An obsession of sudokulists? A digit? Suggest a collective noun for a group
of Sudoku players at the foot of this article
Can you beat the world champion? This puzzle was solved by Thomas Snyder in
2 minutes 26 seconds on his way to lifting the Classic Cup. Solution
here
Goa is sweltering. It is 36C (96.8F) and the humidity is off the scale.
British and Russian tourists are slowly going lobster-red by the pool at the
Holiday Inn Resort.
But inside an air-conditioned hall, behind the arcades of apartments, 89
people have their heads bent over grids of numbers. They have no time for
the crashing surf of the Indian Ocean nor for the cold Kingfisher beers
served by the smiling waiters.
These people are here to solve Sudoku with an intensity and speed that would
leave your average commuter scratching his head. The Holiday Inn was the
exotic venue for the third World Sudoku Championships, where the greatest
puzzlers, from 31 countries, gathered to fight it out over two days for
individual and team honours.
While Sudoku mania has ebbed in Britain - the frenzy of the early days
replaced by a steady enthusiasm - the wave is still rolling around the
world. In India there are more than ten million Sudoku players and rising
fast. In Bangladesh, 48,000 entered the competition to form a team to send
to the championships. More significantly, the Chinese are falling in love
with the puzzle. Last year only a handful of evening newspapers there
carried Sudoku. Now there are 19 daily papers with a puzzle and more than
200 Sudoku magazines.
Sun Shu Ping, general manager of Beijing Sudoku and Culture Society
Development Ltd, which is sponsoring the Chinese team, estimates that there
are now two million players in China. How many will there be next year? She
smiles: “Perhaps 20 million, perhaps more.”
But those numbers are not the ones that matter in the championships, only the
digits one to nine, in every row and column and every 3x3 box. The
complexity behind the simple rules of Sudoku has created the glo-bal
addiction and given the organisers in Goa the chance to create some truly
scary puzzles.
On the first day of competition the players were presented with a blizzard of
Su Doku variants with names such as Quad Max and Alphabet Substitution
Twins, requiring the puzzlers to do much more than simply rattle through the
grids. There were some amazing feats of speed in the classic puzzle rounds.
Jakub Ondrousek, a young Czech, completed eight fiendish puzzles in only 18
minutes. The other star of the first day was Michael Collins, 35, a fund
manager from London. When, mid-round, the electricity cut out for about 30
seconds, he was the only puzzler to reach into his bag and pull out a torch
to keep solving.
The outstanding player of the tournament was Thomas Snyder, of the United
States. He won the championship for the second year running, beating a
Japanese player and two Czechs in the play-offs. He also won the competition
to find the best solver of classic Sudoku puzzles, beating David McNeill, of
Britain, into second.
Dr Snyder, 28, who has a PhD in biochemistry and is studying bio-engineering
at Stanford, is the closest the Sudoku world has to a superstar. He has the
technique and the experience, but mostly a brain that processes the visual
data in Sudoku faster than anyone else. But he is uncomfortable talking
about himself, and says simply: “I take advantage of my talents.” The
British team, sponsored by Puzzler Media and led by Mr McNeill, 44, a
lecturer in electronic engineering at Queen’s University, Belfast, finished
9th. Mr McNeill reached the quarter-final play-offs for the second year
running, and was narrowly edged out of the final four. George Danker, 17, a
student at Hampton School in West London, was placed 29th, Mr Collins was
43rd and Simon Anthony, 34, an investment banker from London, came 75th.
The team competition was won by the Czech Republic. The Australian team came
last - hardly surprising, given that only one of the four players had done a
Sudoku puzzle before this week. Calling themselves the Numbats, the team of
rugby mates from the University of Western Australia Club in Perth managed
to get sponsorship to come to Goa and were the first team to wear blazers
and flip-flops. They made up for their lack of success by winning all the
drinking competitions (hardly surprising as they were the only team taking
part). Mark Skiffington, 39, the team captain, said: “We are proud to have
represented our country.”
Last night the competitors were preparing to depart, leaving local residents
and holidaymakers as mystified as when they arrived. One young British
tourist said: “It’s a bit weird them coming all this way just to do a puzzle
but I suppose it’s harmless enough. And it meant that we had the pool to
ourselves.”
Natty numbers
— The World Sudoku Championship is part of the World Puzzle Federation, which
aims to foster friendship among puzzle enthusiasts
— 132 competitors from 30 countries gathered in Goa for four days of Sudoku,
mixing the classic version of the game with several variants
— Scoring is weighted to encourage them to attempt the variations. A classic
trophy is awarded to the player with the best score in the classic puzzles
— Each country can be represented officially by four players. A country can
send more players, but they must compete as individuals
— Turkey had nine players and Slovakia and China eight. Belarus sent a one-man
team
Sources: World Sudoku Championship; World Puzzle Federation
Copyright WSC3/Quixy. Created by Deb Mohanty
Suggest a collective noun for a group of Su Doku players
Now that SuDoku is truly a global phenomenon, we thought it was time that it
was marked linguistically. What is the collective noun for a group of SuDoku
solvers? An obsession of sudokulists? A digit? What's your suggestion? Post
your collective noun in the Have Your Say form below.
My wife (a keen player) suggests a "SADDO" of Sudokoists ?
Cavid Nicholson-Cole, Nottingham, Notts
A "non-entity" of Sudokists
Colin, Sevenoaks, UK
How about a 'GRID' of sudokuists?
David, Chertsey, UK
How about a "numbnerd" of sudokuists
Ray J Nadeau, Barrhead, , Canada
A "Number" of Sudokists
John, Northampton,
How about "Sudokuki? (singular "Sudokuka"). I think it kind of mimics the Japanese language. Come to think of it - why not ask a Japanese native what the appropriate construction would be?
Babs, New York, USA
A 'sod it' of Sudokers
Jackie Atkinson, Llanrhos, Wales
In response to your proposal, I would like to suggest a collective noun for SUDOKU solvers, as follows;
"SUDOKTOR".
Every SUDOKU player may wish to be able to solve any
SUDOKU or to solve it as quickly as possible, so that
one can obtain a doctor's degree of SUDOKU.
Kyo Miyake, Ashiya-shi, Hyogo-ken, Japan
I have to agree with John, Sad should be the collective noun for a group of su doko players.
Stuart, york,
Sad
John Oliver, Carshalton, Surrey
Pseudukubal
Diomalco, Dover, UK
sukodas for me.
graham slatter, leamington spa, england
For killer sudoku only, of course,
A murderation.......
Mike A, Surzur, France
hey,
how about 'A SQUARE of sudokulists'
SHARAN, Pune, India
I don't know about the correct collective noun but as the French say; if you are facing North you have the Sudoku!!
Cyril Skeggs, Basingstoke,
sokuku
Bruce Pennypacker, Langhorne,PA, USA
A "fill" of Sudoku players.
David Reimann, Albion, Michigan, USA
A Pseudo of Pseudoku Sllvers of course. Or setters.
Raymond Ross, Rannoch, Scotland
A Sadness of Sudoku players? A Sorrowness, or perhaps an Obsession?
Ed Zuiderwijk, Cambridge, UK
The same thing has happened again - with the Super Fiendish for Oct. 23rd. I still have a correctly filled in copy on my computer. Why am I told it is not correct? Is there more than one correct solution? Could someone please enlighten me?
alan, germany,
I suggest sudoers. As for the obsession, why not surdokusing or severus dokusis, even sudositis?
And a digit could be a numbro, an udok or udo.
Endless fun can rather be obtained by playing with words instead of boring digits, in my humble opinion.
issey, Toulouse, France
Sir - I have twice correctly completed and entered the SUPER FIENDISH soduko for Friday, October 24th. Both times I was informed that my solution was "incorrect" - which it was not. Please tell me if a solution, other than yours, was possible and if other players have asked the same. Thank you.
alan, germany,
A numaracy
Richard Amery, Tidworth, England
A grid of Su Doku players..
Lean Ni Chleirigh, Dublin,
A Tedium?
Isabel, London, UK
A Sok ? - normally participating in the colourful adventures of everyday life, they find themselves hiding obsessively at the bottom of the laundry basket waiting for their match to appear (probably from some other dark corner).
Catherine, Ely,
A Kuudos of SuDoku players
Tony Proto, Carmarthenshire, Wales
Call them all Sue, every single one of them...
Mark, Cheshire,
A tedium?
isabel, London,
sudorkus
Matthew, St. John's, Canada
sudokers
luke, up north, england
just done killer 941, 16 min & some odd sec. barely rates tricky. i much prefer the properjob challenge the deadly usually is so try not to let any more easy ones through.
very much like the ken ken puzzles.
steve osborne, dartmouth, u.k.
sudokii
teri, Salem, OR,
My suggestion is a syndicate - what else!
Debbie, Limassol, Cyprus
A nonaquadra of SuDoku solvers
Gerry, Edinburgh,
A quad of sudokuites!
Clare Sassoon, Culver City, USA
A grid!
Sue, Carlisle, Carlisle,
I suggest that such a group be known as a dissolution.
Gerard, London, England
A number!
Neil, Blackpool, Lancs
What about Dukodians
L Copsey, Harlow, Uk
A novena
Ann, houston, texas, u.s.a.
Sudokers!!!!
Ralph, Florida, USA
HEY can we just proclaim sudoku addicts as "squarenniners" or sudoquists or "sudokuist" or "sudokulogians" or "kudos"
jam, makati city, Philippines
Sudogroup
Gary Whithfield, Manchester,
For us killer fans, a calculation of players.
Cally Ellis, Manama, Bahrain
a resolution of sudoku solvers
clair , milton keynes, uk
A puzzlement of SuDokans.
David Whaley, Melbourne, Australia
Maybe a Fret or Fretwork of sudoku solvers?
L Stevens, Surrey,
NUMBERDS is a good enough name!
s v yakkundi, bangalore, india
A group? That would be a Suduction!
Diane Grooms, Lancaster California, USA
I say it's a scratch.
Tony, St. Louis, USA
A Number of Sudoku players would seem appropriate.
Gillie Bengough, Ocala FL, USA
sudokorum
b.wainsten, london,
Judging by all of the above a "BORE" would be most appropriate!
mark, Carmel, USA
Why, Sodukans, of course!
Tina, St. Petersburg, USA
What about UKODUS - sudoku spelt backwards or KODUSU - anagram of sudoku?
Francoise, Mumbai, India
Francoise Collet Cope, Mumbai, India
An "equation" of Suduko players.
Sam Hampson, Wimbledon, UK
squad
Geoff, Malaga, Spain
Anumber of sudokuists
Josie, Morpeth, Northumberland
A "Doku"
Carl, London,
People in a group solving Sudoku has to be a sadness
Carl, Hull, England
A 'Box' of players!
Chris Adams
Chris Adams, Northampton, UK
A queue of pseudos?
joe, birmingham, uk
As a rather thick 81 year old non sudoku player a "number" of players fits your requirement and is a fairly accurate description
Les Nicholl
Les Nicholl, Ilkley, UK
Latin Squares
Denis, victoria, canada
SUDOKLAN
Ke Vallender, Sidney, Canada
group of sudoquists!
Shesha, Houston, USA
a wunternine of sudes
Stewart, Llanfairpwll, UK
Sudokiers
Jane Congdon, Fort Lauderdale, USA
A " GRID" of "SUDOKANS"?
Alan Ratcliffe, Dublin, Eire
What about a "novitiate", or a "novena"?
Ann, houston, texas, u.s.a.
a sartorial oof sudoku players
Sandra Crook, Bampton, UK
I've got it!!! It HAS to be:
A SINGULARTIY OF ..... (sudokunuts? )
the singularity bit applies to everything about sudoku, doesn't it? Think about it!!
wendy wallace, Durban, South Africa
a logic of sudoku players?
Pippa, Birmingham, UK
Wow...so many who are unaware of how to use a collective noun.
I'd suggest a 'persistance' of Sudoku players.
Dan Ferguson, Edmonton,
a geek of suoku players, you all know thats more like it!
Genevieve Widger, Wilmslow, England
Since Sudoku is a Japenese word, it's "logical" that it's collective noun be Japanese as well :-)
A Dojin of Sudoku players.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dojin
T. Ahmed, Hemel Hempstead, U.K.
Sudokologists
alastair, Ruthin, Wales
a matrix of sudoku players sounds right
Marv, London, UK
Niners.
mabuloo, Mounds, OK, USA
"jurors" - a trial in Australia was aborted when it was found that a number of jurors were doing sudokus. It had been thought they were taking notes until it was realised that they were writing vertically as well as horizontally. They claimed it was a way of keeping themselves alert.
Ian Millard QC, Wellington, New Zealand
Singular: Sudoka
Plural: Sudokas
Group: Sudo-Dujo
R.R., Provo, US
Singular Sudoku1 Plural Soduku2
David addison, Oslo, Norway
Griddies!
Daron, Erwin, Tennessee
The collective noun for sudoku players seems to be "the jury" if you come from Australia!
Rona McGill, Glasgow, Scotland
Have we all forgotten that in the classic sudoku there are NINE DIFFERENT numbers? I can't think of an English word with ABCDEFGHI, but if anyone else can, then I'll vote for that, but in the meantime I'd suggest a DIPLOMACY of sudoku players.
Edz
Ed Stef, Yarm, Teesside
A cogitation of Su Doku players
Michael, Clitheroe, UK
A grid of Su Doku players
Guy, Birmingham, England
sudophiles
sudokuphiles
Laverne, Wilmington, United States
a 45 of Su Doku players
Dave, Nailsea, UK
squareheads
paul, Rotorua, NZ
How about....an enigma of sudokoi???/ sounds pretty cool to me!
Hannah, Milborne port,
a 'frustration' of suduko solvers...based on personal experience of your killer suduko's
Sarah Jones, Chester,
sudomaniacs
stuart carne, London, UK
sudokids
wendy hillditch, parksville,BC,, canada
Sudokurati
Denise, Brent Knoll,
How about: Sudolvers?
neen, Brunswick, United States
collective noun try a position
richard worth, bedford,
Sudokista
Elisabeth, Oxted,
How about Sudo Intellectuals?
Tony Reed, Amersham, Bucks
Easy, just add an "n" to sudoku -- sudokun, of course.
Henry Kwok, Singapore, Singapore
just...sudokians :)
Mariana , Milan , Italy
How about a 'cell' , a 'mania', a 'contentment', or the very functional, well-used, basic 'number'.
pat hall, Edmonton, Alberta
Suggestions for a noun to name a group of Sudoku players or generally the universal fraternity would be: Sudoki, Sudokites, Sudokim (as in cherubim) or Suddies.
Tom, Devon North, Australia
how about offering a collective noun when requested and not a plural word? (as most people seem to have done!!)
john, lochboisdale, scotland
How about a square ?
Peter O'Boyle, Slough, UK
how about 'a gridlock' - because nothing moves in our house if any of us are involved with sudoku!!
elisa, bolton, uk
How about SUDUKI'S
R.Dennis, Colchester, United Kingdom
Sudocandos.
Mark Fowler, Poznan, Poland
How about SUDOKEENS
shaf, Redbridge,
How about SUDOKEENS
Shaf, London,
A Concentration ? A Convergence ? A Solicitude ?
Justin Kirby, Livingston, Scotland
What has happened? Why is it asking for a password and not saying how to get one?
The collective noun is 'a frustration' at the moment.
mo, mid Cheshire, England
I can no longer access the sudoku on-line as a password is required and I cannot create one! May be a server problem? Please advise urgently.
John Howells, Belgrade, Serbia
it has to be a 'solution' of sudoku players
Claire, Ascot,
Sudoku is such a COOL game to play, (even in the steamy heat of Goa!!!), the most suitable collective noun for players can only be 'Sudokats'!
Or, slightly more mysterious, how about Sudokufflers?
Cliff Burford, Tokyo, Japan
Whats wrong with a SCUDOOL?
P Fallon, Bristol, England
A Sudoku player is obviously a SUD so a group of Sudoku players are SUDS. It's what you utter under your breath when you get stuck in a tricky Sudoku game!
Chris, Garstang, UK
There are two collective nouns for Suduko players, depending on whether they are doing well - (a smuggle), or badly - (a frazzle)
Gill, Newport Pagnell, UK
"Sudokoi"
Based on the coincidence of the 'k' in Sudoku that in Greek words for doers of something ,'kos' or 'koi' is added to the end of the term - such as 'mathematikoi' (learners) and 'aukoustikoi' - listeners.
M L Moore, Eastern Pennsylvania, USA
I'd personally suggest calling a group of Sudoku players the Sudokurati.
Michael Fisk, Kalamazoo, MI, USA
Soduks, Sodukers?
Abby, Schaumburg, USA
How 'bout Sudokujin? It's pronouncable in English, and, even better, it fit exactly the Japanese way to say someone's nationality.
Georges, Ft. Lauderdale, USA
Sudoki, plural of Sudoku, hmm, mines the coat next to Williams
Jon Blower, London, England
A grid of Sudoku players
Matthew, Santa Cruz,
a co-efficiency of sudodos
craig, johannesburg, south africa
a square of sudokuns
Julie, Fremantle, Australia
There's probably 81 of them all lined up in rows of 9, each with a differnt number from 1 to 9 tattoed on their foreheads.
I'd call them "nutters".
A bunch of nutters doing SuDoku.
Tom Lewis, Porth, Wales
a gridlock of sudoku players
scampbell, swanmore, hants
It has to be a "CONCENTRATION".
Cleo, Morpeth,
A cell of Sudoku puzzlers as they're all filling them!
Clare Abbott, Oxford, England
SUDOKICIANS
from Mathematician; as Sudoku is all about numbers.
Tanu Bhandari, Los Angeles, USA
a gridlock of sudoku puzzlers
Phil Pipe, York, England
Sudokook's
Richard Allman, Peculiar, United States
A Doku!
andy , stockport, UK
A KUDOS of Sudoku players
or
A PUZZLEMENT
brenda, london,
A Snyder!
a, sunnyvale,
su-su-sudokoers (after paying royalties to phil collins)
John L. Drost, Barboursville, U.S.A.
Sudokooks
Susan Donim, Charlotte, USA
A number of Sudokists.... groups of them would be numbers of Sudokists.... and a large group would be.... well, any number.
Panda, Chester,
How about either a "Nine" or a "Grid"?
Jerry Stone, Welwyn, Hertfordshire
A sadness of sudoku players?
Gillian, Gainsborough, Lincolnshire
Being a Judoka, and Sudoku being a Japanese word, i'd have thought Sudoka would be it, in that ka added to a noun means a person (or possibly persons, i think) with skill in that area.
Matt, Aberystwyth,
A Kodus
Sally Moore, Gerrards Cross,
A silence
Michael Ullmann, Oxford,
Suds
marguerita moorcroft, London, UK
2m 14s
janoslaw, Cracow, Poland
a nunmnut --a solver of sudocu puzzzles
a matrix of numnuts----- a group of people who solve sudocu puzzles
s. w. cosby, brampton, canada
masochists
lguindon, Lexington,
I raise my hand for "a grid of sudokists." The terminal vowel should be dropped to make for easier pronunciation, or rolled into the collective noun suffix, e.g., "sudokuns." Much the way I pluralize "Macintosh" (computers, not Scots) as "Macintii."
D. Savino, Sacramento, CA, USA
If we need to adhere to currently acknowledged words, then I suggest "a solvent of sudoku players". If not, then a "solvit".
jb, Kempner, TX, USA
a sadness?
Graham Pugh, chepstow,
Obsession is good, maybe something along the lines of "a craze of sudoku solvers" or "a mania...".
Of course there's the slightly more tongue-in-cheek "number" - presumably implying sudokuers don't have more than eight friends. Personally though, my favourite is "a scramble of..sudoku solvers".
...and to prove the point, I had to have a go at the puzzle above. 2 minutes 18 seconds here (although it's obviously easier doing it sitting back relaxed with a coffee)
Tom Collyer (UK Champion), University of Warwick,
A swordfish? A nonette?
Tim, Guildford,
Has to be a 'SUKUDO'
Jonathan T-M, Malta,
sudokayers
Mimdel, Málaga, Spain
When my wife read about this, her first thought was "an 'OBSESSION' of Sudokomos" then she realised that obsession wasn't that original. My own thought was "a 'DEDICATION' of Sudokies"
Chris Martin, Bristol, Somerset
Given the mathematical nature of what they're doing, the collective noun for sudokulists would have to be "set" or "group".
Presumably if there are several sudokulists on a train, that's an abelian group.
(my coat's the one with the pens in it, thanks)
William Towle, Leeds, UK
Sudokuko
Brian Dungate, Brighton, England