Sudoku and the Closet -- More Alike Than You'd Think

My Itouch has put a new dimension onto Sudoku playing that is causing me to re-evaluate my whole approach to life. Before when I worked the puzzles from the newspaper, I would play a game however I wanted -- I’d sort of hit it with the shotgun effect if I wanted or I’d carefully analyze each square until I got it sorted out as best I could.

Now, with the Itouch I’M TIMED TOO! And not only does the little beast time me, but it compares me to the umptykajillion others who have played that very game, and generally I emerge in the lower 10 per cent of players.

I’m not a very good competitor. I like just dipsying along. "Slow and steady wins the race", kind of thinking. So when others are factored in, I become tense, irritable, and think like rocks in a blender.

Back to strategy on Sudoku. You can just kinda scan the whole and look for what fits. That does work sometimes and rather suits my random/abstract way of thinking. If something is wrong, you erase and proceed as if nothing is a problem. Unfortunately, my Itouch docks you for mistakes. Also, the puzzles get progressively harder and require a little more close analysis. What is the procedure for this? Go carefully in order through the blocks of nine squares then through the horizontal lines? Next is the vertical lines and then a search of the individual squares. But when do you go back and see if anything you’ve done affects the whole? When do you put down the magnifying glass and approach the obvious?

It’s all hard for a borderline OCD person like myself.

“Now let’s compare this all to cleaning out the closet” I think as I observe the mess of shoes on my closet floor. Do you toss it all out on the bed and ponder individual pieces or do you just slide things around, tossing some as you work until order emerges? I can’t decide and therefore I refuse to play any more and just go listen to my book on tape. That only occasionally drives me crazy.