Current Anderson Fad: Kenken Puzzles

So Jeff and I seem to find an activity that we enjoy, and then we do it all the time. Past fads include Text Twist (a game on Jeff's palm where you rearrange letters to spell words), Set (a card game), and Ticket to Ride (a board game). While we still enjoy these games and play them every once in a while, we seem to focus primarily on one game at a time.

Our current favorite pasttime is Kenken puzzles. They're not as popular as Sudoku puzzles (yet), but they appeared in The Reader's Digest in October of last year, as well as the New York Times on Thanksgiving. And you can buy Kenken books at Borders and Barnes and Nobles.

Here are the rules for playing (posted on the official website http://www.kenken.com/, my comments are italisized):

1. Choose a grid size.

2. Fill in the numbers from 1 to grid size. (Ex: 1 through 4 for a 4x4)

3. Do not repeat a number in any row or column. (Similar to Sudoku)

4. The numbers in each heavily outlined set of squares, called cages, must combine (in any order) to produce the target number in the top corner using the mathematical operation indicated.

5. Cages with just one square should be filled in with the target number in the top corner.

6. A number can be repeated within a cage as long as it is not in the same row or column.

Jeff and I like playing for free on-line on the kenken website, where they post a new set of puzzles every day, ranging from 4x4 to 9x9. You can also find puzzles on the NY Times and Reader's Digest websites. We play just about every day, and it's fun to see how we're getting better. We like playing together, because we have different strengths in our logic and check each other's thinking.

I encourage you to try it out! It's a great exercise for your brain. If you only want to play for a few minutes, do one of the smaller puzzles, like a 4x4. But if you get hooked and are up for a challenge, work your way up to a 9x9 (when we first started, we couldn't complete the 9x9; then it would take us about an hour to finish; today, we completed one in 26 min).