Could Sherlock Holmes have used his famous powers of deduction to solve KenKen Puzzles? The answer is a resounding YES! This blog reveals how the powers of deductive reasoning can be harnessed to solve a variety of KenKen puzzles from all levels of difficulty.
Those already familiar with KenKen puzzles can check out Strategies for Deduction which describes several strategies that can be used to solve KenKen puzzles using deductive reasoning.
What is a KenKen Puzzle?
KenKen puzzles are a fascinating variation on Sudoku and Kakuro type problems. Although one might be tempted to solve these puzzles through trial and error, the most challenging way is through deductive logic alone. In my experience KenKen puzzles do have logical solutions. This blog will tackle puzzles of increasing difficulty and provide detailed solutions using deductive reasoning. Hopefully it will encourage readers to test their own powers of logical deduction.
There is an excellent KenKen web site with many playing tips and tutorials, as well as puzzles at many difficulty levels that can be solved online: KenKen Official Site
An interview with Tetsuya Miyamoto, math teacher and the creator of KenKen:
From the Official KenKen Site, a brief "How To" video:
Another excellent introduction by Bill Lombard, this time specifically for the 4x4 KenKen Puzzle:
Hooked now? Another problem with a detailed solution:
A detailed step-by-step solving of the above problem:
KenKen Problem Solution
For the tablet or phone, there is a great and free official KenKen App available:
Many web sites provide more KenKen type puzzles to solve. One of the best is the site of that great online Puzzle Master: Krazy Dad. He calls his version of these problems "Inkies":For the tablet or phone, there is a great and free official KenKen App available:
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