Many Try, Few Succeed

Before sudoku, kakuro was the most popular puzzle in Japan.

The worldwide success of sudoku led many to develop an interest in number-logic puzzles. For this reason, kakuro has been able to flourish internationally. The rise of sudoku also inspired many to invent new puzzles.

At Puzzler we received visits from aspiring compilers from places as distant as Kentucky, Melbourne and Marrakesh. Unfortunately, most of the new ideas for puzzles were, frankly, not very good. On the other hand, one or two did stand out: Laurence May's Navigrid is a case in point.

By his own admission, Laurence was another who was prompted initially by the craze:

I loved sudoku when it first arrived in the UK and it inspired me to start thinking about designing my own pencil/paper puzzles. Navigrid was created in one hour on my train ride to work. It was designed around the idea of 'movement' as I hadn't seen it used before in other puzzle types.

Navigrids are crafty puzzles where in addition to logical deduction you have to consider the constraints of the 'movements' as well. It can take some time to get your head round but it's an interesting challenge. Try them for yourself in issue 47 of Kakuro, on sale until April 6 exclusively in WHSmith and via Puzzler subscription.