my parents have subscribed to the philadelphia inquirer for as long as i can remember. lately they began running a new puzzle along with the crossword and cryptogram that my dad turned me onto.

as you can see from the directions, you have to fill in each empty box with a number so that no two numbers are in the same row, column, or 3x3 grid. it's basically a puzzle where you have to use deductive reasoning and process of elimination to get the answers. i have some sort of sick love of numbers and these kind of logic challenges, so i got hooked on it right away.

if you're a geek like me and you want to try some, a simple google search for sudoku will bring up lots of site with puzzles, as well as strategy and information on its start in japan and recent rise in popularity around the world.