09-09-2005, 12:03 PM
Hey guys 
I'm sure many of you have heard of "Sudoku" (google). It's a math game that's in many newspapers and was popularised by a New Zealander.
Anyway, my dad has been working on something that helps solve sudoku problems - a "Sudoku Helper" spreadsheet that he made in Excel.
Download here. (33K)
Now, he doesn't believe so, but I think there is a possible use for it. It doesn't "solve" sudokus per se, but if you put in all the numbers you have it will show you where another number could go in one or more squares, by using conditional IF statements in Excel. I think there is a use for, say, when an office is doing the "terminator" difficulty sudoku in the morning's paper and they get stuck - rather than leaving it they could put the numbers in and thus get a hint on the next number.
So I'm putting it on the 'net, and trying to get people to try it out. If you're running Excel and like sudoku, could you please give it a try and post your thoughts?
ps: The spreadsheet contains macros, so Excel will warn you. I'm telling you that none of them are harmful, but of course you should take proper precautions if you don't believe me.
I'm sure many of you have heard of "Sudoku" (google). It's a math game that's in many newspapers and was popularised by a New Zealander.
Anyway, my dad has been working on something that helps solve sudoku problems - a "Sudoku Helper" spreadsheet that he made in Excel.
Download here. (33K)
Now, he doesn't believe so, but I think there is a possible use for it. It doesn't "solve" sudokus per se, but if you put in all the numbers you have it will show you where another number could go in one or more squares, by using conditional IF statements in Excel. I think there is a use for, say, when an office is doing the "terminator" difficulty sudoku in the morning's paper and they get stuck - rather than leaving it they could put the numbers in and thus get a hint on the next number.
So I'm putting it on the 'net, and trying to get people to try it out. If you're running Excel and like sudoku, could you please give it a try and post your thoughts?
ps: The spreadsheet contains macros, so Excel will warn you. I'm telling you that none of them are harmful, but of course you should take proper precautions if you don't believe me.
).