CAROL’S CUT-OUT-AND-KEEP GUIDE TO SUGURU

HERE’S what I absolutely love about Suguru. There are only two rules, so it takes no time at all to get the hang of it!

Each group of cells on the grid, outlined in red, must be filled in with a series of numbers — 1, 2, 3 in a three-cell group; 1, 2, 3, 4 in a four-cell group, and so on.

Adjacent cells must never contain the same number — left, right, up, down or diagonally. If it’s touching, it has to be a different number.

It’s wonderfully straightforward: wherever there’s a cell with a number filled in, any empty cell next to it MUST contain a different number. But remember, this isn’t Sudoku. The same number can appear more than once in the same row or the same column... just as long as they are not next to each other.

These two rules create a mind-boggling number of logical variations, depending on the size of the grid.

In the new Puzzles & Prizes pullout you’ll be playing on six-by-six grids, but to get you started we have a really simple grid of three-by-five. Even in this limited version, there’s room for a five-cell box that needs to be filled with 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.

Let me walk you through the puzzle in easy steps, then see if you can tackle the bigger, tougher Suguru at the bottom of the page using the lessons you’ve learned.

STEP 1

HERE’S a small starter grid to show you the technique. See how the cells are corralled into boxes by heavy red lines. Three numbers — 3, 2 and 1 — are already in place, to get you going.

STEP 2

FIRST tip: a box of just one cell has to contain a 1 — there it is, in yellow (bottom right).

STEP 3

BY THE same logic, a box with two cells must contain 1 and 2. There’s already a 2 in the middle of the left-hand column, so none of the adjacent spaces can contain a two. That means the box immediately above has to contain a 1, leaving the 2 to go top left.

STEP 4

THE box of three cells (bottom left) must contain 1, 2 and 3. The upper cell is adjacent to a 2 and we’ve already got a 1 in this box — so that leaves only 3. Fill that in, and there’s only one place the 2 can go. Getting the hang of it?

STEP 5

THE five-cell box has to contain a 1 of course. And it can’t be in the middle column, because that’s touching a 1 diagonally on the left. By a process of elimination, it has to go top right.

STEP 6

THERE’S only one box left without a 1 — the group-of-four box. You can rule out three of the cells because they are adjacent to other 1s. That leaves the middle-right cell. And since neither of the bottom cells may contain a 2, that has to go above the 1. Nearly there now.

STEP 7

IN the group-offour, the 3 must go on the right, or it’ll be touching another 3. That leaves just one cell in which to put the 4.

STEP 8

AND with the 4 (in Step 7) finally in place, the next 4 has to go at the top. Very satisfyingly, that means the last blank cell is the only 5.