How to Solve a Sudoku Using Excel
Sudoku, which is the Japanese word for "single number," is a popular type of puzzle for which you need to enter single digits on a 9-by-9 grid, so that the numbers 1 through 9 appear exactly once on each row and column. By using the Microsoft Excel computer-spreadsheet program, you can solve a Sudoku puzzle in mere seconds.
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Things You'll Need
- Microsoft Office Excel computer program
- Excel-based Sudoku computer program
- Sudoku puzzle
Instructions
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Familiarize yourself with the rules of Sudoku before you solve it using the Excel spreadsheet program. Generally, the creator of the puzzle will supply numbers to the grid to get you started. Each row and column of 9 must contain the numbers 1 through 9 exactly 1 time.
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Find a Microsoft Excel program that is designed to help you create and solve Sudoku puzzles. A wide variety of Excel-based programs are available that give you step-by-step hints on how to solve the puzzle. You can visit the Tech-Pro website to download Excel programs that will help you to create and solve Sudoku puzzles (see Resources below).
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Enter the starting numbers for your Sudoku puzzle after you have downloaded the program. You have the option to develop your own puzzle with as many numbers as you want, or you can start from scratch and allow Excel to provide a specified amount of clues.
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Use the suggestions square from the Excel program to enter additional numbers into the puzzle. As you enter more correct numbers into the puzzle, the Excel program will be able to solve the puzzle using mathematical algorithms or note the specific square on the grid that can be solved at that time. Most Excel programs will also outline less definite solutions if you are feeling more adventurous.
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Allow Excel to provide hints until the puzzle is completed. As the Sudoku progresses, you should find it easier to come up with numbers on your own.
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Tips & Warnings
Once you have become proficient at solving basic Sudoku puzzles, you can adapt your Excel grid to play such variants as nonomino Sudoku, in which jigsaw-puzzle grids are used instead of simple rows and columns, and Hypersudoku, in which both an inner and outer grid must be solved.
