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Directions for Kakuro

Kakuro is a puzzle which has some similarities to sudoku. Both types of puzzles involve filling in blank boxes with numerals from one to nine. While sudoku is strictly a game of logic, kakuro involves both logic and arithmetic. In kakuro, the numbers in each group of boxes must add up to a specified sum. The numbers printed in the grid are called "clues," and they represent the sums. The clue boxes are divided by a diagonal line. The number on top of each diagonal is the sum for the line of boxes running across to its right. The number below the diagonal is the sum for the line of boxes running below it. You must enter a numeral between one and nine in each box. No numeral may be used more than once in each answer.

Instructions

- 1
  Select a clue whose answer contains only two empty boxes. While you can start solving anywhere in the grid, it is usually easiest to start with a short answer.
- 2
  Calculate the possible answer combinations, making notations in the margins of the puzzle or on a piece of scrap paper. For example, if the clue is "3," and there are two blank boxes, the only possible answer combination is 1 and 2. If the clue is "4," the only possible answer is 1 and 3. The answer 2 and 2 would not be allowed because you cannot duplicate numbers within a single answer. If the clue is "8," there are several possible answer combinations: 1 and 7, 2 and 6, and 3 and 5.
- 3
  Write possible answer combinations in the grid. Use a pencil and write lightly, as you will be erasing soon. Because you don't yet know which order the numbers will go in, you must account for all possibilities. For example, for a two-box across answer with a clue of "3," the solution (reading from left to right) might be a 1 followed by a 2, or it could be a 2 followed by a 1. To keep track of all possibilities, write a 1 and a 2 in each of the two answer boxes.
- 4
  Eliminate possibilities, if possible, by examining the crossing clues. Every box is part of both an across and a down answer. Pick one of the squares where you penciled in possible solutions. If your answer runs across, look at the down clue that applies to that square. For example, say you had written 1 and 3 as possibilities in the square. If the down entry is a two-box answer with a clue of "12," then the number in each box of the down answer must be at least 3. (If it were less than 3, then the other number would have to be greater than 9, which is not allowed). Therefore, the answer for your box must be 3. Erase the 1 and leave the 3 as the answer.
- 5
  Continue solving by looking for easy clues and by working off of the numbers that you have already entered.

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