Have You Tried A
12x12 Sudoku Puzzle
Called Stars & Stripes Sudoku?

It is a 12x12 Sudoku puzzle with a twist. Here is the scoop.

A typical 12x12 Sudoku puzzle puts the numbers 1 through 9 plus A,B,C in every row, column, and 4x3 box.

Stars & Stripes adds a new wrinkle. Instead of using letters A, B,and C, the puzzle uses three stars in the form of an asterisk (*).

When I solved a sample online game on www.sudoku-usa.net, I found it easier to solve for all the numbers. The remaining open cells had to be stars.

Likewise if you find a row, column, or 4x3 box already has three stars, then the empty cells have to be digits.

I did find that the stars added a degree of difficulty in that you can't use the scanning method in relationship to each other. A star in a row and column doesn't eliminate the possibility that the intersecting cell isn't a star. It may be.

The puzzle has shaded areas such as red stripes and a blue field. These are just cosmetic. They do not have any bearing on solving the puzzle.

Matt Mayfield the creator of this Sudoku 12x12 puzzle, called Stars & Stripes Sudoku, has written an interactive online game of the same name. The game comes in four difficulty levels.

You will need to download and install a Microsoft plugin called Silverlight. It is Microsoft's version of Flash. You can download the plugin at www.microsoft.com/SILVERLIGHT/ or www.sudoku-usa.net.

Prefer a paper puzzle? Matt has also written a book with 100 of his Stars & Stripes Sudoku 12x12 puzzles. It is available at my Amazon store (It's on page 4.) or at Amazon.

Give it a try!

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