the times bumper book of su doku: 20th anniversary edition, 300 puzzles selected by puzzle master wayne gould

300 hand-picked puzzles from the world’s Su Doku Master

Su Doku took the world by storm in 2004 when Wayne Gould published his first series of puzzles in The Times. Marking 20 years since this phenomenon Wayne has hand-selected 300 of his original puzzles for this special anniversary collection.

During a visit to Japan, Wayne was in a bookstore where, not knowing how to read or speak Japanese, he was drawn to the puzzle which he first thought was a crossword. He was intrigued and later on he decided to take it with him to the United States and Britain. After his initial retirement, in efforts to pass time and sharpen his computer skills, Gould developed a computer program that generates Su Doku puzzles.

The rest is history, Su Doku became a massive hit around the world and continues to challenge minds to this day with The Times at the forefront of Su Doku publishing in print and online.

Enjoy this selection of Wayne’s original puzzles from 2004-5.

Easy, Mild, Difficult and Fiendish puzzles included.

Wayne Gould was a lawyer for 13 years in Matamata, New Zealand, before going to Hong Kong in 1982 where he became Chief District Judge and also acted in the High Court. He retired 1997 and during a visit to Japan was in a bookstore where, not knowing how to read or speak Japanese, he was drawn to a puzzle which used a crossword-like grid. He was intrigued and bought a book of the puzzles which he later took with him on his travels. To sharpen his computer skills Gould developed the computer program that generates Sudoku puzzles. Gould supplied puzzles to The Times and eventually to over 800 newspapers around the world. He is considered to be the man who started the global Sudoku phenomenon. Although he will answer to Sir Doku, his greatest honor was to be included in Time magazine’s ＂100＂ list for 2006.