Sudoku Tips

How to create your own Sudoko

Here's the first tip. Creating your own Sudoku puzzle can range from easy, when using a software generated grid, to difficult if you are creating one by hand. Either way, there are common tips which help in creating your own Sudoku.

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Create a Solution :
There are three basic steps in creating your own Sudoku puzzle. A tip to the first step is that you must create a solution to the puzzle before creating the puzzle itself. This is the simplest part of creating a Sudoku puzzle. Another tip is to know the rules. Here's a quick reference to help you. Each puzzle contains a set of 3x3 grids. These grids are made up of rows and columns. Within each column, row, and grid, you need to have the numbers 1 – 9 without having any duplicate numbers. Filling in the grid completely while obeying the above rules, and you have created your Sudoku solution. A tip to making this easier is to have a blank grid to start with for a worksheet. If you encounter a duplicate number, you must rework the grid by removing some or possibly all of your numbers. If you must do this, you simply start over again, filling each row and column until there is no duplication.

Removing Numbers :
After you are finished creating your Sudoku solution, the next tip is to remove the mirror pairs. This is especially needed when you are trying to create a symmetrical puzzle. If you are removing a number from the cell R1C1, you must also remove that number from the cell R9C9. These two cells are opposites, or mirrors, of each other.

Testing for Single Solutions :
Each time you are creating a Sudoku puzzle, a tip you must follow is that you can only have one solution for the puzzle. Each time you remove a mirror pair from the puzzle solution, you will need to test the puzzle to find if it still has a single solution. If it doesn't, you must rework the puzzle. The best way to test your puzzle solution is to enter it manually into Sudoku game software such as Sudoku Dragon. The program will run through the grid and let you know if the puzzle is solvable. If you use Sudoku Dragon, you would go to Game > Hint to open the 'Give Solution Hint' window. Then you would choose the first button to check if all allocations are correct to this point. Then click the 'show' button for results. If you get an error message, the puzzle has more than one solution and you must go back. Repeat these last two steps until you are unable to remove mirror pairs without getting an error message.

As a final tip; while creating a Sudoku is simple, it can be hard.