Sudoku Smackdown

1. In which year was the first World Sudoku Championship held?

2000200620101997

2. Which famous mathematician is rumoured to have solved Sudoku puzzles to maintain mental agility in his later years?

Stephen HawkingJohn NashAlan TuringPaul Erdős

3. Which country is credited with the popularisation of Sudoku?

JapanUSAChinaIndia

4. What is the literal meaning of the word "Sudoku" in Japanese?

Single numberPlace the numbersFill the gridNumber puzzle

5. Which famous Japanese puzzle creator is known as the "Godfather of Sudoku"?

Maki KajiTetsuya MiyamotoNikoli YamamotoAkira Yoshino

6. What is the name of the Sudoku-solving technique that involves looking for numbers that can only be placed in one specific cell within a row, column, or box?

Hidden SingleNaked SingleX-WingSwordfish

7. In the context of Sudoku solving, what does the acronym "AIC" stand for?

Alternating Inference ChainAdvanced Intersection CombinationAlgebraic Inclusion ConstraintArranged Identical Candidates

8. Which publication first published Sudoku under the name “Number Place”?

The TimesThe GuardianThe New York TimesDell Pencil Puzzles and Word Games

9. What is the minimum number of clues (or given numbers) needed to create a valid Sudoku puzzle?

16171819

10. Which Sudoku World Champion famously solved a puzzle blindfolded during a competition?

Thomas SnyderJan MrozowskiKota MorinishiTiit Vunk

11. Which variant of Sudoku uses letters instead of numbers?

WordokuAlphadokuCrosudokuLetSudoku

12. Which of the following Sudoku variants includes irregular-shaped regions instead of standard 3x3 grids?

Samurai SudokuKiller SudokuJigsaw SudokuHyper Sudoku

13. What is the primary goal of solving a Sudoku puzzle?

To place the numbers 1-9 in every row and columnTo place the numbers 1-9 in each 3x3 subgridBoth of the aboveTo find the sum of all numbers

14. What is the name of the Sudoku variant where multiple overlapping Sudoku grids are solved simultaneously?

X-SudokuKiller SudokuSamurai SudokuHyper Sudoku

15. What is the maximum number of unique Sudoku solutions possible for a standard 9x9 grid?

1,624,500,0005,472,730,5386,670,903,7529,983,134,160