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MICKEY MAURER Try KenKen. I think you’ll like it
Will Shortz, the crossword puzzle editor of
The New York Times, has a new addiction. It’s called Ken-Ken. Ken in Japanese means wisdom, thus KenKen literally means wisdom squared. KenKen was invented in 2004 by the Japanese educator Tetsuya Miyamoto, who incorporates games in his teaching method and believes in “the art of teaching without teaching.”
Shortz launched KenKen in The Times on Feb. 8. It is a sure winner. No doubt it will capitalize on the Sudoku craze with which it shares some properties. But unlike Sudoku, in which the numbers act solely as symbols, KenKen requires arithmetic-not complicated mathematics-just simple arithmetic. Shortz likes KenKen because the rules are simple yet the logic can be quite deep.
The Times publishes a 4×4 grid and a more difficult 6×6 grid. The puzzles increase in difficulty as the week progresses. I have created a relatively easy 5×5 grid for your pleasure. So give it a try. Fill the grid with digits so as not to repeat a digit within any row or column, and so the digits within each heavily outlined box go together using the arithmetic operation shown to make the target number indicated. Trial and error is not the best technique for solving KenKen. Each number can be placed based upon sound reasoning. Toward the end of the solution process, Sudoku techniques may be applied.
The answers to the puzzle are in a grid on page 38. If you need a hint, you may e-mail me at the address below.
I hope you enjoy the exercise-but not too much. Remember, according to Shortz, KenKen is addictive.
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Maurer is a shareholder in IBJ Media Corp., which owns Indianapolis Business Journal. His column appears every other week. To comment on this column, send e-mail to mmaurer@ ibj.com.
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