowed a little closer to the paper so his short sight could see where the boy was pointing at.
- Well, you see, you must have each number from 1 to 9 in each of the rows and each of the columns. This also means that you could have them only
once in that respective line. Of course that would be easy so far, so there is one more restriction: you can only have each number within these bigger boxes, see? - *he pointed at a box with a thicker outline, that contained a 3x3 grid* - and, young man, that is the trick to it, really.
He wrote a number in.
- When people know the rules, all they have to do is apply them and they can get by. It all boils down to simple logic,
and what seemed to be an annoying constraint, it suddenly becomes a fruitful possibility. - he mused, loudly.
- Now, as to why that box can't have a nine...
He couldn't finish the sentence as the doorbells twinkled again announcing the arrival of a new customer.
It was a mother with a sixteen-like daughter. She was beautiful and wore an expensive Yukata*. She was looking straight through the boy, although Ichiro could catch a curious initial glimpse, at least he thought so.
- How may I help you today, madam?
*I'm googling japanese clothing now (
Yukata, for example). The game may will be a big let down, but it's fun looking up stuff I didn't know so far.
)