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4 VARIANTS
once). Curiously, 3-in-two, 4-in-two, 43-ineight, and 44-in-eightare still frequently called as
such, despite the "-in-twoand "-in-eightbeing equally
implied.
Solving techniques
the dierence can reveal the value of a partial entry, often a single cell. This is possible because addition is both
associative and commutative.
It is common practice to mark potential values for cells
in the cell corners until all but one have been proven impossible; for particularly challenging puzzles, sometimes
entire ranges of values for cells are noted by solvers in
the hope of eventually nding sucient constraints to
those ranges from crossing entries to be able to narrow
the ranges to single values. Because of space constraints,
instead of digits some solvers use a positional notation,
where a potential numerical value is represented by a
mark in a particular part of the cell, which makes it easy
to place several potential values into a single cell. This
also makes it easier to distinguish potential values from
solution values.
Some solvers also use graph paper to try various digit
combinations before writing them into the puzzle grids.
As in the Sudoku case, only relatively easy Kakuro puzzles can be solved with the above-mentioned techniques.
Harder ones require the use of various types of chain patWhen solving longer sums there are additional ways to terns, the same kinds as appear in Sudoku (see Patternnd clues to locating the correct digits. One such method Based Constraint Satisfaction and Logic Puzzles* [6]).
would be to note where a few squares together share possible values thereby eliminating the possibility that other
squares in that sum could have those values. For instance,
2 Mathematics of Kakuro
if two 4-in-two clues cross with a longer sum, then the 1
and 3 in the solution must be in those two squares and
Kakuro puzzles are NP-complete.* [7]
those digits cannot be used elsewhere in that sum.* [5]
When solving sums which have a limited number of so- There are two kinds of mathematical symmetry readily
lution sets then that can lead to useful clues. For in- identiable in Kakuro puzzles: minimum and maximum
stance, a 30-in-seven sum only has two solution sets: constraints are duals, as are missing and required values.
{1,2,3,4,5,6,9} and {1,2,3,4,5,7,8}. If one of the squares All sum combinations can be represented using a
in that sum can only take on the values of {8,9} (if the bitmapped representation. This representation is useful
crossing clue is a 17-in-two sum, for example) then that for determining missing and required values using bitwise
not only becomes an indicator of which solution set ts logic operations.
this sum, it eliminates the possibility of any other digit
in the sum being either of those two values, even before
determining which of the two values ts in that square.
Another useful approach in more complex puzzles is to
identify which square a digit goes in by eliminating other
locations within the sum. If all of the crossing clues of a
sum have many possible values, but it can be determined
that there is only one square which could have a particular
value which the sum in question must have, then whatever
other possible values the crossing sum would allow, that
intersection must be the isolated value. For example, a
36-in-eight sum must contain all digits except 9. If only
one of the squares could take on the value of 2 then that
must be the answer for that square.
Abox techniquecan also be applied on occasion, when
the geometry of the unlled white cells at any given stage
of solving lends itself to it: by summing the clues for a series of horizontal entries (subtracting out the values of any
digits already added to those entries) and subtracting the
clues for a mostly overlapping series of vertical entries,
3 Popularity
4 Variants
A relatively common variant of Kakuro is its logical successor, Cross Products (or Cross Multiplication), where the
clues are the product of the digits in the entries rather than
the sum. Dell Magazines has produced such puzzles but
also allowed repeating of digits aside from 1 because of
3
space limitations in the number of digits in each product in a puzzle. Puzzles by Games Magazines are more
like crossword puzzles, allowing the implementation of
the no-repeating digits rule.
Another variant is having a dierent range of values that
are inserted in the cells, such as 1 to 12, instead of the
standard 1 to 9.
A genuine combination of Sudoku and Kakuro is the socalled Cross Sums Sudokuin which clues are given
as cross sums on a standard 9 x 9 Sudoku grid. A relevant variant is the so-calledCryptic Kakurowhere the
clues are given in terms of alphametics and each number
represents a digit from 1 to 9.
The nal puzzle of the 2004 United States qualier for the
World Puzzle Championship is titled Cross Number Sums
Place: it is a Cross Sums where every row and column of
the grid (except the top row and leftmost column as usual)
contains exactly nine white cells, none of whicheven
across multiple entriesare allowed to use the same digit
twice, like a Number Place (Sudoku); in addition, small
circles are printed on the borders between some white
cells; numerically adjacent digits must be placed astride
those circles, and may not appear orthogonally adjacent
when not astride a circle.
See also
Killer Sudoku, a variant of Sudoku which is solved
using similar techniques.
References
[9] http://www.saidwhat.co.uk/games/kakuro/aboutkakuro.
php
7 External links
Tutorial at Nikoli (Flash required)
The New Grid on the Block: The Guardian newspaper's introduction to Kakuro
Kakuros.org: randomly generated puzzle collection
playable in the browser.
Kakuro for Android
IAENG report on Kakuro
Kakuro Total Tables: List all the possible combinations for various sums for Kakuro.
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