Sometimes the numbers line up. Easy. All gorgeous lines and neat rows you can place in 5 minutes or less.
Others are more work. They take more time. You have to figure out where the 8 goes in this line, but not that. That one needs a 4 first. You have to slow down and place things, one number at a time. When you get the whole picture, satisfying. Simply satisfying.
Then there are those you have to puzzle over. Really take your time. Stare at. Look at. Stare again. You might see the 5's clearly, but where the hell do you put the 2's and the 9's?
You have to put the Sudoku down. Walk away. Mull it over for awhile. Come back and erase something. Start over, placing one tentative number at a time.
When these puzzles are complete, you find yourself still checking. Maybe there is a Sudoku portal that will rearrange things for me, the moment I am done. Maybe there will be 2 2's in a row and then what?
These are the people I like. Well, I like them all really. But the puzzles... lovely. Never apologize for being a puzzle. Especially to yourself. It may take a whole life to line the 9's up, but it will be worth every second.
