Ice breaker challenge

The onward journey on the Shatabdi for an ex-colleague’s momentous wedding was eventful. A militant group in the coach provided high decibel distraction for around four hours of the journey, through which they fixed bad press on their busy mobiles courtesy their journo contacts, and arranged for a ‘food refund’ to be handed over immediately on arrival. The journey also provided adequate time to attempt Suduko sections across several mainline dailies. And proved yet again, that this logic puzzle is a tremendous ice breaker. The gentleman from across the aisle, and the one seated beside me, insisted on contributing. One hastened things along. The other messed up a grid completely. But was an avid enthusiast enough to redraw the original grid on a napkin, so he could start over!
For the journey back, I had saved Sudoku 5x5 from Thinkfun. Yet another masterpiece from a company that makes a habit of producing marvelously well finished and thought-provoking games. Sudoku 5x5 requires rows, columns and coloured regions to be filled with numbers 1 through 5 without repetition. With 48 challenge cards ranging from beginner to expert levels, there’s enough to occupy the novice, and the Sudoku regular.
The vertical format case opens into a nifty play area. The colourfully chunky numerals fit snugly into a storage section. Double-sided challenge cards are placed in a designated play area. Ever so lightly magnetised numeral counters are a delight to use. Visualisation is a pleasure. The 3D feel of the game draws you right in. Sudoko 5x5 is a first rate buy. They’ve shrunk the conventional 9x9 grid to a smaller 5x5 size. It’s quick. It’s compact. And the aesthetics make Sudoku an almost sensous experience!
Children stopped by my aisle seat to stare at the eye catching game. Fortunately, the seat beside me was empty. With no one to interfere, I had hours to try one challenge card after the other. I worked my way up from the beginner level. Deriving fiendish pleasure from solving even the simplest levels. The Sudoku section in the morning’s paper just isn’t the same any more!

The author may be contacted at arup_kavan@yahoo.com [1]