I Hate Sudoku

I just can't figure out the attraction of the diabolical cube full of numbers.

People who know me, and my Congenital Lack of Math Brain, have assured me that I do not need any Math Talent whatsoever to complete a Sudoku. I have seen other English Majors like myself handily work their way through the things, so I know it can be done.

It's all logic, they say.

I cleaned up on the logic portion of the GRE when I took it 20 years ago. So I should be able to handle the "light and easy" puzzle, the first one in the puzzle book I found in my Christmas stocking and didn't open until tonight.

I only opened it tonight because TheDad was thumbing through it, looking at puzzle #47 or something (arranged in order of difficulty--the higher the number, the more hair you tear out trying to solve the thing, and the more creative you must become in order not to swear in front of the kids). Anyway, there he was, and I could see the gears turning in his Math Brain, and he didn't have a pencil or pen but I knew he could tell just by looking where the numbers would go.

Have I ever mentioned that I have a very competitive nature?

I cracked the spine on that book and got to work. I was moving along nicely (using the dot trick to help my caffeine-deprived-because-it's-after-dinner mind), when I came to a screeching halt because one column has two 4s and another would have two 9s if I filled in that last blank.

Someone pass me a crossword puzzle. Numbers just aren't my thing.