My love/hate relationship with Sudoku.

"They" say Sudoku will be good for my brain. Nobody mentioned what it would do to my self-esteem.

"They" say "just look for the patterns." But when I ask "WHAT patterns?" "They" repeat, "the patterns," stressing the last word as if it will mean more to me when emphasized. Apparently "They" See Patterns. Probably like the guy in the movie A Beautiful Mind, not saying that all people who can see these alleged "Patterns" suffer from a mental illness, but just puttin' the idea out there...

So I watched a tutorial. How simple "They" made it look! Well, heck, I can do this now! At least THIS "They" could tell me what patterns I might be looking for, instead of just thinking "hmm, i could eat a waffle right about now" every time I look at a Sudoku puzzle.

So I look for patterns. To be honest, "They" say the patterns are there, but mostly I see the potential for warm, melting butter, and maple syrup.

Waffle.

Sudoku. Similar, but oh so different.

When I find the occasional pattern I rejoice. I high-five myself, which always scares the dogs. Then I end up back in the pencil-marking land of "Okay--it could be a 1, not a 2, not a 3, could be a 4, not a 5..." and so on. I repeat this for square after square after square. Then I have to go through the "Is this the only 1 in this row? In this square?" process of elimination, row after row after row.

Sometimes the puzzles are easy enough (some of those easy ones are really hard!) and I finish one. ("Yay! I pulled that off in less than my former time of 2 hours and 55 minutes!") But when I realize I have messed up and will have to find my mistake, I give up. Yes, you heard me, Give Up. It's fine to stretch my brain, it's not fine to test my patience or make me mutter "idiot" to myself under my breath.

I want to see the walls of all you people who "See Patterns." I bet I'd find them plastered with Sudoku puzzles with lines connecting the numbers to find conspiracies, right? RIGHT??


Skimmer's Recap: Loved the movie. But let's face it, not all of us "See Patterns." Or dead people, for that matter. Huh! Two movie references in one post--I must be hip. Ow--fact is, I'm getting a cramp in my hip... Maybe if I walk to the kitchen that will loosen it up. Wonder if we have any waffles...