‘You can learn [Sudoku] in 10 seconds, and yet the logic needed to solve [the puzzle] is challenging. It’s a perfect amount of time to spend on a puzzle, anywhere from five minutes to half an hour. And there’s usually a rush at the very end, filling in the last squares, which gives you a great feeling. You immediately want to do another.

Millions of Americans aged eight through 88 are hooked on Sudoku. It is a game of reason and logic. As evidenced by the increasing hordes of fans, it is not only challenging, but addictive as well. According to a recent Newsweek article, Sudoku is the biggest puzzle craze to hit America since the Rubik’s Cube in the 1980s. No adding or subtracting, no twists, no surprises: To solve Sudokus a puzzler just needs logic. Once you’ve completed one USA Today Sudoku puzzle, you won’t be able to stop playing them.

A typical Sudoku puzzle can be completed in 10 to 30 minutes, depending on a player’s ability and the puzzle’s level of difficulty. The game is based solely on numbers, but requires no math skills whatsoever. Similar to a crossword puzzle, Sudoku is a series of nine 3 x 3 grids using each digit from 1 to 9 only once.

USA Today Sudoku contains 200 puzzles categorized into five skill levels. Answers are provided in the back of the book.